Essay On Father And Son Relationship In August Wilson's Fences

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Despite his wickedness, an ounce of truth shines in Shakespeare’s Claudius when he reminds the grieving Hamlet “your father lost a father, that father lost, lost his.” (Shakespeare 1.2.93-94). One of the most identifiable relationships in literature remains that of father and child: the aforementioned Hamlet Sr. and Hamlet Jr., Atticus and Scout, Abraham, and Isaac, etc. However, this relationship is put under a microscope by August Wilson, who seemingly suggests that for the son to grow into himself, this relationship must break rather than maintain its familial ties. In Fences, August Wilson uses the conflicts between Troy and Cory Maxson to depict the relationships between father and son and the unavoidable cycle, but absolute necessity of its deterioration. Wilson first introduces this idea in the first act, using one of Troy’s many monologues to reveal how Troy himself established his identity through the experience of fighting with and then abandoning his father. Troy reveals that he “was scared of [his] daddy” (Wilson 1.4.282-283). That is, until at the age of fourteen, while Troy was seeing a young girl, his father …show more content…
“Troy’s experience with baseball,” as noted by James Robert Saunders in I Done Seen a Hundred Niggers Play Baseball Better Than Jackie Robinson: Troy Maxson's Plea in August Wilson's Fences, “has left him jaded” which forces him “to discourage his son from accepting [his] athletic scholarship” (16). Troy symbolizes the voice of previous generations, discouraging followers of MLK and Malcom X from hoping too high for equality. Older generations witnessed how unequal things were, the likelihood of that changing seemed slim to none in their eyes. But, just as Cory must pursue regardless to become his own man, so did the younger generations to find their own mark and
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