Bryan Westfield Prof. Ashley Lear HU142 24 November 2014 Troy Maxson a Tragic Hero Troy Maxson is the main character in August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Fences. The play revolves around the Maxson’s, an African-American family living in Pittsburgh, post-World War Two, in the late 1950’s. Troy’s family consists of his mentally handicapped brother (Gabriel), a loyal, loving wife (Rose), and two sons, one of which is extremely lazy (Lyon), and finally a talented, hardworking son (Cory). Fences
August Wilson (1945-2005) was known as one the most distinguished black American dramatists in the second half of the twentieth century. Fences was perhaps one of the most important and popular play sets produced by Wilson and won many awards including the famous Pulitzer.1 During this particular timeframe black art was not very recognized in the American theatre. Wilson is recognized till this day for his efforts to bring diversity in the American theatre and not only did he enrich the American
Is it worth more than it’s cost? In the play The Piano Lesson by August Wilson there is an ongoing family feud between the two main characters Bernice and her brother Boy Willie. In order for Boy willie to get his land he needs some extra cash. However in order for Boy Willie to get the extra cash to buy his land he has to sell his family's grand piano. In Boy willies view point of the piano it is just a regular old piano to sell for quick cash, but to Bernice it is a priceless family heirloom that
Review Interview of August Wilson Frederick August Kittel, commonly referred to as August Wilson wrote the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play, Fences. Fences can be summarized that the main character, Troy, is brawling between himself, his family, and his financial issues. During Wilson’s interview with The Paris Review, the interview asks the question: “If you had to construct an imaginary playwright, with what qualities would you endow him or her? (The Paris Review 13)” Wilson responded with
August Wilson was a noted playwright, he was born Frederick August Kittel in Pennsylvania on April 27, 1945 to a African-American mother, Daisy Wilson, and a German immigrant father Frederick Kittel. The first play he ever wrote was Jitney, in 1979, and has flustered from them on. He has received multiple awards and recognition for his work. His plays demonstrated African-American struggles, importance of self-identity, which is key for blacks in that period of time, and his plays embraced African-American
Rose and Women in the 1950s Set in the 1950s, “Fences” portrays a story of a black American community and specifically opens the audience to Troy Maxson’s family’s dynamics. Troy, a philandering, has-been of a baseball player, is married to Rose. Rose, a key character in this play, embodies the typical woman of the 1950s. The play itself seems to marginalize women to some extent. Rose is the only major female character, and much of the time she takes second place to the main action involving
loved ones and family is of the upmost importance. These struggles are depicted by the character Troy in the play Fences by August Wilson. The setting for Fences begins in the 1950's at a time in the United States when racism is still prevalent in society (Fences). Troy is a fifty-three year old African American male. He is a very large human with thick, heavy hands (Wilson 1836). Troy encounters multitudinous struggles as a father. This fight is ongoing and common in not only his life but in the
One theme that shared between Fences and “I Remember Papa” is racial inequality affecting the family. This is illustrated throughout both texts often. In Fences, Troy deals with racial inequality at work and that leads to a different attitude at home. He is more angry and fed up with racism. In addition, in Fences, racial inequality is Troy’s reason to not allow Cory to play football. He feels that he will never have a fair chance because he is black and that he might as well do something else
with his wife Rose in a two-story brick home on the edge of the city with his children and his brother Gabriel. He worked for the sanitation department lifting heavy garbage into the truck each day, a tough laboring job for a man in his 50s. August Wilson, The writer of Fences, illustrates Troy as a quite stubborn man; but Troy was intelligent, he had a good heart and took care of his family, Troy is a tragic hero that lives his life thinking the world revolves around him. His apparent personality
In the movie, The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, there was a handful of characters with strongly different personalities. Each character represented strength, anger, and stubbornness. By looking at these characteristics we can see the portrayal of men and women in modern day society. Of course, every family has their disputes, but in this case it is over a piano. It all starts when Boy Willie traveled all the way from Pittsburgh to Mississippi to see his uncle Doaker, sister Berniece, and the family’s