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Stephen Walker

Professor Hall

ENGL 2100-002

12 April 2011

Using The Past as a Dirty Lens to See the World in Fences

Who do we look to for guidance? How do we make sense of our world? What values do

we follow in dealing with people? Some people follow religions, others rules, but many people

measure themselves against their past. In August Wilson’s Fences, Troy Maxson is stuck in and

controlled by his own past. He perpetuates a cycle of behavior due to the impressions made on

him by his own past experiences and relationships. By clinging to and using the past to affect his

decisions and outlook about his own life and family, Troy both replicates and avoids behaviors

and attitudes from his past that ultimately deteriorate his relationships with his son and wife.

Remaining rooted in the past produces in Troy a skewed sense of responsibility, attributes of

self-centeredness and close-mindedness, and a self-defeating world view that ultimately prevent

him from being a self-actualizing father and husband.

Much of Troy’s ideas of the meaning of family and father/son relationships come from

his own experience with his father. In reality, Troy didn’t have a relationship with his father. It

was more of an acquaintance, with Troy being the servant and Troy’s father being the master.

Troy’s father was a hard man who had no concept of showing affection for his own kids as Troy

explains: “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t known my daddy. He ain’t cared nothing about no kids. A

kid to him wasn’t nothing” (1.4.2011). Troy goes on to explain how his father put himself first
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and didn’t adequately provide for his children: “When it come time for eating…he ate first. If

there was anything left over, that’s what you got. Man would sit down and eat two chickens and

give you the wing” (1.4.2011). Troy replicates the behavior of his father by choosing not to

“like” his own son Cory. As Troy tells Cory: “You my flesh and blood. Not cause I like you!

Cause it’s my duty to take care of you. I owe a responsibility to you!” (1.3.2006). Troy continues

the cycle of not having a personal relationship with his son but choosing to play the role of the

distant provider.

However, Troy rebels against his father’s behavior of not providing enough for his kids

by emphasizing and overstating his own provision: “A man got to take care of his family. You

live in my house…sleep you behind on my bedclothes…fill you belly with my food…cause you

my son” (1.3.2006). Throughout the play, Troy reminds Cory, Rose, and whoever else is in

earshot that he is the one who makes it all possible. Troy saw how his father didn’t put him first

and failed to adequately provide, so he chooses to overcompensate by harping and fixating on his

own provision.

Cory would rather see a different sort of care and attention. He would rather have his

father support him in his endeavors and tell Cory that he appreciates his work and his aspirations.

In spite of all of the physical sustenance that Troy gives Cory, the emotional sustenance is

nowhere to be found. Cory is acutely aware of this, as he finally tells Troy towards the end of the

play when the true nature of their relationship is revealed: “You ain’t never gave me nothing!

You ain’t never done nothing but hold me back. Afraid I was gonna be better than you”

(2.4.2028). Troy fails to recognize his son’s situation and desire what is best for him because he

is blinded by his own idea of the role a son should play and he is frightened by a potential

breaking of the cycle of a father/son relationship based on hostility and violence. Although
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Troy’s relationship with Cory is still a good deal better than it was with his own father, he fails to

provide the only thing Cory really wants: the love of a father that a son requires.

Troy’s relationship with his father and his observations of his father’s behavior and

attitudes affect Troy’s relationship with his wife Rose by instilling in him an underlying attitude

of entitlement and selfishness and a twisted view of responsibility to a spouse and what it means

to be a husband. Troy observed in his father two opposing natures: a sense of responsibility but

also a sense of elusive freedom that is prevented by that responsibility. As Troy notes about his

own father: “No, he was trapped and I think he knew it. But I’ll say this for him…he felt a

responsibility toward us. Maybe he ain’t treated us the way I felt he should have…but without

that responsibility he could have walked off and left us…made his own way” (1.4.2012). Troy’s

father is trapped from fulfilling and acting on his own desires and inclinations because of his

family. Troy admires his father’s firm and unwavering sense of responsibility, and Troy tries to

emulate that philosophy. However, unlike his father, Troy “makes his own way” with Alberta.

