Fences August Wilson Character Analysis

Throughout the years, African Americans have always wanted to live the American Dream. Fences by August Wilson is a play about a man, Troy Maxson, who never gets his chance to play in the major league simply because he is African American. Throughout the story, Troy uses baseball as an analogy for his life. Troy is very reluctant to let his son, Cory, play football in college while his wife, Rose, just wants what is best for her only child. In this story, the character’s can be classified by the roles they play. All of the characters are trying to reach the goal of living the American Dream. This play is written in 1983, but the setting is in the 1950’s. Since the play’s setting is in the 1950’s, white people still think of black people as less important.This play allows white people to realize a black man’s …show more content…
Troy’s role throughout the play is portrayed as a tragic hero. Troy is considered to be a tragic hero because he is not living the American Dream he aspires to be. Troy would receive his brother’s, Gabe, $3,000 check for disability, but when Gabe moved out Tory stopped receiving these checks. Troy ends up sending Gabe to a mental institution which allows Troy to get half of Gabe’s disability checks. This fact allows the readers to understand how Troy can also be greedy. Since Troy is greedy he seeks out a mistress, who he ends up having a child with, in order to fill his happiness he lost when he retired from playing baseball. Troy’s character is very arrogant. He is always acting as if he is better than everyone. Troy believes he is should have been able to play in the major league, not just the Negro League. Troy talks about Jackie Robinson and how he was not even a good baseball player, “I done seen a hundred niggers play baseball better than Jackie Robinson. Hell, I know soe teams