Essay on August Wilson’s play Fences by Melanie Jung

Troy does not want to accept the changes in the world because that would cause him to accept the death of his own dreams.
After reading the play carefully it becomes pretty obvious to me that Troy, the main character in the play, a black African – American, father of two children, cannot accept the changes in the world. That is, in my opinion, the reason why he tries to fence in his family. Especially Cory, by not giving him the chance to become a successful sports player and he also can’t accept that someone is able to live as a musician like his son Lyons wants to. The storyline plays in America, in 1957, where the blacks began to stand up for their …show more content…

Lyons promises to give it back to him as soon as his wife earns some own money, but in Troy’s opinion he lives his life incorrect by trying to become a famous Blues musician. Troy does not even try to support him, he doesn’t watch him playing one time. To be a musician is for Troy not the right way of living. Troy wants his children to work in proper jobs, like he does it or did it once on a farm as a crops worker where he had to live under a strict regime of his father.
There is another part in the play where Troy shows his disbelief in the changes in the world. In Act One, Scene One, he is complaining about his momentary position in his job as a garbage collector, he is angry about the situation that only white men are apparently good enough to drive a truck and the coloured ones are subdivided in the effort of lifting. But his fixed way of thinking is going to change a little when he, after asking his boss to become a driver, in Act one, Scene Four, finally gets his promotion for being a driver.
In my opinion, Troy doesn’t give his sons the parental support, because he couldn’t live his dreams, so he won’t let them have the chance either. He doesn’t let Cory play football and he doesn’t give Lyons the opportunity to prove his talent. He still lives in the past and believes to do the right thing, but the right thing for him isn’t the right one for his sons. Times have changed and so have the possibilities for coloured