Near the end of Act Two Scene Four, Cory says: "You ain't never gave me nothing! You ain't never done nothing but hold me back. Afraid I was gonna be better than you."
How is Cory better than Troy? How does Cory learn from Troy's mistakes and will Cory ever strike out?
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I believe that Cory will always be better than Troy. He never gave up on his dream until it was taken away from him. Cory kept pushing against Troy and his fence until the fence got to high and Cory was forced to go to the other side. Troy didn’t just make mistakes in his life but he hurt the people around him. He hurt Rose by never being a “good” husband and he hurt Cory by taking away his dream and throwing it in the trash. Cory will always be better than Troy. There will never come a point where Cory will sink down to Troy’s level. He has learned from Troy’s mistakes and his actions enough to not do the same things. I believe one of the reasons that Troy did the things he did to Cory is because Troy knew that Cory was better than him. Troy wanted to make sure that Cory never got more than he did. By having this hope Troy ruined who Cory was and who he wanted to be.
Cory ultimately learns from Troy’s mistakes by listening to Troy beat him down about giving up his dream and getting a job. “I told that boy about that football stuff. The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football. I told him when he first come to me with it” (pg.8). Although Troy tells Cory multiple times that he will get nowhere with football, Cory persists on trying until Troy’s fence gets so high that Cory can’t get out. The only way that Cory can get away from Troy is by leaving his family and living on his own. Living on his own means that he has to provide for himself which means he can’t play football. Cory’s dream of playing football is ultimately ruined because of the fence that was put up around him all of his life. It was never Cory’s fault that he gave up football. Troy gave up football for Cory. Troy was the one who told his coach that Cory couldn’t play and the one that told Cory he would get nowhere with it.
I believe that we all strike out at some point in life. Some people completely miss the ball and strike out and others skim the ball and strike out. Troy strikes out by completely missing ball. I believe that Cory will strike out once or twice but not to the extent that Troy strikes out. It is human for people to make mistakes and to do the wrong things once in a while. I think that Cory won’t strike out for the same reasons Troy did. I think he’s learned how much Troy hurt him and his family when he strikes out, that he will never strike out like Troy. When people are constantly bugging you about the things you do its hard not to surcome to that pressure that is applied to your shoulders. Cory didn’t necessarily give in to the pressure that Troy applied to him, but Troy forced him out of his dream and the only “home” he knew.
Cory has always shone above Troy. He has always been better than Troy. He tried to reach his dream and kept pushing towards it until it was taken away from him. He always tried to get away from that fence that separated him from Troy. He didn’t want to become the person Troy was and he realized the mistakes that Troy made. Because of the mistakes Troy made Cory was able to see who he should be. He saw how Troy had hurt Rose and realized he wasn’t a good man or husband. He saw that Troy was keeping him away from his dreams of becoming a football player or any of his other dreams so he found the way to break free. He realized that he did have part of Troy inside of him and therefore he got the chance to escape. He escaped away from Troy.
The fence that was up between Cory and Troy was always there. Cory decided that the best way to face it was to break through it to the other side. Therefore he separated himself from Troy. I believe that Cory was greater than Troy and as Halley said maybe Troy realized that and wanted to see him get to the other side. Maybe Troy wanted to see Cory accomplish what he couldn’t accomplish with himself and therefore he constantly pushed him to the other side of the fence. Or Troy didn’t want to see Cory succeed and wanted him to never get more than he did? Troy wasn’t a good husband to Rose and Cory saw that.
The fence that was put up by Cory and Troy never disappeared and Cory broke through it. He separated himself from Troy and never saw him. He made no effort to communicate with him because he decided that the best way to face the fence was not to Face Troy at all. Did Cory strike out like Troy? People in life all have to strike out at sometime and than they can learn. The next time that they step up to the plate is different. They can see what type of pitch is coming and they either hit the ball or miss. Some can learn from the mistakes they have made previously in life and make a homerun or a hit. They can advance, and get on base. Its all different but people have to be prepared how to face that pitch another time.
Although Cory may seem like the character on the lower end of the spectrum, he is better than Troy. Cory, despite the risk he is taking with his future, follows his dream of becoming a professional football player. Being a person of color, Cory is allowed limited playing time, and he has disadvantages as a member of a white football team. However, Cory’s determination continually motivates him to strive for what he wants to do the most. Troy, on the other hand, turned away from football to avoid his limited possibilities as a person of color. Although the African-American players were looked down upon and were not given as much as the white players, every member played a role on the team, and Troy avoided this and gave up what he loved. Cory’s persistence to follow through with his dream and his ability to overcome the fear of the consequences dominates over Troy’s lack of determination.
Cory is always straightforward with his football pursuits, such as going to a practice or watching a game. Before he leaves, he always lets Rose know where he’s going. He doesn’t lie to get what he wants, and he would rather lose his dream than lie to be able to leave the house and secretly play football. In the instance of seeing Alberta, Troy willingly lies to get what he wants. Rather than being upfront about the situation, Troy would place a fence between the truth and those who would care about the truth in order to get away with cheating on his wife. Cory is better than Troy in that he doesn’t cover his actions in fear of not being able to do them, where Troy uses dishonesty to reach his desires.
Cory learns from Troy’s mistakes by doing the exact opposite of what Troy did throughout his childhood and adulthood years. For example, Troy is not a forgiving person. In the instance of Lyons, Troy didn’t forgive him for making the poor decision of becoming a musician. Although Lyons is as poor as his family and occasionally asks Troy for money, Troy finds this unpredictable lifestyle choice inexcusable. In the instance of Gabriel, Troy didn’t forgive him for moving in with Miss Pearl, even though Gabe had Troy’s best interest in mind. He is unforgiving of Gabe’s mature and considerate action. On the other hand, Cory is an extremely forgiving person. Despite Cory’s anger with Troy over his limitations on football, Cory forgives Troy for all the unnecessary pressures and restraints he put on him throughout his childhood. By going to Troy’s funeral, Cory shows an act of forgiveness that seemed impossible. Although Cory takes after Troy, he learns from him by forgiving others of their mistakes. Cory also learns parenting skills from his father. Cory hated almost everything Troy did as a father, and Cory learns from Troy’s parenting mistakes. Cory knows what not to do when raising a child, and I think, in a way, those lessons strengthen Cory’s relationship as a big brother with Raynell.
