Inherited Trauma And Structure

 In class we read the play "Fences" and analyzed its structure and its characters and their relationships, which play a tremendous part in making the play have its style, voice, and message. While we analyzed the story, the term inherited trauma was introduced to us, which means that traumatic events experienced by humans can be passed on to their offspring. In "Fences," inherited trauma is a major theme around the characters Troy and Cory, and the relationship between them, as both go through a flawed father-son relationships and it reflects on their character. Troy experiences trauma throughout his childhood as he is forced to live with a neglectful father with more than 10 siblings and survive on his own after his father beats him to take his girlfriend away from him when he was only 14. Troy experienced hardships on the streets and in jail, and was never able to experience the change that black culture saw in his era. Cory, on the other hand, is trying to live his life the way his Father would've wanted to when he was his age, but Troy stands in the way of Cory achieving his dreams because he doesn't believe Cory will be any different, despite the change in black culture when it comes to sports. Because of this Cory confesses at the end of the play that Troy haunts him and scares him even when he's dead, showing the scars and the burdens Troy has left on him.

The difference between the two as characters and the similarity of their situations are both emphasized by structure in "Fences," because whenever they talk with one another, Troy stops rambling like he does with Bono or Rose and the sentences become a lot shorter from both characters. There is also a lot more action without dialogue in the segments between Troy and Cory, almost as if there isn't much to be said between the two. The structure of the conversations they have resemble the story Troy told between himself and his father where there weren't much words said, and Troy didn't even feel acknowledged as a son, much like Cory. The structure of the play defines their relationship perfectly.