Happiness in Fences means
doing what you want without anyone stopping you. We see how many don’t get the happiness
they want, like when Cory is not allowed to play football because his father wants
him to work, Cory feels his father took away his one happiness in life. We can
also see this with Troy as he tries to find someone that can make him feel
happy. But rose is married to him and feels betrayed because he is cheating on
her with another woman and having his baby. We can see how this effects Troy’s “happiness”
because now he can’t do what he wants anymore, he needs to be responsible for
his wife and kids. But if we look at Gabriel and roses definition of happiness,
happiness is being around those who love you the most, but he can get others to
see the same. We see how rose is not happy because Troy is never coming
straight home from work.
If we compare this to society’s definition of
happiness, it doesn’t have that much of a difference. Society has taught us
that “happiness” can only be achieved when you get everything you want or do
whatever you want with no one to stop you. But happiness doesn’t work like
that, it is much more complicated. There are many who have everything and are
still not happy, and those who have nothing but can always smile. We see
happiness shared through the kindness of others as they share their stories
with us. There are many who searched for the definition or meaning of
happiness, but it cannot be described as a single act, but how an act makes
others happy. So, no matter how hard you pursue happiness, it can only be found
once you stop looking so hard.
I agree with you when you said that Troy took away Cory's happiness when taking away his football career because I feel like if Cory was going to still have the football career that he wanted, he would be happy with being at home. You can also kind of see that whenever Cory is home when Troy is home, he isn't really happy because in most of the scenes that we've read with Cory being home with Troy is, we see that Troy is usually yelling at Cory because he wants to play football or is talking back to him.
ReplyDeleteI whole heartedly agree with this post, especially that part where getting things doesn't create happiness but human interaction does. I fear we life in a society where the human element is almost being taken out of life, we sit behind computers all day long, texting and talking over the phone but we loose the joy from actually being with a dear friend or meeting someone new.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that everyone's happiness clashes with other's.As you have said, "We see how many don’t get the happiness they want, like when Cory is not allowed to play football because his father wants him to work, Cory feels his father took away his one happiness in life." Same is the case with Troy as he is taking away Roses's happiness. Rose's happiness was with Troy, like she says,"I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom. And it didn't take me no eighteen years to find out the soil was hard and rocky and it wasn't never gonna bloom."
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