Baseball

 Baseball: Troy's hopes, disappointments and perceptions


 *  A national sport in America, baseball has been the symbol of American values such as freedom, opportunity and hope ever since the game was introduced. Growing up together with the nation, baseball has explored many historical events in America, reflecting the evolution of American culture and society. In August Wilson’s play //Fences//, baseball becomes a topic of discussion that reflects Troy’s hopes and disappointments as well as his experiences and perceptions in life though the use of the sport as a metaphor and an analogue to his life. As a former big-hitter in the Negro League, Troy was denied a chance to fulfill his Major League dream because of his color in a racist society. His bitter experience would lead to Troy’s stubborn perceptions of time and society, and to his overly protective attitude regarding his son Cory’s future. **

** I. ****Wilson utilizes baseball as a metaphor for Troy’s hopes and disappointments to reveal the man’s stubborn beliefs in a racist society and his escape from reality. ** “I saw Josh Gibson’s daughter yesterday. She walking around with raggedy shoes on her feet. Now I bet Selkirk’s daughter ain’t walking around with raggedy shoes on her feet! I bet you that!” (I.i.9).  “Jackie Robinson wasn’t nobody. I’m talking about if you could play ball then they ought to have let you play. Don’t care what color you were. Come telling me I come along too early. If you could play…then they ought to have let you play” (I.i.10). >   **II.**  **Baseball also acts as an analogue for Troy’s life experiences as a black man, revealing his unwillingness to chance his perception with time and the effect of his belief on his son Cory’s future. **  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #c00000; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">“Then when I saw that gal…she firmed up my backbone. And I got to thinking that if I tried…I just might be able to steal second. Do you understand after eighteen years I wanted to steal second” (II.i.70). <span style="COLOR: rgb(19,205,21); FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #c00000; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><span style="COLOR: rgb(19,205,21); FONT-FAMILY: Georgia,serif"> “But…you born with two strikes on you before you come to the plate” (II.i.69). <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #c00000; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">“The colored guy got to be twice as good before he get on the team. That’s why I don’t want you to get all tied up in them sports” (I.iii.34). <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Although proud of his achievement in the Negro League with numerous homeruns, Troy always looked back at his career with resentment and anger as he realized that he was restricted from the Major League’s money and fame. Strangled by the society’s racial stereotype, Troy was no only permanently scarred by the crude world of professional sports, but also hurt by the racist treatment he received in various other situations like in his job and in a restaurant.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">He blamed his disappointment in life on racism, because he believed that a career in the Major League would ensure a carefree and wealthy life. Baseball meant hope in his earlier life. Instead, he “ain’t got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of” (I.i.9), living in a state of poverty and echoing the “raggedy shoes” that the daughter of Josh Gibson, another prestigious hitter in the Negro League, walked around with.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Troy’s jealousy and depreciation of Jackie Robinson’s presence in the Major League demonstrates his stubborn belief that he himself deserved a place in the Major League during his prime. Of the many aspects of Troy’s life, his baseball career was probably what he was most proud of because of his conquering days in the Negro League as a big hitter.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">However, the fact that an African American Jackie Robinson, whom Troy considered to be a “nobody”, entered the Major League shortly after Troy’s exit threatened to destroy Troy’s stubborn belief in that racism was the barrier which kept him from fulfilling his dream.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Baseball in Troy’s life represented both his prime days in the Negro League as well as the death of his dream in the Major League.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">By using baseball as an analogue for his affair with Alberta, Troy believed he found hope and escape from his real disappointments in life. After remaining stagnant in a disappointing career as a garbage collector and in a poor family, Troy explained his decision to have an affair with Alberta as a desire to “steal second”.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Troy escapes from his failing relationship with the family to be with Alberta. The analogy between baseball and Troy’s affair reveals Troy’s unrealistic hopes in his life while escaping into a world of illusion with Alberta.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">During a time when racial discrimination on the baseball field was slowly fading away, Troy, a former Negro League player, remained consumed with bitterness about his failure to enter the Major League at his prime. Troy was convinced that if the player’s identity is a black man in America, he is “born with two strikes on you before you come to the plate”, suggesting his belief in that black baseball players are at a huge disadvantage compared to white players.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Denied a glorious chance to compete at the Major League level, Troy used the analogue of baseball to describe the unjust racist treatment he received and believed still existed, unwilling to chance his perception of the society with time.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Troy’s stubborn perception of the racist society causes him to stand in the way of his son Cory’s opportunity. From his experience as a black baseball player, Troy suffered from the racial discrimination which denied him of a chance to play in the Major League.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Furthermore, the impact of racial discrimination from other daily activities, such as getting “no kind of service” in restaurants and being a garbage collector rather than a truck driver, has taken its toll on the black man’s psychological state.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Although the dream of college education for their son is a dream most father would happily support, Troy, on the other hand, destroyed this dream because he was overwhelmed by the bitterness in his baseball career.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial"> **III.**  **<span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The use of a bat on the stage portrays the climax of the relationship between Troy and Cory, revealing Cory's desire for a unique identity and his desire to seperate himself from his unsuccessful father. ** <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The effect of baseball on Troy’s life is like the effect of a mirage on a traveler who is trapped in the desert. Troy saw hope in his baseball career and believed that a chance into the Major League would result in a carefree life. However, racial discrimination in the game has shattered his dream and left him strangling in poverty and disappointment. Troy continued to use baseball in reference to describe his life, creating a world of illusion in which he could escape. Likewise, the lake that people see in a mirage is simply optical illusion that will make the traveler continue on the journey and continue to think that there is a water source ahead. The mirage will only ultimately lead to the traveler’s disappoint and the death of his/her hopes. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> media type="youtube" key="mJmrwOXvh0o" height="344" width="425" "The Swing" A scene put together and performed by Campbell University students. The scene takes place 27 years before the actual play and shows Troy's attitude towards the sport of baseball.
 * <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #c00000; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">“//Troy advance backs Cory up against the tree. Cory grabs up the bat…Cory swings the bat at Troy a second time. He misses. Troy continues to advance toward him//” (II.i.59). [[image:0305_bp_fences1.jpg width="157" height="256" align="right" caption="Troy and his bat"]]  **
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The stage direction of Cory “swinging the bat” illustrates the climax in this father-son relationship which was the result of a conflict between his belief in his college football dream and his father Troy’s decision to deny him of the opportunity.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Troy’s front yard is a battleground during his confrontation between Cory, a place where Troy’s bitterness about his own exclusion from the Major League and Cory’s belief in his bright future was heard. As Cory finally ran out of patience with his father’s stubbornness, he decided to take extreme measures and used physical violence against Troy.
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The “bat”, a symbol of Troy’s unsuccessful baseball career and his identity, was swung Cory as he desperately tries to battle and create a unique identity different from his father.