Cory will not strike out through his acknowledgement of his father’s mistakes. Cory understands that Troy struck out, and he can learn from Troy’s mistakes by not following through with similar actions. This will keep him from striking out. We all cave at some points in our lives, and we all mess up at some point. But Cory will not make the same mistakes that Troy made. He will not strike out if he avoids following the footsteps of Troy.
I also think that Cory is better than Troy. Cory tried to do more with his life than what Troy ever did. Cory learned from Troy's strike outs in different ways. He saw that giving up on something you believed in would bring you no where. Cory believed he had the skill to play football but was told by Troy he would never make it. Just how Troy stopped because he was African American and didn't think he could make it. Cory also saw Troy strike out with Rose. Rose and Troy and been married for a long period of time until Troy struck out when cheating on Rose. Troy had to suffer from this strike out by losing his wife and his new daughter. I believed that Cory learned from Troy's strike out with Rose and that when he becomes married he won't be that same Husband and Father Troy was. I don't think that Cory will strike out in the same ways that Troy did. If Cory does strike out, I think it will be different from how Troy did and hopefully he will learn that once a mistake is made he should learn from it and not allowed it to happen again.
last post too short-adding on from last post.
When Cory becomes a father I think he will allow for his child to do what he believes he can do. And Cory will not force them into being something that will only bring them money or put them somewhere in soceity just to get by. Cory as a Husband I think will be very different also. On page 97 Rose told Cory how Troy used to bruise and cut her but he also tried to do good things for her. I think from this Cory learned that he can be a good husband but he doesn't need to hurt his wife or be direspectful to her. He can be good to her and his family without those things.
Troy and Cory have very similar life styles, but there is one underlining issue that sets the two apart. Throughout Cory’s whole life he holds truth as the greatest asset and knowledge to have in life. He never tries to run away from his true self and his family roots as he knows he was born into a segregated and racially divided part of America. He accepts the defeat of his not being able to play football even though he holds onto the anger that it promoted towards his father. Unlike Troy who is a very physical and aggressive character, Cory is an intellectual character and one who can overcome life’s obstacles. Troy on the other hand is one who tries to separate himself from reality and truth by creating a fictitious lifestyle. Like his father before him the only thing that keeps Troy together with his family is that, “he felt a responsibility towards us” (p51). He feels that he must take care of his children and his family while trying to bury these burdens in the joy of the second life he is living with Alberta.
In the last scene of the play the effects of Troy’s parenting is made clear and we see that they made a positive impact on his children’s lives. At the end of this scene we see Cory and Raynell singing together a song that was taught to them by their father. In this song Troy is like the dog blue. He has been a good dog and gone to heaven while teaching his children the ups and downs of life. I feel that it is a father who is harsh and follows the bad path of life that will have a better and more pronounced impact on their kids. For example one who has a father that has a low paying and bad job will learn the way of life in poverty and make the effort when they get older to be a better father for their kids and have a life they never had. With this made clear it is easy to see why Cory will not strike out like his father before him and how he has found a better life in the marines. In the book we see all stages of Troy’s life. We see in Bono and Rose the early stages of his life as they knew him in his early years. In Cory and Lyons we see his middle years, and in Raynell we see his later years as one broken from his family. Yet, in the end they all come together for the same reasons to morn Troy’s death and give thanks for the lessons he taught. Troy was a good husband, father, friend, and mentor.
Most people learn from their mistakes or others mistakes and try to make a change to get better. In Fences, Cory learned from Troy’s mistakes and made sure in the future he would not commit the same ones. Cory learns from watching Troy on how he should treat his family since Troy disrespects all of them. From watching this, Cory learns that he should never treat his loved ones with disrespect. Cory also learns that if he doesn’t want to end up like Troy, he should never give up on his dreams and goals in life.
Cory has always been able to be a better person which worries Troy that Cory really is better than him. It is true that Cory is a better person than Troy is in many different ways one way being, how he treats his family. He treats them with respect and care unlike Troy who feels he is in control of every person in his house. Even though Raynell is not Cory’s real sister, but rather a person who will help Cory remember what Troy did to Rose, he still treats her with respect. From watching how badly Troy treated his sons that are his own, Cory realizes the importance of respecting others even if they are not related through blood. By watching the mistakes Troy makes with Rose and how he strikes out, he knows that when he gets married he will never commit such a mistake.
Being on a white football team, Cory is at a disadvantage because of his skin color so he doesn’t get treated like everyone else. This doesn’t let him down because he has learned that if he gives up he has a chance of ending up like Troy. Seeing how Troy ended up by giving up on his dream, Cory never wants to end up like that. In fear that Cory will be better than him, Troy tells him that he shouldn’t play football. When Cory doesn’t listen to him, Troy goes and talks to his football coach to tell him he’s not playing. By doing this, Troy has created a fence between him and Cory. It will make building a relationship with Troy not Cory’s first priority, but rather one of his last ones. Troy is creating a situation where Cory will want to leave their house so he can feel freedom in order to pursue his goal of being a football player.
Troy strikes out many times in his life because he is more worried that Cory will be better than him rather than concentrating on his own life. As a result of this he makes many mistakes in life that cause up to become worse ones. Troy should learn that he must concentrate on his own life in order to make himself better rather than trying to make others better. By keeping up what he is doing he is only leading to the destruction of his family and himself. Cory, however, will not strike out in the same ways as Troy does. He will eventually strike out in his life because you cannot go through life without making mistakes. However he will only make minor mistakes that won’t be life threatening to him.
