One of the greatest sources of disappointment in Troy’s life is the fact that he wasn’t allowed to play pro baseball. Though he was a homerun king of the N**** Leagues, he couldn’t graduate to the majors because of racial discrimination.
- 1 What sport did Troy son play in Fences?
- 2 What role does baseball play in Troy’s life?
- 3 Why did Troy stop playing baseball in Fences?
- 4 What does the baseball symbolize in Fences?
- 5 What is Troy’s connection to sports why is Troy bitter about baseball and sports in general?
- 6 What is Troy’s tragic flaw?
- 7 What was Cory’s strike one?
- 8 How metaphorical is August Wilson’s Fences?
- 9 What happens to Troy and Alberta’s baby?
- 10 What does baseball symbolize for Troy in Fences?
- 11 Where did Troy grow up in Fences?
- 12 How does Troy use baseball as a metaphor?
- 13 How many years was Troy in jail?
- 14 Why did Troy cheat on Rose?
- 15 What does the broken window mean in Fences?
- 16 What are Cory’s 3 strikes in fences?
- 17 Does Troy hit Cory?
- 18 What happened to Troy’s mother in Fences?
- 19 Did Cory go to Troy’s funeral?
- 20 Why did Troy go to jail in Fences?
- 21 Why is Troy so bitter when it comes to baseball?
- 22 Why is Troy a hypocrite?
- 23 Is Troy a hero or a villain?
- 24 Is Troy a good man in Fences?
- 25 What does the trumpet symbolize in Fences?
- 26 What is the irony in Fences?
- 27 Why does Rose say you’re a womanless man?
- 28 How does Troy embarrass Rose?
- 29 What does the baseball symbolize?
- 30 What does death symbolize in Fences?
- 31 How does Rose feel about Troy?
- 32 Why does Bono look up to Troy?
- 33 Why did Troy leave home at 14?
- 34 How old was Cory in Fences?
- 35 How did Troy learn about baseball?
- 36 What sport did Troy play when he was younger?
- 37 How did Troy end up in jail?
- 38 Did Rose leave Troy?
- 39 What mistake does Rose admit making in her marriage?
- 40 Was Fences based on a true story?
- 41 What does the fence mean to Rose?
- 42 What is Gabriel’s role in Fences?
- 43 What does Rose need protection from in Fences?
- 44 Is Troy jealous of Cory?
- 45 Why did Troy stop playing baseball in fences?
- 46 What is the relationship between Troy and Lyons?
- 47 What was Cory’s strike one?
- 48 What does Rose ask Troy to do for Cory?
- 49 What does Lyons tell Cory that Troy always said about trouble?
- 50 How does Rose respond to Cory?
- 51 Does Cory forgive Troy?
- 52 Does Lyons go to jail?
- 53 What happens to Troy and Alberta’s baby?
- 54 Who does Troy sleep with in Fences?
What sport did Troy son play in Fences?
Troy’s son, fathered before Troy’s time in jail with a woman Troy met before Troy became a baseball player and before he met Rose. Lyons is an ambitious and talented jazz musician. He grew up without Troy for much of his childhood because Troy was in prison.
What role does baseball play in Troy’s life?
To Troy, it is enough of an injury that the Major Leagues were segregated during his prime. He sees baseball as the best time of his life, but also the death of his dreams and hopes. When Cory was born, Troy promised he would not allow his son to experience the same disappointment he was subjected to in baseball.
Why did Troy stop playing baseball in Fences?
Rose tries to get Troy to admit that he was too old to play for the Major Leagues and that times have changed since the years Troy was prohibited from the Major Leagues because of the color of his skin. Troy will not agree with Rose.
What does the baseball symbolize in Fences?
Examining the meaning of baseball in Fences enables us to get a better understanding of Troy’s life, but also of any other African American in that time and even of America then and today. Elias describes this by claiming that baseball is a “revealing metaphor for American society and values” (Elias 8).
What is Troy’s connection to sports why is Troy bitter about baseball and sports in general?