He still keeps up his duties toward his family, but he “walks off” every now and then to blow off

some steam and get a release with another woman.

Troy acknowledges that he is both following the “responsibility” pattern and leaving a

little something on the side for himself. After confessing his infidelity to Rose, he explains: “I’m

responsible for it. I done locked myself into a pattern trying to take care of you all that I forgot

about myself” (2.1.2020). Troy clearly values his own fulfillment over the well-being of his

family. Troy has got it all wrong. He can’t see that he has his priorities upside down. He regards

his family as his menial duty and his own selfish and immoral gratification as his reward,

whereas he should regard his family as his reward and fulfillment and forgot about himself

altogether. These excerpts and thoughts highlight Troy’s self-centered nature and expose his true
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nature by showing his lack of regard for his wife’s importance and the irony of “rewarding”

himself with another woman because he responsibly and faithfully provides for his own woman

and family.

Rose turns Troy’s ideas and assumptions on their head when she finally clears the air and

offers up her own hidden emotions and sentiments. She responds to his explanations of his affair

with a bold accusation similar to Cory’s: “You always talking about what you give…and what

you don’t have to give. But you take too. You take…and don’t even know nobody’s giving!”

(2.1.2021). Here Rose, in gut-wrenching fashion, accuses Troy of not reciprocating her love and

not appreciating her as a wife. She acknowledges that Troy technically supports the family by

bringing home the funds to keep things running, but he doesn’t support Rose emotionally as he

should. Rose finally confesses her own harbored thoughts that Troy takes and doesn’t give back.

He takes her love and he doesn’t respond to complete the cycle. He fails to return the affection

and emotional appreciation. Tragically, he doesn’t even realize what he is taking and not giving

back.

Another major aspect of Troy’s past is his experience and treatment in the world of

baseball and sports in general. Troy experienced racism, received unjust treatment, and resented

having to play in a segregated league. This made such a bad impression on him that he

internalized his feelings and let it carry over into his son’s life: “I don’t want him to be like me! I

want him to move as far away from my life as he can get…I decided seventeen years ago that

boy wasn’t getting involved in no sports. Not after what they did to me in the sports” (1.4.2007).

Troy doesn’t even give his son a chance to see if the situation might change. He sees his son as

just an extension of himself and someone that he can rule over. He is basically admitting that if

he wasn’t able to play, then his son isn’t going to play. He masks his intentions with the idea that
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he is protecting his son, but he is really depriving him.

Troy takes pride in his days in the Negro league: “Hell I know some teams Jackie

Robinson couldn’t even make” (1.1.1993), but he also understands the reality of the situation and

how he was cheated out of fulfilling his potential: “I’m talking about if you could play ball then

they ought to have let you play. Don’t care what color you were. Come telling me I come along

too early. If you could play…then they ought to have let you play” (1.1.1993). Troy’s line of

reasoning here becomes muddled though when he directly contradicts his own thinking by

discussing current players. Cory mentions that Hank Aaron, a notable black player, is playing

well, but Troy refuses to acknowledge it: “Hank Aaron ain’t nobody. That what you supposed to

do. That’s how you supposed to play the game. Ain’t nothing to it” (1.3.2004). Troy is absolutely

wrong because Hank Aaron is one of the greatest baseball players to date and a member of the

baseball hall of fame. Hank Aaron played for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, and Wilson

acknowledges in “The Play” section of the expository material at the beginning of the play that

the Milwaukee Braves won the world series in 1957 (1989). Hank Aaron basically carried the

team on his shoulders to win the World Series, and Troy is talking about how “Hank Aaron ain’t

nobody”.

These excerpts show that Troy shows both pride in his own playing but bitterness toward

other “colored” players who are playing in the big leagues now. He is jealous because they are

getting to do something he never was able to do: play in the major leagues. While Troy was good

enough to do so, he just was playing at the wrong time. He cannot let this go and continues to

harbor his own envy and his bruised ego. He cannot accept reality, and by not accepting reality

he embodies of sure sign of living in the past. He contradicts himself with his desire for equal

treatment and his jealousy of players getting to do what he didn’t and this contradictory thinking
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bleeds into his dealings and attitudes about his own son.

