Troy Maxson: A Tragic Hero

When people think of a hero, they do not understand you don't need to be just like superman, you don't need to be able to fly, or be immortal and never die. There is no need to wear a mask, save the world, or have special powers. To me, any regular person can become a hero in their own way. I believe a hero can be found in any piece of literature, most main characters are all heroes, but they are all heroes in a different way. To me, in order to be a hero, all you need to do is put someone else's life in front of your own, if you can change someone else's life you can then call yourself a hero. Aristotle once said that a tragic hero is "one who does not fall into misfortune though vice or depravity, but falls because of some mistake". In the play Fences by August Wilson, the main character Troy Maxson proves himself to be a hero in my eyes, he puts the life of a young girl before his own and gives her a place to stay while he lives on the streets, he also confronts his wife when he knows he did something wrong, which also takes a lot of guys and is a heroic move. Troy's character creates all of the large and the small conflicts with the other characters in Fences. Troy instigates conflict due to his inability to accept other's choices in life when they differ from Troy's own philosophy.

Troy Maxson is a classically drawn tragic-hero. He begins the play loved, admired and getting away with his secret affair. Eventually, Troy's death leaves many negative attributes as an inheritance for his family to sort out and accept. Troy Maxson spends the better part of 1957 building a picket fence around his yard, at his wife's request, seems like it is one of those household projects that never seems to end. The hero of August Wilson's Fences has faced far more daunting walls in his lifetime. Fences explore boundaries, both actual and figurative, within society, within personal relationships and within himself. Troy has found a way to become a hero in all of these situations.

Troy played in a Negro baseball league, he wanted to become a baseball player, but when the major leagues finally opened their doors to colored players, Troy was too old and out of his prime to be able to compete with the younger society. Troy's then made his life revolve around work and his family; he put his dreams of becoming a major league baseball player aside. He went into working and became a garbage man; he realized that he needed a steady income to provide for his family and to purchase the house that they live in. Even in the work place Troy wants to excel and make a stand for himself, talking to the commissioner about being a driver of one of the garbage trucks. Troy argued for blacks to drive the garbage trucks, but he doesn't know how to drive or even have a license. Troy acts out to try and better his black