AUGUST, WILSON: Fences
How does Troy's upbringing influence his relationship with his children?
The theme of "fathers and sons" is one of the pillars of the play "Fences", connecting the stories of three generations of the Maxson family. Troy's difficult relationship with his own father shapes him as a parent and his relationship with Lyon and Cory. Maxson man's path to manhood include the act of defiance against their fathers, fleeing their home and finally internalizing them. Troy's struggles as a father and son is a representation of the importance of the father-son relationship and how that shapes the character of the sons.
Troy and his father's relationship is influenced by the times, because Troy's father grew up in the 1800s after slavery was abolished, and for him to be raised in that environment ultimatley influenced how he painted his children and how he showed affection to them. Troy's perception of what is right and what is wrong for Cory, based on Troy's refusal to perceive a historical change in the acceptance of Black people, tragically causes Cory to experience a disappointing fate similar to Troy's. Troy passes his personal history on to his family in other ways throughout the play with sayings that represent his philosophies of life like, "You gotta take the crookeds with the straights." His children also inherit Troy's past by learning songs he sings like, "Hear It Ring! Hear It Ring!" a song Troy's own father taught him. Cory tells Rose in Act Two, scene five, "Papa was like a shadow that followed you everywhere." Troy's songs and sayings link his family to the difficult life in the south that his generation was free to run away from, though penniless and without roots in the north. Troy's purposefully and inadvertently passes on his life experience to his children.
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