“Fences” by August Wilson is a play written about a family from Philadelphia. Troy Maxson, the father, struggles in his relationships throughout the story. A recurring question that arises for readers is whether or not Troy loves his younger son, Cory. The truth is, Troy loves his son, but he shows it in unconventional ways. Troy is unfamiliar with how to show love properly due to the lack of this in his own childhood. Troy also spent a lot of his life homeless and finds himself prioritizing providing a home and money for his family. Later in Troy’s life, he struggled with his experiences in baseball and this affected his perspective and support of his son, Cory’s,  involvement in sports. 

Troy lived a life raised by his own father who was an abusive man. His mother left him when he was a young boy, and his father neglected to provide the bare minimum for his family. When his father raped a young girl when Troy was 14, he was forced to run away from home, becoming a homeless person. The life that Troy had when he grew up was not what he wanted for his son Cory. He wanted to help Cory with the knowledge he gained in his own life. “The white man ain’t gonna let you get nowhere with that football noway. You go on and get your book-learning so you can work yourself up in that A&P or learn how to fix cars or build houses or something, get you a trade. That way you have something can’t nobody take away from you” (37). This is what Troy says when Cory tells Troy that he wants to stop working and go meet the recruiter to play football. One could argue that Troy shows a lack of love by not supporting football, but it is important to remember that Troy shows love in unconventional ways. Troy uses his life experiences to guide Cory to what he views as success. His background as a homeless man who had to work his whole life for everything he had made him value guaranteed money over much else. Troy believes that an education is the one thing that can’t be taken away from anyone and this is why he teaches Cory the importance of education and learning a trade. Guiding Cory toward success is how Troy shows his love, and though his definition of success is very one-dimensional, this is how he demonstrates his love for his son. 

Troy’s past experiences on the baseball team also affect his perspective on Cory being involved in sports. This is another reason why Troy doesn’t approve of Cory’s football career. “I don’t want him to be like me! I want him to move as far away from my life as he can get. You the only decent thing that ever happened to me. I wish him that. But I don’t wish him anything else from my life. I decided seventeen years ago that boy wasn’t getting involved in no sports. Not after what they did to me in the sports” (40). As discussed previously, Troy shows his love for Cory by guiding him toward success as he sees it. Troy did not succeed in baseball, and he recognized the problems he faced in the sports industry as institutional racism. Troy had faced enough hardships in his life, and he wanted to prevent as many of those same hardships from happening to his son. Not only did he show love to his son by pushing him towards his idea of success, but also by protecting him from these other possible hardships. 

One thing Troy didn’t have throughout his own childhood was money. He was homeless at age 14, after he ran away from home. This was how he learned the importance of working and providing a home. As an adult, Troy’s main priority was to provide a home and money for his family. “It’s my job. It’s my responsibility! You understand that? A man got to take care of his family. You live in my house…sleep you behind on my bedclothes…fill you belly up with my food…cause you my son” (39). Troy’s lack of a home growing up created resentment in him. He was disappointed in his own father, to say the least, and he became very resentful of him for failing to provide even basic necessities for their family. This lack of a bare minimum in Troy’s own life, made him view the bare minimum as an improvement. This caused him to idolize the idea of providing a roof over his family’s heads, as well as clothes on their backs. Although some people may argue that providing a roof over their kids’ head is the bare minimum, Troy does not know all of the proper ways to show love. His mother left his family when he was young, so to Troy, he only knows that being present is the way to show love for his family. When he says he does these things because Cory is his son, he means it. In Troy’s mind, his own parents didn’t love him, so that’s why they didn’t show up and do the very least. To Troy, showing up meant that he loved them. He did not have more from his own family and he did not aspire for more from his parents. Providing a comfortable home was how he showed his love for Cory as well as guiding him toward success, and protecting him from the dangerous parts of the world. 

Troy’s values as a father include him wanting to teach his son about the world. Cory asks his father why he doesn’t like him and Troy responds saying he doesn’t need to like him. As much as this could be used against the argument that Troy loves his son, this actually shows one of the values that Troy has as a father. “I done give you everything I had to give you.  I gave you your life! Me and your mama worked that out between us. And liking your black ass wasn’t part of the bargain. Don’t try and go through life worrying about if somebody like you or not. You best be making sure they doing right by you” (40). He is telling Cory not to worry whether people like him or not. As much as this may hurt to hear from his own father, Troy is teaching his son something about the world, which goes hand in hand with what he believes his duties as a father are. He is saying that a more important thing to worry about in life is whether or not people are treating him right. This value comes from Troy being mistreated in baseball and as a son. He is telling Cory not to worry about whether he likes him or not because it doesn’t matter. What matters is that Troy fulfills his duties as a father. 

An opposing and understandable argument against the idea that Troy loves his son is that he created a hostile home environment for his son. The bigger picture of this that is important to see is that Troy suffered from trauma in his own life, and never sought out proper help. This lack of care led to Troy coping with his trauma by developing dependence on alcohol which led to  alcoholism. An opposing argument is that Troy would yell and threaten violence while under the influence, making his alcoholism even more problematic. This issue would result in the notion that Troy does not love his son, but this is not necessarily true. Troy’s suffering from alcoholism makes him do things he normally would not do while not under the influence. “You ain’t got to say excuse me to your daddy. All of a sudden you done got so grown that your daddy don’t count around here no more … Around here in his own house and year that he done paid for with the sweat of his brow” (79). This is what Troy says when Cory is trying to walk past him on the steps at the house. Troy goes on this ramble, showing his frustrations about wanting to be appreciated for what he did accomplish as a father. He proceeds to kick Cory out of the house for his defiance, and also threatens to hit him with a baseball bat. This outrageous behavior is one of the effects of what the drinking does to him. This shows his need to be appreciated for the minimum that he accomplished. The violence is an effect of the alcohol, and his true emotions are shown. Troy’s behavior while under the influence is inexcusable, but in no way implies that he does not love his son. 

Troy was a man who struggled with many things in life from the day he was born including a mother who left him, an abusive father, homelessness at fourteen, and struggles with racism. These life events affected Troy and how he viewed the responsibilities of being a father. He did everything in his power to provide for his son since that was the way he thought he was supposed to show love. He showed love through guiding Cory towards success, protecting him from the dark parts of the world, and providing him with a home, food and clothes. Although unconventional, Troy did everything within his capabilities as a father to show his love for Cory. 

Annie Baker-Bauer

Works Cited

Wilson, August. Fences. Samuel French, 1986.