Prompt 2 Blog Post - Jose Enciso
This prompt centers around the main character of Fences: Troy Maxson. Troy Maxson is an African American man in his 50's. He works as a garbage man and makes just enough to get by. He loves and cares about his family dearly, but is unsatisfied with his life. He is also disappointed in himself. This is because of the fact that he caught an easy break and basically got a free house as a result of his younger brother (Gabriel) going to war and getting injured in the head. The product of this injury is dubbed by Troy as a "Metal plate in his head", and Gabriel now isn't completely right mentally. This bothers Troy so much because he knows that if it wasn't for the money from his brother, who knows where his family would be. Troy even says "That's the only way I got a roof over my head... cause of that metal plate."(28). I think Troy is frustrated because he is working so hard and doing his best, but still is coming up short. In our society, Troy would be just fine. African Americans are obviously treated with much more respect now and it isn't as difficult to survive anymore. I think the reason he's so upset about it is because society in that time period expected the man to work, pay bills, etc. If he can't provide, he feels like a failure but you can tell he's trying his hardest. I think Troy is a good man, but i wouldn't be surprised to see him to slip up. It seems like he's frustrated with his life and something's going to give. Also I think his effort and drive are strong, but his finances and status are weak. All in all, Troy isn't a bad guy, what do you think?
I agree that Troy is really frustrated in his current period of life. It's hard for him to show love when he's struggling to provide for his family. Even though no one's really suffering, he feels like he comes short every time and gets mad at his kids because he's mad at himself.
ReplyDelete