Why is Troy bitter about baseball and sports in general? Because he couldn’t be part of them because of the color of his skin. Troy goes on and on about wrestling with death.
What is Troy’s tragic flaw?
Troy’s tragic flaw was his failure to effectively use the metaphoric fence. Rose used a fence to bring people together and to keep them safe as she did by accepting Raynell as her own child.
What was Cory’s strike one?
Cory picks up Troy’s bat and dares his father to get closer. Troy lunges at Cory. His son swings the bat and misses (strike one). He does it again and misses once more (strike two).
How metaphorical is August Wilson’s Fences?
Actually, the image of “fences” works in various ways in the play; it is functioned as a metaphor through which Wilson reveals the inner reality of the characters and their psychological motivation. Thus, “fences” provide relationships, character psychology, context and symbolic models.
What happens to Troy and Alberta’s baby?
Rose warns Troy that he will have to answer to his misdeed. The phone rings and Rose answers it. Rose learns from the hospital that Alberta had a healthy baby girl but Alberta died during childbirth. Troy confronts the imaginary character, Death, out loud again.
What does baseball symbolize for Troy in Fences?
Troy often thinks about life and death in terms of baseball. He describes Death as “a fastball on the outside corner” (1.1. 82) and claims he could always hit a homerun off this kind of pitch back in his heyday. Here he uses the idea of baseball to almost taunt Death, daring it to come for him.
Where did Troy grow up in Fences?
Biography. Troy Maxson was born in Alabama in 1904, and he grew up in a working-class African-American family of eleven children; his mother left the home when Troy was seven.
How does Troy use baseball as a metaphor?
Troy uses baseball metaphors to make sense of his personal issues. Baseball still haunts Troy’s being. Troy, for example, often thinks about life and death in terms of baseball. He sees Death as, “a fastball on the outside corner.” He thinks he could always make a homerun back in the old days, hence cheating death.
How many years was Troy in jail?
KEYES: Troy Maxson served 15 years in prison for murder before meeting Rose and taking a job as a garbage man in Pittsburgh. Now he, like so many other poor blacks in 1957, struggles to eke an existence in a city that doesn’t embrace them. Still, Troy’s a captivating man, despite these challenges.
Why did Troy cheat on Rose?
After Troy explains that he had an affair because he had been “standing in the same place for eighteen years” and felt disappointed in his life, Rose responds.
What does the broken window mean in Fences?
Through his travail, Troy builds wooden fences around his small backyard, from time to time glancing up at a neighbor’s broken window: shattered glass, representing his aspirations. These fences signify the twin bulwarks of staving off pain and preventing loss, though a mere fence can do neither.
What are Cory’s 3 strikes in fences?
3 strikes – Troy uses the baseball analogy of three strikes and your out over and over. He believes that he was born with 2 strikes against him and he has to always been watching out for strike 3 because strike 3 means death.
Does Troy hit Cory?
Troy physically attacks Cory. Cory swings at Troy with a baseball bat but does not hit Troy because he would probably kill him.
What happened to Troy’s mother in Fences?
One night, Troy’s mother sneaked out of the house after his father had gone to sleep, and never came back—even though she told Troy she’d return to take him with her.
Did Cory go to Troy’s funeral?
Cory refuses to go to Troy’s funeral even though he made the journey to visit home for the first time in almost eight years. Cory’s last memories of the Maxson household were bitter and oppressive.
Why did Troy go to jail in Fences?
Troy went to jail in the play Fences for murder. He accidentally killed a man while attempting to rob him.
Why is Troy so bitter when it comes to baseball?
Why is Troy so bitter when it comes to Baseball? What does he blame for the loss of his dream? -According to Troy, he was an amazing baseball player but he came along too early when blacks weren’t allowed to play, he says if he was white he would be in the major leagues.
Why is Troy a hypocrite?
Another duality is Troy’s hypocrisy. Troy demands that his loved ones live practical, responsible lives while he has the freedom to have an affair, rebel against racist practices of his employers by protesting the limitation of Black workers as lifters not drivers on the trash trucks.