Throughout the whole book we have seen Troy display “bad person” qualities. We know that he has gone to jail for murder for fifteen years. He has had a very big influence in Cory’s life, but not so much in a positive way. He forced Cory to give up his dream in playing football and getting an education in college. I feel that he made this choice because Troy had been hurt by sports and I think that he is trying to do fatherly duty. Troy just doesn’t want Cory to get all excited and involved but then be crushed and sit on the bench all because of his race. Not only does this illustrate that Troy crushes Cory’s dream but it most importantly shows that Troy doesn’t care about the education that Cory would be receiving at a college level that could potentially set him up for a promising career. Probably the biggest way that Cory can learn from Troy was to not take advantage of what you have. Troy made the biggest mistake that a human could possibly make, and that was to cheat on his loyal wife of eighteen years. To me this is a benefit to Cory because now he knows exactly what not to do in life, for this he can thank Troy. But now Cory has to be able to find a job and pretty much start over from scratch with only a high-school education on his application. I believe that as long as Cory doesn’t follow in the footsteps as Troy he will never strikeout. He just needs to keep a close eye out, learn what to do vs. what not to do.
Cory will never be his father. He breaks the cycle of playing host to past sins. When Cory says, “You ain’t never gave me nothing! You ain’t never done nothing but hold me back. Afraid I was gonna be better than you.”. Troy retaliates with the argument that he gave Cory life. But, without the choices Cory made and the opinions he has what would his life be worth? Nothing. So in that it isn’t what Troy gave but what Cory did with what he gave.
Cory never gives up on what he loves until he had no other choice. He, like Tory and Troy’s father before him, had the choice to break away from the mold. That is what sets him apart from his father and grandfather, he chose not to play host to his father’s sins. He chose to be Cory not “Troy’s son”.
All Troy wants is to fence people in but the closer he holds them the more they seem to push for freedom and equality. The fact that Cory has experienced first hand what happens when you can’t break from the past and that makes me confident that he will never be his father.
Troy taught Cory a valuable lesson weather it is the one he meant to or not. He may have taught it in a way that most of us have a problem with but ultimately Cory learned that he never wanted to be his father. Troy beat down every dream that Cory had until there was no way for him to pursue it. I believe that everyone is shaped by what they have experience and that they are who they are because of things that they have seen and one in their lives. I believe that Cory will never be like his father because he saw the fear in his mother and felt it in himself. Troy wouldn’t let Cory play football and instead made him build the fence all day. In the end Cory came to resent the fence even more because he had built it himself. Cory finally broke down the fence and moved to the other side. Isn’t that what we all have to do? We are the only ones that can break down the fences that we build. And that is what Cory does which makes me confident in the fact that he has permanently broken away from his father’s sins.
Cory is better than Troy in many ways, such as his ability to resist a lot of physical violence and his ability to try and fight for what he wants. Cory feels that Troy has only held him back from his true potential and going after his dreams. Troy never achieved his goal of playing professional baseball, and feels the need to hold Cory back from playing football in order to “protect him” from the danger of sports. In reality, Troy just wanted to assure his dominance and control over Cory by not letting him excel in an area where Troy had failed. Through Troy’s bad actions, Cory has learned the right ones and ultimately shows his superiority in character over Troy. Cory learns from Troy’s mistakes, such as choosing to walk away from a fight instead of continue it, and being able to forgive. Troy never forgave anybody, always putting himself before others and acting in a selfish manor. He never believed in change and was therefore unable to forgive. Cory however shows Troy his ultimate forgiveness by choosing to attend his funeral despite the pain Cory was shown as a child.
By learning from Troy, Cory never had a 3rd strike in life, but he did lose his 3rd strike with his relationship with his father. Corys first strike with his father came when he started playing football, and his second came when he pushed troy down while protecting his mother. Lastly, his final strike came with his fight with his father where he was defeated. During that encounter, on a literal sense, Cory missed his swing at his father 3 times, producing his third strike. On the symbolic however, Cory lost his final relation with his father at that moment which may have been the biggest strike for him.
Corys strikes in life however are a totally different part of him. He only had one strike in life, and that was being unable to follow his dream and play football. However, he was able to find a success and someone he loved which is the ultimate goal and prize. Cory was able to get everything Troy had and more. He was able to be happy and break free from his “fence” which was his father. Troy had many more than 3 strikes in his life, so many that he was beyond able to win. He lost the respect of his wife and family, he never was able to play baseball, he never found true happiness and had to deal with the guilt of bad deeds he had done. Though if we look at Troy in a different light, he could have perhaps been trying to help Cory by making him become a man and taking away sports, I think all he did was hold Cory back from his dream and stripped him of any innocence he had once possessed.
Cory is better than Troy in that throughout his life, he has recognized the mistakes in Troy's conduct toward his family, and how his father is not only impoverished financially, but has deprived himself of emotion and love. Through not extending himself toward his family, Troy built a fence around himself. This fence, I believe, ultimately suffocated him. He impoverished his spirit to such an extent that he sacrificed his own life unknowingly. By only giving his family what he owed them as his "responsibilities" to them, he isolated himself from their love and from giving his love to them. Troy held Cory back because his own dreams of playing baseball never came to fruition. Troy thus tried to hold Cory and his entire family back with him. He believed that since he gave up the fight for his dream, Cory shouldn't be given any more opportunity than he was given. As a result of this, Troy couldn't rejoice in Cory's victories.
Cory is able to realize this and how Troy's selfishness ultimately killed him. He learns from his father's mistakes and also realizes that his dream of football might be all he has in life. For Troy, baseball was his reason for life, and when that was stolen away from him, he had no more love to give. Cory knows that he can't ever let himself strike out, like his father did. He must not only believe that he can deconstruct the fences that hold him in, but he must (in the words of Gandhi) "be the change" that brings them down. In a way, his father's failures are what teach him this valuable lesson, and will ultimately prevent Cory from striking out like his father did. He may make small mistakes here and there, but he will be able to learn from them and move past them in order to reach his dream, without sacrificing his own ability to love in the process.
