Troy’s sense of happiness seems to be a little different
than others in Fences. He thinks of
life as a game of baseball. "'I stood on first base for eighteen years and
I thought...well, goddamn it...go on for it'" (70). That quote shows that his
thought of first base was getting married, being with someone who truly makes
you happy, having kids, and supporting the family. Another quote would be “But…
you born with two strikes on you before you come to the plate. You got to guard
it closely… always looking for the curve-ball on the inside corner. You can’t
afford to let none get past you. You can’t afford a call strike” (69). Compared
to this book, our modern society portrays happiness in a similar but different
way. In our modern society, Troy would be getting the bare minimum of
happiness. To be above and beyond happiness nowadays, you would be married,
have kids, be working the job or career that you always dreamed of, and be
earning a decent amount of money. Happiness of very over glamorized. Society always
portrays being a celebrity as being the happiest of all. In reality, Troy’s
idea of happiness is really all you need.
The main difference between happiness in modern day society
and Troy’s idea of happiness would be money. Money is seen as everyone’s ticket
to happiness. Even if you make enough to get by every day, people still wish
they made enough to be able to buy all the extravagant things. In Troy’s world,
as long as you’re making enough to feed your family and provide for them, then
that is good enough.
I think that your comparison of celebrities really helped provide an example of all your points. It helped develop your idea that in Troy’s world, happiness is directly related to money. “Don’t you tell me about no taking and giving.” (72). This quote shows how angry Troy was that Rose claimed that he didn’t give. Troy feels that because he is supplying the money, then his family is happy. He does not understand that there is more to happiness than just money.
ReplyDeleteGood job, I think that Troy jealous of his son is also depriving his son of his happiness and cheating on his wife somewhat also deprived rose of her happiness
ReplyDeleteI cant really understand your thoughts on todays society and happiness. But the I dead you talked about when you were talking about the book was spot on I think. I think some people thing of happiness different. For example some people would be happy being married with Rose, but obviously Troy wasn't.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your point where you say that for Troy money was happiness. In text Troy is with some other girl just because it makes him happy. Where he says that, "I can sit up in her in house and laugh." His happiness is not money but he is happy when he stays away from all the money pressure. As he says, "I ain't got to wonder how I'm gonna pay the bills or get the roof fixed."
ReplyDelete