Is Troy a hero or a villain?
In August Wilson’s Fences, Troy Maxson is more complex than that. He has both good and bad qualities. He is both a hero and a villain. Because of this, Troy can be considered an antihero.
Is Troy a good man in Fences?
It has to be noted that Troy Maxson isn’t a bad man. His actions and speech may come off as cruel and callous but he also has admirable and likeable qualities. He is firmly responsible in his duty towards his family as a provider. He is funny and passionate and listening to him tell stories is hypnotizing.
What does the trumpet symbolize in Fences?
Throughout the play he’s gone around talking about judgment day. Gabriel always carries around a trumpet and says St. Peter told him to blow the horn when it’s time to open heaven’s gates for the day of judgment. So Gabriel decides that the day of his brother’s funeral is the day of judgment for everybody.
What is the irony in Fences?
The prevailing irony in Fences is that it is the protagonist himself, Troy Maxson, and not society that provides the obstacles or “fences” in his life that keep him hemmed in and unfulfilled emotionally. The fence between Troy and his wife Rose is Troy’s infidelity.
Why does Rose say you’re a womanless man?
Rose decides that the baby is innocent and shouldn’t be blamed for Troy’s sins, saying, “you can’t visit the sins of the father upon the child this child got a mother, but you’re a womanless man.” She takes in Troy’s baby as her own child, but refuses to honor her partnership with Troy.
How does Troy embarrass Rose?
Troy embarrasses Rose by telling Bono how much he loves his wife and brags that on Monday morning when it is time for work, he’ll still be making love to her.
What does the baseball symbolize?
Mark Twain wrote at the turn of the century that baseball was ”the very symbol of the outward and visible expression of the drive and push and rush and struggle of the raging, tearing, booming 19th century.
What does death symbolize in Fences?
In this play, Death represents the obstacles keeping Troy from happiness. Death had a role in Troy’s past when he was going through hard times. Troy threatened Death when his relationship with Rose was struggling. At the end of the play, Death finally conquers Troy.
How does Rose feel about Troy?
Rose still loves Troy, but felt and dealt with the pain that Troy brought after the affair and wants to show her children that Troy was still good after all the mistakes.
Why does Bono look up to Troy?
Ever since Bono observed Troy’s decision to take Rose’s hand in marriage, Bono admired his sensibility and wisdom. Troy, though attractive to many women, chose to commit himself to Rose, and this signaled to Bono that he was a man worth following: that Troy would lead Bono somewhere prosperous in life.
Why did Troy leave home at 14?
Troy was afraid of his father until that moment. At that moment, however, Troy believes he became a man. He could no longer live under the roof with a man that would commit these unacceptable acts, so he left home to be on his own, though he was homeless and broke, with no ties or family elsewhere.
How old was Cory in Fences?
In Fences, Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) is a 53-year-old African-American man living in Pittsburgh in the 1950s. He lives with his wife, Rose (Viola Davis), and their 17-year-old son Cory (Jovan Adepo). He has an older son, Lyons (Russell Hornsby), from a previous marriage.
How did Troy learn about baseball?
Troy learned to play baseball in jail and met his best friend Bono. Troy would go on to play baseball in the segregated Negro Leagues but aged out before he could play in the integrated Major Leagues for a career.
What sport did Troy play when he was younger?
Bono.” Bono and Troy met in jail, where Troy learned to play baseball. Bono is the only character in Fences who remembers, first-hand, Troy’s glory days of hitting homeruns in the Negro Leagues.
How did Troy end up in jail?
Troy was born into a large, poor family with only an abusive, but hardworking father as a caretaker. He did not have any resources when he had to leave his father’s house and he ended up in jail because he committed petty crimes to survive.
Did Rose leave Troy?
Rose doesn’t leave Troy when she learns about Alberta’s pregnancy, but she stops talking to him. Alberta dies in childbirth, and Troy brings the baby home. Rose graciously takes the little girl, Raynell, in as her own. Troy ends up driving Cory from home due to his demands and lack of support.
