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Jackson 1 Skylar Jackson Dr. Karrigan English 1020 26 April 2019 Father Son Relationships Most parents and kids never see eye to eye when it comes to certain aspects in life. We as people start to notice it when certain parents hold their kids back from a dream they have because the parents themselves were unable to have that dream. Fences proves that point with Troy Maxson and Cory Maxson, simply because Troy holds Cory back from a dream that he is able to obtain but Troy was not able to do himself. Watching children succeed should be any parent’s dream even if it is something that the parents wanted themselves and couldn’t have. Troy Maxson is a black man in 1943 that plays “in the Negro Leagues but never got a chance to play in the Major Leagues because he got too old to play just as the Major Leagues began accepting black players” (Wilson 1). Although Troy is unable to be the first black man to play in the major leagues, everyone thinks if his children had the opportunity for that same dreams, he will allow them to chase that dream head strong. Cory gets presented with the opportunity to play college football, but Troy refuses to let Cory get caught up in the mess of college ball and would prefer him to work at the local grocery store. Cory felt as tough his father wouldn’t let him play college football because his father was unable to play in the major leagues.

Troy Maxson pushing his son away from the dream he is trying to aim for himself. Cory tries to talk to his dad about letting a recruiter coming down and watching Cory play so he can go to North Carolina and purse his dream of playing college football. Troy is set on the mindset

Jackson 2 that “The colored guy got to be twice as good be- fore he get on the team. That’s why I don’t want you to get all tied up in them sports” (Wilson 48). Troy did not want his son to get hurt with the recruitment of the sports like he did when trying to get into the major leagues.

Troy looked like he is trying to intentionally hurt his sons feeling, he is more less trying to protect him in his own eyes. Cory on the other hand did not think Troy was protecting him but rather pushing him away from his dream. Troy pushing Cory’s dreams away caused their relationship to be at a constant strain making Cory wonder if Troy ever liked him. Troy proceeds to tell Cory that “You my flesh and blood. Not ’cause I like you! ’Cause it’s my duty to take care of you. I owe a responsibility to you!” (Wilson 53) Troy saying all of this makes Cory push himself away from the family eventually causing an altercation with Troy and eventually him out taking care of himself. This caused the father son relationship to come through because Troy was always hard on Cory so he wouldn’t turn out anything like him but in reality, that’s all Cory wanted to be was just like Troy with the sports.

Although it seems like something so small to talk about in a story, it actually creates a big impact on the entire theme. If Troy had not been so hard on Cory for the little things he was, Cory wouldn’t have turned out the way he did with his perspective of life. The father son relationship caused a big pain on Cory’s life thinking he could not do certain things in life like the sports. Essentially if Troy had supported Cory in his dream of college ball, it would have made a huge impact on their father son relationship causing it to be stronger than weaker like it was. Supporting a child through a dream you may have not accomplished but may be able to watch them accomplish builds that bond with them that you may not be able to have with anyone else around you.

Jackson 3

Works Cited

Wilson, August. Fences. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, edited by X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, 13th ed., Pearson, 2016, pp. 1716-65. Wilson , August. “Fences Summary .” SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/drama/fences/summary/....