I don't think it’s that Cory is better than Troy, but Cory is living up to chasing his dreams (playing football). He is better in that kind of sense because he's not the one holding himself back from trying (maybe in this sense, it is saying that he is better than Troy). Cory as everyone else is knows, is learning from Troy, not the normal kind of learning, but they are learning that if they follow in Corey's footsteps they might make the same mistakes. This is important, because even Bono starts to leave Troy. There is a point at which you look at the strike outs as life itself and obviously Troy has lost, not Cory. Troy may say (from his opinion) that Cory has struck out, but he hasn't gotten one REAL strike out. Troy has struck out and basically he is ending the game too early. Cory on the other hand still has a life in front of him, the fact that Troy is taking that life away from him is crushing everything he dreamed he would get to and that is why Cory has lost the respect for Troy. I don’t think that Troy cares about helping him by holding him back from sports, but rather that he is ruining his future and taking away the things he loves. Plus, if you look at what happened to Troy, you see that Troy is implying that Cory should still kind of follow in his steps by getting a job, which Troy did after being rejected from his dreams. See, I don’t think Troy understands that what he does affects everyone and the baby (if anything) is the only thing that is keeping a part of the family together. I say that because it’s the support towards helping the baby that is bringing them together, but Troy no matter what affects the progress. I think overall Cory is the innocent one in the situation because all he wants is to play football and Troy holds him back by ruining everything he worked up to, to get the respect from the team and coach just so he could play on the team for the season. Overall sports is what ruins their relationship with each other.
While I agree that Cory is better than Troy, I think that they’re equals in more ways than one. Cory proves himself to be the better person, and in the end he is more successful. From the very beginning, we see Troy being rude, vulgar, and blatantly disrespectful to Rose, and later on to Cory. I would think that he would treat his family with more respect than he gives anyone else, but this isn’t the case. Cory on the other hand, seems to grasp the idea of treating others as they should be, as equals. In nearly every action towards his wife, his sons, and even to Bono, Troy attempts to be superior and dominant. I think he feels the need to exercise control over others due to the lack he has of it at work and in other aspects of his life; he can’t control his race, he couldn’t control his father’s actions, and he can’t control his financial situations or his place in society. His family is the only thing he has, yet he chooses to treat them as inferiors, forcing them into fearfulness of him. This is something we never see Cory do.
When Cory says that Troy never gave him anything, Troy argues that he gave him life, more than anything anyone else would give. But what is life without love or freedom? Troy never gives Cory these in any measure. His failure to provide both is apparent when he tells Cory he has to quit the football team. He isn’t giving Cory the freedom to do what he wants or to pursue his dreams; he says he wants him to live his own life, but by doing the “right” thing for him, he only fences his son further in and keeps him closer to his own life. Also, I think if Troy truly did want Cory to succeed out of love, he would have realized that not only was this going to help him do that, but it was going to make him happy. That alone should have been enough. If that didn’t prove Troy’s failure to provide emotional support, he then tells Cory that he doesn’t even have to “like” him, that Cory only has food and shelter because Troy feels it’s his responsibility. Readers never see Cory being unkind to Rose- we know he loves her. He isn’t kind to her out of responsibility, but because he loves her.
Lastly, Cory never lied without an extremely good reason. Cory lied because he wanted to pursue his dreams. Troy lied because he was having an affair. I think both Cory and Troy proved their honor and integrity through these actions. Both lies were for each character’s own benefit, however Troy’s (not to mention the action behind it) resulted in considerably more emotional damage to more people. Cory lied about his job so that he could follow his dream, and I think that if you had to lie, that’s the more honorable reason.
Both Cory and Troy lied. They were both robbed of their dreams one way or another. They both come from similar backgrounds. Rose told Cory that Troy’s shadow was “all you got to make life with” (p.97). He can mirror it exactly or use it to make his own. I think this is exactly what Cory does. Troy became his father. At the very least, Cory didn’t do this. While he left home and joined the Marines, I don’t believe he will ever be the disrespectful, smothering man his father was, and I think Cory will strike out eventually. But he’s seen his father strike out, and he won’t make his mistakes. Cory will make his own mistakes, ones from which he can learn to transform himself into a better man his father could ever be.
Troy I find to be a hard person to read on what he is like as a person. It seems you can never tell what Troy is going to do or say. He seems to have a lot of mood swings in this play. The way he acts towards his wife, I feel that he wants to have power over her and his kids. At the same time he wants his kids to grow up and stop relying on him for things. Then he signs papers to put Gabe into a hospital. You can look at that as a good thing or a bad. In my case I think it is bad and feel that he only did that to get money that the government sends Gabe. He also would not singe papers for Cory to go to college. I do not know think this is right because Troy has a chance to give his son a chance that he has never had, witch is a college education. If Cory gets a college education then maybe he would have got a good job and stop the cycal of poverty in his family. It seems to me that Troy does not want his son to be better than he is. I feel this way because he would not let Cory play football and go to college for football. Witch makes me believe that Troy wants to be the only good one in his family. I strongly disagree with that, I think he should let Cory go and play football because he likes and just like Tory like baseball. Baseball was Troy’s dream and football was Cory’s. the one difference is that Troy took his own sons dream away. Unlike Tory who’s dream got taken away from him by white people.
I also believe that Cory is better then Troy. Troy made many poor decisions throughout his life, which not only affected himself, but also his family and his friends. Cory did what he though was best, by following his dream of becoming a football player, but this dream was ruined by Troy. Troy says “I decided seventeen years ago that boy wasn’t getting involved in no sports. Not after what they did to me. (39) Troy is trying to protect Cory from failure, or he might even be scared that Cory will be batter then he had been. Ultimately, what Troy is doing is preventing Cory from pursuing his dream. Troy also cannot grasp the fact that times are changing, he believes that nothing has changed since he was a baseball player. Cory keeps shooting facts at Troy and Troy responds by either completely ignoring the facts, or by just switching the subject. Troy cannot admit that he is wrong. Also, while Troy is hypocritical Cory always follows through on what he says. Troy will make a remark about something and then go back on his word. Cory is the only person that gains enough courage to confront Troy about this. Cory confronts Troy about him not actually owning the house. Cory says “It ain’t your yard. You took Uncle Gabe’s money he got from the army to buy this house and then you put him out.”(87) Troy cannot defend this and is scared that someone is breaking down his sense of power, so he reacts with anger and violence toward Cory. He kicks Cory out of the yard, on the other side of his fence, so that he is no longer a threat.
