Truth+and+Lying

Truth and Lying
In the play __Fences__ by August Wilson, Troy Maxson is the predominant character associated with lies. These lies hence lead to conflicts between Troy and the characters associated with him; most evidently seen through his strained relationship with Cory and towards the end of the play, with Rose. These conflicts are created, foremost, by Troy's restricted state of mind (partially affected by the war); he is unable to tell the truth, however cannot accept the truth from others either, creating a barrier in communication. In Rose's case, Troy's dishonesty interestingly allows Rose to realize the lie that she's been living, also allowing the audience to perceive Troy in a more truthful sense. Troy's lies ultimately generate a significant impact on both the lives of Rose and Cory, and in the majority part, in negative ways.

===1. Troy returns from the war with a restrictive and impractical state of mind; he cannot accept transformation, thus creates lies and often times lives in an unrealistic world where he is dominant and all-controlling.===

> > The audience is aware that Troy underwent a brief period of illness during the war during which he "wrestled death", altering his state of mind. The audience cannot help but question whether Troy had gone through a permanent change, not physically, but emotionally post-war, as he is unable to accept transformation, even if it is for the better. Troy has created a mental impression that because he was able to fight and overcome death, that he hence has the right to dominate the people around him, and thus, always correct. Troy creates an imaginary "fence" around himself and blocks out the truth and what others have to say. When Rose and Bono attempt to reason that the world has changed, Troy strongly counteracts this point and states "How in hell they done changed?" (I.i.p.9). It is both apparent to the audience and the other characters of the play that the world has gone through transformation, but Troy's insensitive and stubborn character refrains him from accepting the truth. Therefore, other characters often react to Troy as someone thats "got no sense" (I.i.p.5), mentally restricted.
 * **"Times have changed since you was playing baseball, Troy. That was before the war. Times have changed a lot since then." (I.i.p.9)**

> > Troy  often twists the truth to tell compelling, unrealistic stories. He finds "different things to make up" to create false impressions of himself. In this case, it is to be perceived as strong and "heroic" and courageous against "death"; however, in reality, he is a tragic hero that ultimately, cannot provide his family with love. Often times, Troy has fallen so deep into the lie that he creates self illusions and false perceptions where the line between truth and lie is blurred, and the more he lies, the more he integrates the lie as part of the truth, especially seen through his stories as they are easily altered by Troy. Troy lives in a self-controlling, unrealistic world where many aspects are based on lies.  
 * **"Every time Troy tell that story he find different ways to tell it. Different things to make up about it.” (I.i.p.12)**


** > > Throughout the play, Troy is associated with lies and is unable to accept the truth and often accuses others of lying, as seen through the strained relationship between Troy and Cory. Troy is unable to accept transformation and aggressively denies ideas brought forth by others, especially Cory. As Cory’s father, Troy believes that he automatically gains control over all aspects of Cory’s life; therefore, Cory is unable to explain and justify his acts and standpoint on football, and in a larger sense, his life. Troy chooses to only believe what he perceives as the "truth" or the "correct" thing to do in his head, and ultimately forces Cory to lie about his job at the A&P. When Troy discovers Cory's lie, it can only be described as an act brought upon himself, as Cory’s lies were ultimately caused by Troy’s stubborn and restrictive behavior. Ultimately, Troy's restricted perceptions on the world of sports, denies Cory of playing football, consequently causing him to lose out on what can be considered, a life changing opportunity. Troy denies and refuses to face the truth, causing his relationship with Cory to be built off of a series of lies. > >  Rose and troy – two characters of one of the predominant relationships in the play – both contrast in behavior and choice to speak the truth or lie. Rose is more often associated with the truth and several times, acts as a mediator to counter Troy’s lies and reveal the dishonest side of Troy’s character; therefore the audience assumes that Rose is truthful. However, the contrast between Troy’s acceptances of responsibility, as opposed to Rose’s “imagined” possibilities not only carries out the dishonest character of Troy, but somewhat the dishonest character of Rose as well. After Rose is informed of the affair, she begins to state out all the possibilities she could have had with other men and confesses feelings that have been suppressed by Troy for so long.Up until this point, Rose has remained content with her life, as shown on the surface, but when she argues "When's my time to enjoy life?", she is counteracting all the truth mentioned in the former, and that's been explored prior in the play. The audience realizes that Rose too, has been creating a false perception and demonstrates Troy as, in a sense, the more truthful character in the general outlook as he faces the responsibility of being a father; whereas, Rose’s life can be perceived as more of a lie. Ultimately, this conflict (affair) is created by Troy; however, it allows Rose to finally open up about her life, and commit to self realization of the truth, that most definitely needs to be explored, before making the decision of leaving Troy. >      > > Troy’s affair with Alberta and interest in other women is established from the beginning of the play; however, the audience doesn’t discover the extent of the affair until Troy impregnates Alberta, and confesses to Rose. The news comes as not only a shock for Rose, but for the audience as well. In this statement, Rose quite coincidentally, enters the scene right after Troy finishes explaining his indulgences and passionate attitude towards other women. Although Rose spends the majority of her time in the kitchen or yard, the audience gets the sense that she is well aware of the happenings around her and somewhat, secretly listens into Troy's conversations, as she intervenes always at the most conveniant times. What is also established in the very beginning, is Rose's purpose in marrying Troy: to escape a life of "a succession of abusive men and their babies". Rose's life in many senses may be perceived as a lie because ironically, what Rose has tried to avoid ultimately ends up being her life. >
 * 2. Troy's dishonesty and stubborn state of mind creates conflict between him and two closely associated characters, Rose and Cory; the dishonesty drives both characters to leave Troy.
 * **"I left the Commissioner’s office and went down to the A&P… that boy ain’t working down there. He lying to me.” (IV.i.p.49)**
 * **"What about me? When's my time to enjoy life?" (IV.ii.p.74)**
 * **"It's the truth! Like you riding on Goodyears! (//Rose enters from the house. She is ten years younger than Troy, her devotion to him stems from her recognition of the possibilites of her life without him: [...]//)" (I.i.p.5)**
 * Troy's effect on Rose and Cory can be depicted by the domino effect. The domino effect not only demonstrates the more obvious idea, that one lie must usually be followed by another lie to justify the first one and so on, but where Troy acts as the first domino of the sequence, and all dominos behind him represent other characters associated to him. Troy's restricted and stubborn character forces Cory to lie about his job, ultimately loosing the opportunity to play in major league football. As Cory is "knocked over" by Troy, another character, Rose is signicantly affected as well. Troy's dishonest affair permits Rose to realize the lie that she's been living; however, it is too late for Rose to alter her life as she is handed the burden of carring for the child of another woman, forever living with Troy's lie.

> > Throughout the play, Troy alters the truth, proving to be untrustworthy; however, toward the end of the play, a situation emerges where Troy desperately attempts to convince Rose that he is telling the truth, but Rose isn’t persuaded. This situation illustrates the commonly known tale of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". In this case, Rose has finally stepped out to defend not only herself, but Gabriel against Troy and prove to herself that she is capable of defying Troy, finally allowing Troy to realize his wrong doings.
 * 3. Troy constantly twists the truth causing other characters to disbelieve him, naturally, even when he is telling the truth. **
 * **"You did Gabe just like you did Cory. [...] You went back on yourself, Troy. You gonna have to answer for that.” (IV.ii.p. 75)**