Notes: this is an article for personal review.
Troy Maxson (played by Denzel Washington), a baseball enthusiast and also a sanitation worker lives a life with his wife, Rose Maxson (played by Viola Davis), and son, Cory Maxson (played by Jovan Adepo). They lived in a house that Troy was able to afford because of the unfortunate circumstances that his brother, Gabriel (played by Mykelti Williamson), had to go through. The movie revolves around the relationship between Troy and the various character surrounding him.
The biggest takeaway that I got from this film was this:
Everyone’s just doing their best with what they have
Throughout the movie, we watched Troy’s interaction with his family. He’s really strict with his kids. And though he treats his wife with utmost respect, he kicked himself in the foot when he ended up getting another lady pregnant.
The interactions that he has with his family largely follows the recounts of the memory of his father. Where his father was a lot more strict as compared to him and they did not see eye to eye. In fact, there was a scene where he said that his father chased him out of his own farm because he thought that his father wanted to get with the girl that he was woo-ing. This scene can be seen to be similar to his encounter with Cory. Troy just wanted Cory to not follow his footsteps and possibly become a so call-ed failure like him. However, in Cory eyes, Troy was unhappy that he could’ve done something with his life, unlike Troy himself.
At the end of the movie, Rose made a statement, that Troy was just trying his best with what he had and what he understood. That hit me really hard, cause that’s the truth about most people in the world. We’re all just trying our best with whatever we have and the state of mind that affects us. Most people in the world, are just trying their best.
So be a little forgiving, to others and to yourself when we f*ck up.
The fences metaphor
Halfway into the movie, there was a discussion about the building of fences. That a fence is built to either 1. Keep people out, or 2. Keep people in. There weren’t any fences built at the start. That could’ve been a metaphor that the family was in a chaotic state, where people come and go as they please, or rather that there is a blurry state of what the boundaries of the families are.
For example, Troy went and hooked up with another woman before the fences were built. Rose fought for the family, and never expressed the needs of herself. Cory wanted to be a football player, yet with pushed backs from his father, he wasn’t able to decide for himself. Lyons was doing bad deeds, and Gabe was loose on the street though he may have been better kept at an asylum.
When Troy really first started working on the fence, was when everything and everybody voiced out their pains and boundaries. Everybody went through changes. They put their boundaries up, and do not let anyone come in to take over the reign of their own property (their mental states and life). They keep what is true to theirs within their own property and keep what is not welcomed out.
This can be seen through Rose’s strength to carry on in the family, and care for Raynell, even though Troy has committed infidelity (keeping her values in her side of the fence). While keeping it strict against Troy, and not letting his values affect her (keeping him on the other side of the fence).
Or from Cory, when he decided that he had enough of his father’s demanding behavior and left home to strive for what he wants or believe (keeping his values, wants and needs in his side of the fence), and not allowing Troy to come over and pick on him (keeping Troy’s value on the other side).
I believe, in the story, Troy was as he was. The builder of the fence. His un-condoning behavior was what pushed everyone to build a fence around their property. He passed on at the end of the movie, and we did not see much changes in him other than regret and his duties in building out the fence and taking care of Gabe. He may be the metaphor of the builder of the fence throughout the literature.