Cory also cannot help but be like Troy in some ways. Troy is the devil, and Cory is Troy’s son, which means he has some of the devil in him too. This is one of the things that Troy has passed on to Cory. Towards the end of this book Rose says to Cory “You Troy Maxon all over again” (97). Cory responds by saying “I don’t want to be Troy Maxon. I want to be me.” (97) I think that Cory can still escape from turning into his father; all he needs to do is tear down the fence that was built up.
I feel as though Troy just wants his sons to be just like him and his father and that he doesn’t want them to cross that fence. In Cory’s case he will always be better than Troy, I feel as though now that he is broken free from his father that he will soar. I think that he will do what he wants to do and will succeed. Being in the marines also helped him sway away from his father; he has made himself a life and a career. He has started to learn from Troy’s mistakes and he has begun to find what he wants to do with his life. I feel as though he is beginning to find his independence and what he believes in. I feel as though Cory will make a few of his own mistakes and will learn how to live his own life. I feel that he will never strike out until he is ready to and has lived his life to his fullest. Cory is better than Troy because he has decided to live his life and not to worry about how much money he is going to get. I think that Cory will eventually get out of poverty and will get away from his neighborhood and will become successful. I think that Cory has learned not just to talk about his dreams but to take them into action, and once his first dream doesn’t work out he will move on and to not just give up like Troy did. Once Cory has got out of that fence that he and his father were building, he has learned that there is more things than what his father has been teaching him. Also that fence that Troy was building wasn’t out of love, like Rose’s fence. Troy’s fence was there to keep Cory and Rose from leaving and so he could control his family. But when Cory got out of that fence he got a well-paying career and a life separate from his father and what he wants him to do with his life.
I think it is hard to judge whether Cory is better that Troy. I definitely believe that in some ways Cory is better than his father. However, by simply saying he is better it is implied that he is better in everyway, which I do not believe is true. Throughout the book Cory is a better person and a better athlete than his father. Troy however is a better, harder worker than Cory. I believe that there is no argument that Cory is a better person than Troy. Throughout the course of the book Troy makes mistakes, and treats the people in his life with disregard. This includes cheating on his wife, forbidding his son from following his passion, and taking away his brother’s freedom. Cory exhibits that he is a better person by being respectful to everyone he meets, even his father when he is treating him unfairly. He doesn’t hurt the people around him, yet at the same time sticks up for himself when things get out of control. We also know that Cory is a better athlete than Troy because he is being scouted for football. I believe that Troy knows this, and he fears it. He is afraid that Cory is a better athlete than him, and doesn’t want Cory to succeed when he didn’t. Despite all of these things it is still hard to say simply that Cory is better. Even though Troy made more than a few mistakes during the story, one cannot deny that he consistently worked hard. Whether he was working hard to be what I think he believed was a good father and husband, or working at picking up garbage, he is always working hard. In this case Troy is better than Cory. Therefore I do not agree with the statement that Cory is better than Troy, I believe that they are each better than the other in certain ways.
Cory is and will always be better than Troy. Cory was raised more by Rose than Troy and therefore acts more like her. He has many qualities that Troy has never possessed. He is polite and respectful, and kind and courteous. He believes in himself and others, and follows what he accepts to be true. Cory may not understand his duties and responsibilities as an adult yet, but in time he will grasp and enforce them.
Even though Cory and Troy have different beliefs and different perspectives, there have many characteristics they share that make them similar. They are both stubborn and obstinate, which makes it impossible for them to compromise. They both have dreams, which they don’t end up fulfilling. And sometimes their actions can be interpreted as disrespectful, but they are really just trying to help and love. But, these similarities are not enough to put them in the same category. Cory is still superior.
He learns a lot from Troy’s mistakes and sees their consequences. Cory witnesses Rose’s pain when she is informed that Troy is having an affair. He knows Troy took Gabriel’s money to pay for the house and recognizes that if Troy had used that money to pay a facility for Gabriel, Gabriel would be better off. And he has first-hand experience on the way Troy deals with his kids. Cory realizes that if he repeats these mistakes, he is doomed to live the same life as Troy. But he also recognizes that he can avoid these errors and that he will never replicate them. He knows he will never cheat on his wife, he knows he will always tell his children he loves them, and he knows he will always be kind and generous to his family and friends. Cory may have one or two strikes of his own, but he will never be out.
Cory is better than Troy in many ways, because even though he carries Troy’s sins and problems, he moves on and doesn’t let them weight him down. He learns what a good father is, and what a bad father is. He grows up with the bad father, which teaches him how he shouldn’t act when he gets married and has children. He also learns what it is to be bad husband too. He learns both of these things from witnessing how Troy treats Rose and how he treats everyone else in the world. He learns from living in fear what a bad home is.
By dealing with Troy, he learns how not to treat a family. Because Cory knows how not to act, he is better than Troy. He is different and is much more accepting of people. Troy has been wronged by so many in his life. He has dealt with too much racism and oppression to ever be able to imagine a change in society. He doesn’t sign the football papers for Cory because he doesn’t think that Cory can ever really make it in a world where white people are superior to African Americans. He’s too stubborn to ever believe that there could be change. He won’t accept that society can change. Cory is much more innocent and more willing to believe in the change. He understands that he could be successful in football. Troy and Cory are living in two different worlds. Troy’s is one where you can complain all day long and nothing will ever change, partially because he only complains and never takes action. Cory’s world is a changing world where he has opportunities his father never could have dreamed of, Cory’s world is one where he could be successful.
