These men let no opportunity pass without reminding their sons that they are the unquestionable authorities in their homes. Some, like Troy Maxson, rationalize that their downright mean treatment of their sons prepares them for the similar treatment that awaits them in society. Because Troy was virtually shut out of Major League baseball, he wants his son to have no part in collegiate sports. While Troy considers Cory’s job at the A&P to be a fitting beginning to a future of similar work, Cory has his sights on much greater goals. The culture of the 1950s is evident in Troy’s attitude towards baseball and attitude of his children to this kind of sport. Troy responded to rejection and to the segregation that kept him from using his talents in Major League baseball by adopting sheer survivalist codes of behavior: he resorted to stealing, eventually murdered a man, and, as a result, was sentenced to fifteen years in a penitentiary (Shannon 66).

As expected, Troy and Cory have a major argument, in which Troy encounters more opposition than he has ever gotten from any member of his family. Troy, who has other plans for Cory’s future, secretly discourages an interested recruiter from scouting the boy’s talents. After Troy and his son Cory fight, Cory says “I’ll be back to get my things.” Troy replies, “They’ll be on the other side of that fence.” (act 2, p. When Cory is convinced by high school coaches that he has a future in football, he is quick to quit his after-school job at the local A&P. Troy explains “the white man ain’t gonna let you get nowhere with that football noway” (Wilson act 1, p. Intense dramatic episodes show that Troy and Cory clash over the boy’s plans to become a football player.

Troy asks Bono: “How in the hell they done changed ? Bono replies: They got lots of colored boys playing ball now. The main problem is that a top-notch baseball player during the Negro League’s heyday, Troy is too old to play on a desegregated Major League team. At the same time, Troy tries the best way he knows how to direct the course of his own son’s life away from the negative influence of the boy’s ancestors. Troy Maxson is a fifty-three-year old garbage collector who still can recall ugly images of life under the iron rule of a frustrated, defeated father. The play is based on a conflict between a father and his sons caused by misunderstanding and egoism of Troy.

The main character of Fences, Troy, reflects the cultural environment of the period and his time.

Fences wilson