Don't Strike Out

What is a legacy? A legacy is what someone leaves behind when they are no longer present on earth. While reading through Fences you learn a lot about the idea of a legacy and how a persons actions and personality can effect it. Troys legacy was to put everything that you can into your life to make sure you are secure and satisfied and to never strike out. When reading about Troy in the beginning of the play we start to learn a little about Troys life and how much work he has to put into his life. He faces discrimination in the work place, an abusive father, a mother who abandoned him and getting a women pregnant that wasn't wife. He faced a lot of things that turned him into the man he was. Although some parts of Troy aren't the best and he can show a lot of tough love towards his sons, its all to give them a better future than he did.

I believe that Troy left the biggest impact on Cory. This is because Troy saw a lot of himself in Cory, they both had similar dream of making sports a priority in their lives. This is one of the biggest reasons why Troy was so hard on Cory. Troy wanted to teach Cory everything he could so that he knew how to take care of a family and to have a steady job in life. Although there were things that Troy did wrong in his life he always had the best intentions for Cory. I truly think that Cory realized at the end of the book how much of an impact his dad had on shaping him into the man he is. No matter what the situation was for Troy and Cory, Troy always wanted to make Cory a better man than he was. "Your daddy wanted you to be everything he wasn't…and at the same time he was trying to make you everything he was. I don’t know if he was right or wrong…but I do know that he meant to do more good than he meant to do harm.” (Wilson 97). This shows that Troy had nothing but good intention for Cory his whole life and that will live on with Cory and shape him to take the good parts of what his dad taught him but also to learn what not to do from his dads actions in the past.

Troy legacy was also shown when the women he got pregnant died giving birth and he was left with the baby. He took on the responsibility of the child and took the baby into him home because she was his daughter and his morals would not let him leave her behind. "Shes my daughter, rose. My own flesh and blood. I can't deny her no more than I can deny them boys"(Wilson 79). He knew in his mind that it would be a huge responsibility in life but he also knew that in his heart he couldn't leave that girl without a family to support her

Overall, I believe that Troy left a very positive legacy into the whole family. Without Troy giving everything he had in life to make sure his family was well feed and secure, they wouldn't be the people they are. Troy made sure to not let the boys be who he was but also make sure the boys had the strong realization of what it means to be a man and step up to the plate when it came down to life is throwing you a fast ball and to not strike out.  

The Right of Happiness

Throughout the Fences book we see very different views of happiness for each character. For Troy, happiness is a goal that you achieve once  you have everything that you want in life. Troy seemed to forget about his happiness after having children and having to be the man of the house & take care of everyone. Once he found this new girl things seem to change for him because he was stepping out of his zone he's been in for so long and see a different side of life with no responsibilities or worries, and for Troy that seems to be what happiness is for him. On the other hand, Rose is someone who believes happiness comes from your family and people around you. "...other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you"(Wilson 61). I also think that Rose had to settle for this happiness because she explained to troy how she invested everything into him to be able to have a stable family and how she knew Troy wasn't exactly the perfect man to invest in. This shows how much her family means to her and how she gets happiness from being with them and that's why she wants to keep them all in.

Our current society sees happiness as something that you have to go out into the world and find yourself to achieve. I believe that happiness is over glamorized. With social networks many people see pictures and these beautiful profiles of peoples everyday lives and assume that since they are smiling and experiencing new things in life, that they are happy. When in reality happiness should be something that is given to your throughout your life no matter your situation. It is okay to be sad or emotional at times. The reason why our society as seeing being sad as a bad thing is because most people aren't going to post pictures of all the sad times in their life. This is making happiness so over glamorized since all we are seeing is the good and not the bad.

People shouldn't have to look at others to gain happiness, people should be happy with the small and big things they have in their life. A quote that I found really useful is "Be happy. Not because everything is good, but because you can see the good in everything". This connects with our society because not everything in life is going to work out but being able to find the good in every situation is important because happiness is a right and not something that has to be earned. That quote also connects to Fences because I feel that once we start reading more, Rose and all of the other characters are going to be able to see  the good in the situation that they are in even though their lives may be harder than most, there is still so much good.

The Breadwinner

Troy is very much the breadwinner in his family. He is the one who handles the money and who earns the money. He goes to work everyday as a garbage man and comes home to his wife Rose and younger son Cory. At that time period that was what was expected of a man, they are suppose to go out and work while the women stay at home and do household duties. So Troy was nothing out of the ordinary for his time period. Troy feels very strong about his role as the breadwinner and isn't modest about it at all. "You all line up at the door with your hands out. I give you the lint from my pockets. I give you my sweat and my blood. I ain't got no tears. I done spent them all...I find my strength to carry me through to the next Friday"(Wilson 40). Troy feels that he does everything for the whole family and works for everything that they have. He does it because he knows that he has to or else they would be living on the streets with no food so he does this to provide and be a man for his family. I don't find Troy weak in this area at all because what he is saying is all very true. If he didn't go to work every morning, then their would be no house, food or things that their family needed, so he is doing the best he can to provide. This is very different from where our society is today. This is because in almost every common household, both the man and the woman are considered the breadwinners and both bring home money for their families. If Troy lived in our time today I don't think he would feel comfortable with Rose also being the bread winner because he feels that it is his duty to provide for his family.