Fences by August Wilson Essay Example

Throughout history there have been a lot of tragic heroes. Most of the time, these tragic heroes lead themselves into their own death. Just like Medea was a tragic hero in Medea by Euripides, Troy, from the book Fences by August Wilson, is also a tragic hero. Troy’s selfishness led him to his own death. He thought that everything he was doing was for the good of his family, but he only thought about himself. He changed his ways towards his family and his friends.
Troy’s selfish tragic flaw hindered his relationship with his son Cory. Cory wanted to play sports but troy never thought that was a good idea. He thought playing sports wasn’t as productive as doing chores and working. Troy let his past affect his son’s future. When troy was younger and he wanted to play baseball he couldn’t. He thought it was because of his race but actually it was his age the reason why he wasn’t allowed to play. Since he wasn’t able to play he didn’t want his son to do it either because he felt that if he did he was going to be treated unfairly because of his color. Therefore he tried everything possible to stop his son from playing which built up to Cory leaving the house. At that moment troy wasn’t thinking about his sons feeling he just cared about what he wanted at the moment.
This along with what he did to his wife and daughter makes him a non sympathetic character. Troy was unfaithful to his wife. Not only did he cheat on his wife but he got another woman pregnant while he was with his wife of 20 years. While his wife was home doing the chores around the house he was busy with someone else. Troy states that he feels trapped in his marriage. He felt he needed a little escape from it and by being with someone else got him that little freedom he wanted. It’s saddening that Rose being a loyal and committed wife got treated the way she did. Troy was even trying to hide his affair but at the end his friend convinced him to tell her. He told troy that Rose didn’t deserve what he was