Cory will never strike out; because of the resentment he has towards his father. He is so set on never being like his father that he will do the complete opposite when raising his family. This doesn’t mean he wont make a mistake every once in a while, but it means he isn’t likely to have one like impregnating a woman while having an affair.
Cory is set on being nothing like his father, and I believe that he will be successful with that.
Cory is no doubt better than Troy because of the way society has shaped him, just as Troy was presumably better than the father he left behind. It is clear that Cory seems to have a better outlook on life than Troy, particularly in dealing with racism. I believe neither Troy nor Cory can be blamed for this; it is just the product of how society has shaped them in their earlier years. In the time period Troy grew up in, society shaped him not to fight and deal with racism, but to simply accept it as part of life. On the other hand, Cory has seen that an African-American has a fair chance at most anything any other person can do. Once again, this is not necessarily Troy’s fault, but it does make Cory better because of the way he deals with racism. This makes Cory a much better person than Troy because of his more optimistic view on life.
I believe that Cory’s strong and positive outlook on sports shows how he has learned from his fathers mistakes. We have seen throughout Fences many times how Troy can become sore and sensitive when dealing with sports. Once, when Cory is talking about the Pirates, Troy says to him: “I ain’t thinking about the Pirates. Got an all-white team. Got that boy…that Puerto Rican boy…Clemente. Don’t even half-play him. That boy could be something if they give him a chance. Play him one day and sit him on the bench the next” (33). This clearly states how Troy has no tolerance for his son pursuing sports because he knows that Cory won’t get anywhere. Cory then goes on to explain that Clemente gets plenty of playing time.
The way I see it, everyone strikes out eventually, but what truly matters is not whether you strike out, but how you strike out. Clearly, Troy did not strike out with his pride. I believe that Cory will strike out; however he will do so holding his head high. Troy struck out with no one supporting him or really loving him. This is the difference between Troy and Cory, because Cory has enough sense to stay true to his family, a quality that Troy lacked.
Troy had everything given to him but he chose to run from it because he was too afraid to stand up to his father and voice his opinion. Cory is and always has been better than Troy. For one thing, Cory truly earned his chance to play college football. He would have, if nothing else, a college education and a chance to meet his own standards and goals. Troy, on the other hand, got lucky by landing himself in jail and having a natural ability to play baseball. While doing this he left his wife and son homeless and alone. Troy can’t handle responsibility and, on the contrary, chooses to run from it. If that’s not enough, Cory is able to handle schoolwork, football, and a job on the weekends. He is also able to confront Troy about his feelings without resorting to violence. Cory has the discipline to walk away from a fight and this discipline leads him to join the Marines and earn himself another chance that can’t be taken away from him.
Troy’s thirst for power shows through with time and only strengthens Cory because he will be ready to face his father. Troy has taken everything from him and it’s all because Troy left everything behind. I think this can interpreted as an extreme form of regret and jealousy. We all feel this, but we can’t let it control our life and we definitely can’t let it compromise the lives of others around us in the way Troy controls Cory. Troy has struck out with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth, while Cory still has the whole game left. I know I feel like my age holds me back sometimes, but in the end you have to use what you’re given and Cory has succeeded without being given anything. This shows that anyone can overcome poverty, racism, and a dominating force such as Troy.
Cory has the upper hand over Troy, for he has the ability to learn and change his ideas. It may be only age that creates this barrier between the two, but I believe it is also heavily affected by the experiences one goes through during their life. Troy was forced to work hard, and suffer his entire life, and has a very cynical view on the world, creating a barrier between him, and outside ideas. Cory however has the chance to “see the light”, but is quickly being pulled back by Troy. I believe the one point where Cory is on the brink of continuing life, or turning into Troy is where Troy refuses him the ability to play football. Troy constantly complains about how he was forced out of the sport that he loved, and now Cory is experiencing the same hardship. Cory is faced with the decision of becoming much alike to his father, and fencing out the good in the world, or being able to move past things that are insurmountable for that period of time. I believe Cory finally understands how he is turning into his father, and for this reason he leaves in order to escape from that harsh future. Cory’s decision here is the turning point in his life, and decides that he has escaped from the clutches of “the devil”, and will not return. Because of this narrow escape, Cory will never lash out like his father, for he has seen the horrors of what he could have become. Cory’s experience of this has made him become someone who will avoid turning into his father at all costs.
Cory is better than Troy in many ways, sports, choices he makes about his family and friends, but Cory is also a lot like Troy in many ways. Both Cory and Troy stand up for what they believe in, whether it is Troy with his boss, or Cory standing up to Troy’s betrayal of Rose. When it comes to sports Cory has more opportunities that he is trying to take, while Troy continues to hold him back. I feel that Troy feels jealousy towards Cory because he never took the opportunities that Cory is getting, Cory is getting what Troy could have had but didn’t take. This makes me feel that Cory is better than Troy because he is taking the steps to make his life what he wants it to be. I feel that Cory is way better than Troy when it comes to making choices about family and friends. Cory actually cares about his family, while Troy only cares about himself. I feel that in this way Cory has learned from Troy how to treat his family. Cory also is the only person in the family to really stand up to Troy when he is mad about how Troy holds him back. Because of these reasons I don’t feel that Cory will ever strike out. I think Cory might come close to it, but he will never actually strike out, mainly because he is learning from two people’s mistakes. Troy’s and his own. I think that the knowledge he gains from Troy’s mistakes helps Cory much more, and has a bigger impact on Cory’s life, and the mistakes that Cory makes are much smaller. I think the mistakes that Cory makes when they are his own, are just foul balls, and when Cory makes the same mistakes as Troy that is a strike. While I do feel that Cory will get strikes, I don’t think that he will completely strike out.
below is a email i sen to Mr.Knight I figured it would make a nice blog so here-
Hello
Hey I have some thing that I really would like to discuss with regarding some interesting thoughts that I had over the break. You see my cousin came over to my house and we decided to watch TV, and just by chance I happen to see a rerun of American history x which I am sure you have seen(if not I am very disappointed :P), and as usual after watching I couldn’t help my self from delving into the philosophical part of my mind and analyzing it. My cousin being at my house we decided to sleep in the basement, and as usual my light weight cousin and brother fell asleep and I was left alone, incapable of sleep not only because of my normal insomnia, yet also because of the extreme discomfort of sleeping on the floor.