What mistake does Rose admit making in her marriage?
22) On page 98, Rose admits that her mistake was not forcing Troy to make room for her in their lives/marriage: “That was my first mistake. Not to make him leave some room for me. For my part in the matter.”
Was Fences based on a true story?
Fences tells a story that many American families can relate to, but that doesn’t mean that Fences is a true story. In fact, Fences is based on a play by the same name from renowned playwright August Wilson.
What does the fence mean to Rose?
To Rose, a fence is a symbol of her love and her desire for a fence indicates that Rose represents love and nurturing. Troy and Cory on the other hand think the fence is a drag and reluctantly work on finishing Rose’s project. Bono also observes that to some people, fences keep people out and push people away.
What is Gabriel’s role in Fences?
In August Wilson’s play Fences, which Wilson began writing in 1983, Gabriel’s role in the play is as a scapegoat for the feelings of shame and…
What does Rose need protection from in Fences?
Rose hangs laundry in the yard on Saturday morning. She sings a song asking Jesus to protect her like a fence. Troy and Rose talk about the numbers, or lottery game, that Rose and Lyons play.
Is Troy jealous of Cory?
Troy is determined not to let Cory play sports and ruin his life. Cory just thinks that Troy is just jealous of him. Throughout the play, Troy and Cory share different views and don’t get along. This scene functions to show that Cory and Troy share a turbulent relationship in which they both dislike each other.
Why did Troy stop playing baseball in fences?
Rose tries to get Troy to admit that he was too old to play for the Major Leagues and that times have changed since the years Troy was prohibited from the Major Leagues because of the color of his skin. Troy will not agree with Rose.
What is the relationship between Troy and Lyons?
Lyons is Troy’s son from a previous relationship. Troy had Lyons when he was still homeless and squatting in a shack by the river. Lyons’s mother moved on to another man while Troy was in prison, so Troy has never been much of a father to Lyons.
What was Cory’s strike one?
Cory picks up Troy’s bat and dares his father to get closer. Troy lunges at Cory. His son swings the bat and misses (strike one). He does it again and misses once more (strike two).
What does Rose ask Troy to do for Cory?
What does Rose ask Troy to do for Cory? Sign the papers for the recruiter so Cory can be recruited to college football.
What does Lyons tell Cory that Troy always said about trouble?
“You got to take the crookeds with the straights,” Lyons tells Cory (2.5. 57). Lyons says Troy used to say that whenever he struck out. He reminisces about a time when Troy struck out three times in a row, but on the fourth time at bat he knocked the ball out of the park.
How does Rose respond to Cory?
How does Rose convince Cory to attend the funeral? She convinces him by telling him not attending isn’t a manly thing. How has Rose grown as a woman over the past eight years? She is more patient, she has become a good mother, and she has learned from her past and has now become a better person.
Does Cory forgive Troy?
Similar to the way Troy raised his son Cory in play Fences by August Wilson. Cory made the right decision forgiving Troy because it is the best for his future health to move on, to not repeat what his father has done, and to know what is best for Raynell and Rose.
Does Lyons go to jail?
Too narrowly focused on becoming a musician, Lyons has to resort to crime (cashing other peoples’ checks) in order to make ends meet. Following in his father’s footsteps, Lyons ends up in jail.
What happens to Troy and Alberta’s baby?
Rose warns Troy that he will have to answer to his misdeed. The phone rings and Rose answers it. Rose learns from the hospital that Alberta had a healthy baby girl but Alberta died during childbirth. Troy confronts the imaginary character, Death, out loud again.
Who does Troy sleep with in Fences?
He destroys his son’s chance at a college football scholarship, believing whites won’t let Cory play. Then there’s Troy’s infidelity with the Florida gal with hips as wide as the Mississippi, after 18 years of marriage to Rose. Mr. JONES: He has the affair because he just wants, he wants.