One of the most notable conflicts between Troy and Cory is Cory’s desire to play football

and Troy’s unwillingness to let him. Cory is succeeding and trying to do something good for

himself: “I get good grades, Pop. That’s why the recruiter wants to talk with you. You got to

keep up your grades to get recruited. This way I’ll be going to college. I’ll get a chance…”

(1.3.2005). Cory is doing something here that Troy never did: trying to better himself through

education. On top of that, he might be able to football on a college team and possibly a

professional team. Troy cannot fathom this situation. There is nothing in his past that dictates to

him how to think about it or how to respond to it. The only way he can relate to the situation is

by thinking that Cory is going to get mistreated in sports just like he did. Also Troy resents

Cory’s situation because Cory has the potential to do much more than he did. In one blow Cory

could get an education and set himself up to play professional football and in doing so be a better

man than Troy.

In light of this, Troy turns to his close-mindedness and the narrow way of thinking that

his experiences and lessons dictate the way to handle every situation. Cory pleads and tries to

reason with Troy: “Come on, Pop! I got to practice. I can’t work after school and play football

too. The team needs me. That’s what Coach Zellman say…” (1.3.2005). Troy responds in a way

that reinforces his narrowness and selfishness “I don’t care what nobody else say. I’m the boss…

you understand? I’m the boss around here. I do the only saying what counts” (1.3.2005). Troy

repeatedly abandons all reason to fall back to his own lessons. He has no guidelines in life other

than his own experiences. He sees the world and people around him through one specific lens.

Rose understands this, and although she does stand up to Troy in subtle ways, her efforts
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are in vain. She points out to Troy that “Times have changed from when you was young, Troy.

People change. The world’s changing around you and you can’t even see it” (1.4.2007). Rose

tries to enlighten Troy while telling him that he is acting foolishly and stubbornly. Troy won’t

hear any of it and only responds with a monologue about his plight and his duties. He resorts to

self-pity and continues to treat his provision of his family as a chore that is really centered

around him: “Woman…I do the best I can do…You all line up at the door with your hands out. I

give you the lint from my pockets... I go out. Make my way. Find my strength to carry me

through to the next Friday. That’s all I got, Rose. That’s all I got to give. I can’t give nothing

else” (1.4.2007). Troy completely disregards Rose’s suggestion that Troy is being blind. Instead

he feels entitled to pursue his own inclinations because of the support he is giving his family.

Troy says “That’s all I got to give. I can’t give nothing else” because he doesn’t know

how to give anything else. He doesn’t know how to give emotional support or show affection

because he has not experienced it himself. All he knows to give is his body and his money, and

this is not enough to keep a family intact.

Troy’s behavior cannot be blamed solely on his own conscious decisions, actions, and

attitudes. Wilson wants the audience to both condemn and pity Troy. Troy is a product not only

of his family situation, but of the harsh social climate blacks dealt with in the time period.

Wilson explicitly describes in the expository section at the beginning of the play the nature of the

situation: “They came strong, eager, searching. The city rejected them and they fled…They sold

the use of their muscles and their bodies…and in quiet desperation and vengeful pride, they

stole, and lived in pursuit of their own dream” (1989). Troy is also a product of this general

climate where one is doomed to fail. When Troy mentions that he is doing the best he can, he is

at least partially telling the truth. The blame for Troy’s shortcomings in Fences, and the blame
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for people’s shortcomings in life, never can be attributed to one person or thing. While much of

Troy’s makeup and character can be attributed to his past, some can be attributed to the uphill

battle all blacks were facing in the time period. However, this does not take away from Troy’s

weakness of using the past as a parameter for the present and thus depriving his wife and son

from leading a fulfilled life.

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Works Cited

Wilson, August. "Fences." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston:

Bedford / St. Martin's, 2011. 1988-2035. Print.