With nothing else to do I lay awake in the dark; my mind still buzzing from the movie, I thought about the concept of hate, and if it was possible for humans/intelligent beings to live together without coming to hate and destroy themselves. From a great deal of previous thought on the subject I had came to the conclusion that hatred was created by difference. If you took any thing, from spiders, to snakes, to a ghost. If you look at any thing that is feared you see very bizarre aspects of them, and thou possibly subconscious it these differences are your qualm, not the things themselves. If you see spiders and insects have multiple appendages very different from ours, and snakes even more bizarre having in fact no legs(apparently); ghosts even worse being incorporeal having no physical bodies, and being a defiance of the undeniable, death. Concluding this I concluded for example African Americans being brown, very different from the Anglo-Saxon beige. It is obviously then perceivable that the Anglos qualms are with their color not their action(which it self is a by product of their original prejudice), yet with their color, and solely that.
Instantly I thought of the fabled ticket test, in which a green car, and a red one drive at the same speed on the high way, and when a police officer noticed he instantly went after the redone, without any hesitation. Evening preceding tests in witch the red car was actually a amazing ten miles slower than the green one, there still where the same results. This was obviously a subconscious response of the officers ocular memory, in which red was associated with blood, fire, and danger. The sheer vibrancy of the brightness of the color must have been more alarming to ocular sensors than that of a dull lush hunter green. Then I thought of another test, in which crimes where committed by groups composed of ether white men or black men, and results where just as biased which the black men where ether noticed sooner by pedestrians, or received harder punishments than the white men. When I saw these tests this was depicted as solely racism, and more people could just see Nero’s committing a crime than Anglos. I began to ponder on weather or not this could in fact be another ocular impulse as well. I knew that with both situations more often the accused have characteristics to previous law violations( not to be racist, yet because of African American oppression and poverty they are more prone to fall into burglary or such for survival). Yet even with memory’s of past events, this should still not be enough momentum fully accuse them. If in fact another factor was involved, it would be spontaneous action based on ocular reaction to color. Now though black is not a vibrant color, it is still a manifest of danger. Even more frighteningly still, darkness is associated whit both death and evil. This could account for the alleged actions of the scenarios. Even still the treating of African Americans as crap, could be a motor response associating the color brown with crap, dirt, or rubbish(again no offense intended). This was a interesting quandary, yet I am not a ophthalmologist, and so I think that I need more research in this field.
It was around 3:30, and I was starting to get tired, yet I was so intrigued I wanted to keep thinking so I quit trying to fool my self and made my self a cup of coffee and continued thinking. I wanted to try to get back to my original topic of hatred. From my earlier thoughts I could conclude that difference CAUSED hatred, yet what was hatred it self? I know that it was a form of anger. Using these two facts I could roughly say it was extreme anger caused by difference.
Knowing this it became instantly apparent that humans being so diverse in thought and appearance with the individuality given though things like clothing , could simply live among one another without coming to kill each other. I certainly won’t say humans are successful creatures considering their how new of race we are, and all the problems we have made in such a short amount of time. However still cant see the entire race being killed. Even in nuclear warfare I would still imagine some crazy cult living in a bunker or something surviving, or a rocket launching to salvation on another planet or something. Yet compared to other animals we seem a hundred times more hateful than the second most hateful of them. In fact I have a hard time depicting any other animals as hateful. Could it be that animals don’t express hatred? Hatred possibly a byproduct of intellect? Other animals kill with no reluctance, yet this is usually for survival, all part of the life cycle right? Animals do how ever kill for other proposes, such as male lions which will brutally kill for rights of leadership over a pack, and even go to the extent of killing defenseless children of the former leader. Yet this is again more related to survival. Maybe cats playing around with mice for sheer entertainment before they kill them. Yet the cat doesn’t hate the mouse. If I look at the other side of things from the prey perspective I then still don’t see hate as a factor in the equation. I do not think that prey would criticize the predator for attacking them, I would assume it would simply see this as what predators do. If we take this and imply it to humans would there be a element of hate? I would think so because humans seem to breakaway from the concept of the life cycle. We make surplus and do not seem to provide for the environment. If we look at mountain lions, one of the few predators that can severely harm humans they are defiantly defined in a hateful manner, though most wont attack humans, unless under severe conditions altering their state of judgment. Most people generalize and hate all mountain lions. Is this hateful prejudice out of fear? We don’t see this attack as a even of the biological circle. Is hatred part of the spectrum of fear? Would another animal possibly kill in a generalized sense to promote their welfare? Birds and lions kill other of their kind to promote their specific genome, but this isn’t prejudice, or is it. The other animals of their kind are killed because they have a different genome! This proves they hate to, but would this apply for prey, or less intelligent animals. Again referring to dominance and mating practices in which animals are killed for rights could also then be described as prejudice, though this impacts their survival. Wait! This impacts rights to pass a gene! And prey like ram which have strict mating competition will kill for the sake of passing their gene to the female as opposed to their opponents! If we look we see total difference relations, which develop into prejudice hate! A lion will steal a kill from a hyena, yet be sure to leave food for the pack, part of their regiment! This is proof that animals hate as well.
The relationship of competition or wanting is definitely hate, yet what of hate towards other relationships? What of the prejudice of the Jews? Most people hate Jews because of their alleged intellect. This is definitely hate, yet there is the infamous Adolph who clams to that Jews should be hated for their lack of honor, in witch they allegedly seek help of others for their own problems, as we see in Palestine. This is breaking of the rules, again depicted as nonconformity. Again thou it seems that there is another element; of this honor concept in which they seem to be pacifists. This is a good thing eliminating competition. We should in fact pity them for this not hate them. Again though this is different. Why dose this bother them?(note I repeated this to my self for 30 min straight). I got it! I finally got it! The Jews are people, just like the Anglos! The Jews are different! They are a different part of the human race! They are a different part of us! Like the scar mark on the spread of white skin, we want to eliminate the abnormity!
