Fences Father And Son Analysis

Frank A. Clark once said, “A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be.” In the book Cry the Beloved Country and the play Fences by August Wilson, this statement is made true. Stephen Kumalo, the father of Absalom in Cry the Beloved Country, is a Zulu pastor in a small town in Ndotsheni who, over the last few years, has grown distant from his son who moved to an urbanized city called Johannesburg. He leaves his house, after receiving a letter that his sister is sick, to go visit her and to try and find his son. Along this journey their love for eachother and compatibility is tested as they face numerous challenges where Kumalo learns whether his son has grown to act like him or not. Similarly, in Fences, Troy
One of the most strenuous obstacles within Kumalo’s and Absalom’s relationship is when Kumalo finds out that Absalom shot Jarvis. Kumalo went to go see his son and while they were talking there was a young white man in the room observing them. Within little time Kumalo says, “The young white man comes over, for he knows that this does nothing, goes nowhere. Perhaps he doesn’t like to see these two torturing each other”( Paton 131). Kumalo had been questioning Absalom about his decisions very aggressively and they were both growing frustrated with each other over the situation. The young white man sensed the tension and strained emotions and decided it was best they leave each other alone. Likewise, Cory is mad at Troy because Troy is still fighting against him being allowed to play football. Troy tells Cory that when he was younger he tried to make a living playing sports and it failed. Cory still gets frustrated and says, “Just cause you didn’t have a chance! You just scared I’m gonna be better than you, that’s all” (Wilson 58). Cory does not care that Troy is trying to do what is best for him, Cory just sees this as another way that Troy is trying to hold him back from “being himself”. Cory wants to play and Troy does not want him to fail and is only trying to protect him. This disagreement about whether Cory should pursue his sports or not created tension between father and son. It strained their relationship so much it caused them to avoid each other for some time. All things considered, both Paton and Wilson show that stressful situations and disagreements can bring tension and strain the relationship between father and