Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Englisches Seminar
PS II Contemporary U.S. Drama: August Wilson
Sommersemester 2006, 04. Fachsemester

Recognizing ′Fences′ - Troy Maxson′s Identity Politics

by: Johannes Steffens

Table of Contents

1 Introduction  2

2 Endowing Identity  3

3 Troy and Cory  5

3.1 Career Advancement  5
3.2 The Economics of Duty 5
3.3 The Consequences of Misrecognition  7

4 Conclusion 8

5 Works Cited 9

1 INTRODUCTION

August Wilson’s 1985 play Fences focuses on black urban life in the late 1950s and deals with intergenerational conflicts, racial issues, distress, and the search for one’s identity and position in life. The play’s protagonist, Troy Maxson, has been turned into a loud-mouthed, hard-hearted, and occasionally “crude and almost vulgar” (Wilson 1987, 1) oppressor as a result of the hardships of Afro-American life in the first half of the 20th century and the experiences of his youth; Troy abandoned home at the age of fourteen, after being beaten up by his sadistic father for having watched him rape a thirteen-year-old girl.

This paper is intended to examine the identity politics in Fences and will focus on the conflict between Troy and his second son Cory. First, it will highlight the importance of recognition for the development of human beings according to Charles Taylor’s theory and then show the negative effects of misrecognition and nonrecognition. Secondly, it will show the different phases of Troy’s misrecognition in the play and analyze how this leads to a mutilation of Cory’s personality.

2 ENDOWING IDENTITY

Troy Maxson’s dominant, almost dictatorial character and his central role in the play are foreshadowed by the cast of characters in the preface:

TROY MAXSON
JIM BONO TROY’s friend
ROSE TROY’s wife
LYONS TROY’s oldest son by previous marriage
GABRIEL TROY’s brother
CORY TROY and ROSE’s son
RAYNELL TROY’s daughter (Wilson 1987, xiii),

The list indicates that all the other main characters are defined by their relationship with Troy. Therefore, he can be clearly described as their “significant other” (George Herbert Mead qtd. in Taylor 1994, 32), an individual who matters to them and who significantly influences their lives and self-evaluation. Troy’s impact on Jim Bono, for example, results from Troy’s “honesty, capacity for hard work, and […] strength” (Wilson 1987, 1) which serves as a paragon for Jim Bono and makes Troy his defining role model. Since all the other members of the Maxson family and Troy’s friend, Jim Bono, seek Troy’s recognition, his failure to meet their need for recognition, especially with regard to Cory and Lyons, has dramatic effects on their identities.

The need for proper recognition derives from the close connection between recognition and identity. One’s identity, which can be defined as the individual characteristics by which a person is known, is constructed through the dialogical relations with one’s significant others. In consideration of the fact that “[d]ue recognition”, as Charles Taylor puts it, “is not just a courtesy we owe people […] [but] a vital human need” (Taylor 1994, 26), misrecognition – the incorrect perception of individuals – and nonrecognition – the absence of acknowledgment – can have detrimental consequences on an individual and can cause mutilation and injury to the person’s personality.

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