Troy

In Troy's society a man has to work to no end and provide for his family, he should have children and live in some sort of substantial housing.  He works for his family and no one else.  Troy's life has been hard and filled with many disappointments.  After his professional sports career had ended Troy lived to work for his wife Rose and two sons Cory and Lyons.  Leaving behind baseball and not looking back, he believed in his head that African-Americans will never be accepted in sports.  He then tries to brand that into everyone's head that an African-American will never be on the same level as a white man, that they will never be accepted and cannot even try to compete against a white man.  With this life experience however it's made him a decent person.  He doesn't take anything for granted and understands the value of money and the people around him.  With the money he makes being a garbage man he supports Rose, Cory and his friend Gabriel.  He does his best to live up to people's expectations but can't do much with the salary of a garbage man.  He wants his son to be the best man he can be, and wants him to understand the value of money and the importance of being an individual. For example " TROY: Two hundred dollars, huh? CORY: That ain't that much, Pop..... CORY: Aw, Pop. You got money. I know you do. TROY: Where I got it at, huh? CORY: You got it in the bank. TROY: You wanna see my bankbook?  You wanna see that seventy-three dollars and twenty-two cents I got sitting up in there." (Wilson 32).  Cory tries to convince his father to buy a TV and explain to him how he should pay for it.  Troy however who is troubled by this explains to Cory why he will not buy it and why the way Cory think he should buy it won't work.  Through this scene Troy tries to teach Cory many lessons including the role of African-Americans in their current society.  He tries to tell him why what he wants to do will not work.  Even though he wants the best for his son he's a little unreasonable and somewhat racist in a changing world.  He wouldn't do well in today's society, he's a very stubborn and mildly racist person,  he's not accepting of white people and wants this world were black men work minimum wage jobs such as a builder or mechanic to earn a living.  He doesn't want his son to go to college to learn and play sports but expects his son to get somewhere in life.  Even though he is a strong and proud man he still has many flaws just like any other man, but what he does, he does for his family.