The other aspect of the situation is integument, which is quite baffling, yet I my self take part in the bizarre event. I where a blazer and act formal because others don’t. I like attention because others don’t, and this again baffles me. I have only one theory, during my time in the public educational system(where u ether conformed or where rebuked) I was always different from every one else. I was bizarre and strange blood, and was quite talkative for my age. My parents where frequent socialists and I would be often forced into awkward conversation. As if my verbal diarrhea ;) wasn’t enough then I was also had a very different childhood from most people. My father being of another culture raised me as a Egyptian, and if this didn’t plague me it was my allergies, or bizarre tastes in sports. Amazingly though I made friends, and found my place in the school. I believe it might be possible that this early nonconformity affected me, possibly making me feel comfortable being different. To get back to the point, some people crave abnormity, but is this only to a extent. I know that I do not want to be too different. I like the same things as other people, yet don’t want to go to the extent of changing my personal preferences to be different. Ever since my child hood when I had the pleasure of watching Jurassic park. Instantly I became infatuated with dinosaurs. I don’t believe that I would come to hate dinosaurs, unless possibly my perspective of them changed. That’s it!
Under the grand spectrum of difference there are three main categories, hatred, interest, and pity. I believe that since these all have the same affect on the subject that these are all the same thing. I know it sounds crazy, but what believe that these are the same thing, having the same affect on people, but simply expressed in a different way most probably from perspective. If this is true then maybe humans just express hatred differently than animals, because animals know life isn’t fare and just know this as how things are, while humans on the other hand are obsessed with the concept of equality, and those that don’t express this as hatred are not hooked on this concept. Dose this mean that humans can exist together. I think but then we need to not be hung up on the concept of equality.
What do you think Mr. knight?
While reading the last act of fences I repeatedly come back to the same question:
“Will Cory fall into his fathers shadow or rise above his fathers sins?”
As I read the text it seems to point one way, then spin around and go the other. Troy claims that he has risen above his father’s fence, yet he in fact still resides within it. Though he is technically away from his father and lost all ties to him he is still in his fathers molding. Troy describes his father as the devil and claims to hate him and says that he finally stands up to his father on page 52 when he confronts then runs away from his father. He never sees his father again and yet still falls into his cast. It is to late though, it is in the instant he picks up his fathers whip and hits his father that he is condemned to live his life.
Cory also confronts his father with his fathers whip/ bat, yet he can’t swing at his father, and then his father takes the bat from him and kicks him out of his house. How ever his father’s whip might come in sooner at page 58 when Cory punches his father, yet unlike in his father’s case he is protected by his mother. In Troy’s case the woman ran off, and did not stop Troy’s father from attacking him. Ultimately though in the end Cory takes up his fathers whip and hits him. This should imply that he is condemned to his fathers life. Even earlier still troy doesn’t sign for Cory to play football, again supposedly securing his fate.
(The following is written after I finished the play)
At the end of the book two things happen that affect this argument. Firstly after rose’s persuasion corky decides to go to his father’s funeral, putting his differences aside to say good bye to him. This did not happen with troy father, there was no closure and thus his fathers shadow lingered on within him, dose this mean Cory is free to be himself? Even at the end I still have no answer to my question, yet after reading roses statement on page 97 a second time I think I find the closest thing I will get to a answer. Rose states that all that all Cory is, is technically his father, which troy himself says, stating that he his is his flesh and blood. In the end all Cory really can do is shape his father into something new, this new thing being him.
“if you really think about it all we our is made derived of our nature, and nurture, these both are mainly shaped by our fathers”.
In Act 2 scene 4 of fences we find out that Cory is more of a man than Troy. We know this because when Cory is knocked down by Troy he just gets up and leaves, to the other side of the fence. He goes to the unknown part of the world, which shows that Cory is able to go into the unknown and adapt to whatever the world throws at him. Most importantly he does not have to host his father’s (Troy’s) sins anymore. He is on the other side of the fence, the utopia where no one is judged, or has their dreams shattered. He is in a place where he can make his own decisions and choices by himself. Cory loses the fight but he wins the war. Cory learns from Troy’s mistakes and is able to apply them to his own life in order to not be like his father. Troy is unable to learn from his mistakes, but his friends and family are able to learn so they just leave him alone. In the end Tory does strike out, because he dies in real life and he loses all his friends. Cory is stronger than Troy in that aspect of the game and is able to not strike out. Cory ends up going to Troy’s funeral even though he did not want to. He succeeded in life despite what Troy did in his life. Cory made himself a military man and made his family proud. Cory did not host his father’s sins, he confronted his dad and told him how he thought, and ultimately Cory did something that most men never do. He went in a direction that was unfamiliar to him and he prevailed. If we all make wise decisions throughout our lifetime we should be able to accept life as our own.
Troy has always tried to keep his family members inside of his fence. But Cory has been trying to push and push himself outside the reach of his father who has been holding him back for his whole life. When Cory says "You ain't never gave me nothing! You ain't never done nothing but hold me back. Afraid I was gonna be better than you" he is right, troy has not been worried about him making it or being rejected like he was many years ago. He was worried that Cory would succeed and get out of the ghetto, like Troy was never able to do. Cory is better than Troy in the fact that he doesn't let anyone say no to his dreams, and if they do he just pushes harder. Cory is finally free when he decides to leave Troys yard and go off on his own, he knows that if you dream big then you can't fail. Cory will not strike out because he has learned from his fathers sins and will not repeat them, he has played host for far to long. Now Cory sees that what his father did was wrong and he will never put his family through that pain. Troy has made a big mistake, he told his son that he can not do something. Now Cory will not just succeed but he wil do it in spite of his father.
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