In the book “Fences”
Troy Maxson is an African American making his way through life working long
hours in a dead end job to support his family. Before that he was a young adult
going through life trying to pursue his dreams to become a professional
baseball player, something that just didn’t work out for Troy. He wound up
being kicked out of the league because he was black, this really caused Troy to
despise society. I think that Troy’s legacy was the values of a hard working
individual making his way through life and striving hard to love and support
his family and bringing his family closer together to protect them. Troy’s
legacy has evolved throughout the book. The first change stemming from when
Cory and Troy were having a conversation about black people playing sports,
which got Troy thinking about his past experiences. “The colored guy got to be
twice as good before he get on the team. That’s why I don’t want you to get all
tied up in them sports” (Wilson 34). Troy was trying to teach Cory a lesson but
since it was a different time period then when Troy was playing, Cory seemed to
have better luck in getting really involved in sports and didn't want to let go
of his dream of going to play for a college team. The big picture here is that
Troy was actually protecting Cory, you can’t really see it until you realize
that Troy wanted to save Cory from the heartbreak and the struggle of trying to
make it through that. Troy truly loved Cory, but it was hard for him to really
express that.
Another way Troy’s legacy evolved was when Troy began cheating on
Rose with another girl, a girl that made him feel like he was a new man and
that he could laugh out loud with her around. Like he had no priorities anymore.
“And I got to thinking that if I tried… I just might be able to steal second.
Do you understand after eighteen years I wanted to steal second” (Wilson 70). Here
we see Troy trying to explain to Rose that since he met her, he gave up his
dreams in life to settle down and make a family together. And after all that
time he grew tired, and he wanted to feel alive again. Something he hasn't felt
since his days playing baseball, which explains why Troy brings baseball into
his explanation. He was at first base his whole life, and that it was about
time that he decided to go out on a limb and steal second. Troy didn’t want to
see himself give up which is imprinted into his legacy, but the way he went
about showing it wasn’t the best.
The last part that really evolved Troy’s
legacy was after he died. Lyons got to experience Troy when he was prime and
still playing sports, so Lyons went about trying to tell Cory how amazing their
dad was out on the baseball field. That he wasn’t afraid of nothing, and you
can see in the book where Cory forgives Troy by accepting to continue on his
legacy and trying to avoid all the mistakes and challenges he had went through
when he was alive. Troy Maxson was a man that wasn’t afraid of mistakes, just
as long as he got it right in the end. “You got to take the crookeds with the
straights. Yeah, papa was something else” (Wilson 94).
In your blog you said "making his way through life and striving hard to love and support his family and bringing his family closer together to protect them." and I disagree with your point that he wanted to bring his family closer because he is the one who broke it apart. Cheating on Rose, kicking Cory outside the house, and not being there for Lyons is why the family broke apart. The only thing that brought them back together is his death. "Lyons got to experience Troy when he was prime and still playing sports, so Lyons went about trying to tell Cory how amazing their dad was out on the baseball field." this is a really good point and I think because of this talk from Lyons Cory changed his mind and attended the funeral
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