Witty, Clever and Extremely Insightful Title

Hey, I liked Fences. I also liked Troy Maxson. He might be a little rough around the edges, but he has good intentions at heart. Troy is just going through what I imagine to be one of the most difficult acts of parenting. He doesn’t want his sons to go through the same pain that he had to endure when he tried to pursue his own dream—that dream being professional baseball of course. He doesn’t want his sons to follow their dreams and subsequently be crushed and end up in poverty. Troy’s path led only to despair, financial hardship and discrimination. Troy’s unwillingness to embrace his son’s passion results from his desire to prevent his sons the same pain he went through and his harbored anger towards the society that denied him his chance. This frustration blinds him to the fact that although progress is slow, society is changing. Troy’s children, however, do not face the exact same conditions that he faced, but Troy is unwilling to compromise his hardened image of the world. Troy wants to protect his children from a future similar to his own. Therein lies the challenge. Can he find confidence enough in his children, himself and his world to let them go their own way and follow their own ambitions. Can he find confidence enough in society to let his children risk their own futures. It must be incredibly difficult to let your children go down a path that you feel will cause them pain. Troy must also find the courage to let his children find their own definition of success, even if he thinks that journey will be lonely and desperate. In this way, Fences is as much a story of forgiveness as it is a narrative of the black experience. Troy must learn to forgive society its wrongdoings against him so that he can willingly let his children find their own way in the world. I suppose there is a fine line between the possible mistakes that you can’t allow your children to make and the ones you have to allow them to risk making. Anyway, Troy Maxson shows us that even though all dreams aren’t attained, everyone must still chase them.