“Cory: A Coming-of-Age Story”
Brittany Stone
13 June 2008
English 2100
Lunsford
Essay #2
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Brittany Stone
13 June 2008
English 2100
Lunsford
Essay #2
Cory: A Coming-of-Age Story
Arriving at adulthood requires a journey from subject to ruler, dependence to selfsufficiency. This journey is not without its struggles, but each struggle is a necessary
step towards independence. In August Wilson’s Fences, Cory Maxson’s coming-of-age
story significantly informs the theme that family provides the framework for one’s
identity.
Fences is named for its critical metaphor. The fence being built at the Maxson
household represents the bond that holds the family together. Jim Bono comments,
“Some people build fences to keep people out… and other people build fences to keep
people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you” (157). Cory’s mother, Rose,
asks for this fence to be built, symbolizing her desire to keep the family unit together.
The purpose of the fence is to frame the house, keep away what is undesirable, and retain
what’s of value. In the same way, family provides the framework for identity, offers
security for its members, and builds character and values. For Cory, his family is the
microcosm that gives him the characteristics and opportunities he needs to mature.
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At the beginning of Fences, Cory desires his father’s affection and approval. An
important way in which Cory reaches out to Troy is through athletics. Rose comments to
her husband, “He’s just trying to be like you with the sports” (137). Cory tries to connect
athlete-to-athlete in lieu of father-to-son. Cory has chosen football over Troy’s preferred
sport of baseball. Even still, Cory attempts to bond with his father over baseball,
showing his willingness and desire to be part of his father’s world. In a conversation
with Troy, while working on the fence, there is a long pause after which Cory chimes in
with, “The Pirates won today. That makes five in a row” (132). But each time Cory
reaches out to connect with his father, Troy thwarts his efforts. He ridicules Cory’s
choice to play football calling it “foolishness” (135) and dismisses Cory’s comment about
the Pirates with, “I ain’t thinking about the Pirates” (132). Wilson uses these seemingly
small bits of conversation to underline a larger issue between father and son. Cory
extends his hand in hopes to bond, connect, and gain approval and each time Troy shuts
him down.
Directly through the struggles with his father, Cory learns the strength it takes to
challenge authority, the resilience required to overcome disappointment, and the
determination necessary to be successful in a difficult world. After Cory makes small
jabs at Troy’s authority, such as lying about his job, Troy single-handedly ruins Cory’s
chance at a football scholarship. Cory then exerts some independence in confronting
Troy in front of Rose and Bono:
Papa done went up to the school and told Coach Zellman I can’t play
football no more. Wouldn’t even let me play the game. Told him to tell
the recruiter not to come… Why you wanna do that to me? That was the
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one chance I had… You don’t never want to listen to nobody… Just
cause you didn’t have a chance! You just scared I’m gonna be better than
you, that’s all. (152-153)
But despite the bold confrontation, Cory still submits himself to Troy’s authority in the
stage directions, “CORY reluctantly crosses over to TROY” (153), showing that he is afraid
to be without his father’s approval. On several occasions Cory is seen in this pattern of
exercising his independence and then deliberately resubmitting himself to Troy. Cory’s
wavering is an internal struggle over continuing to seek his father’s approval or carving
out his own identity.
After the severe disappointment regarding his football career and the gradual
building of his defiance towards Troy, Cory experiences a turning point. Cory becomes
unwavering and unapologetic, exhibiting a determination to make it on his own.
TROY: You ain’t got to say excuse me cause I don’t count around here no
more. Is that right?
CORY: That’s right. You always talking this dumb stuff. Now, why don’t
you just get out my way.
TROY: I guess you got some place to sleep and something to put in your
belly. You got that, huh? You got that? That’s what you need. You got
that, huh?
CORY: You don’t know what I got. You ain’t got to worry about what I
got. (179)
Until now, there has been a pattern in Cory and Troy’s confrontations: Cory defends
himself, Troy challenges him, and Cory backs down. Here, that pattern changes. When
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Troy challenges him, Cory responds, “That’s right.” By maintaining his assertion, Cory
makes it clear that he is no longer dominated by Troy. Though he later loses the physical
struggle over the baseball bat and Troy kicks him out, Cory has already severed the tie
between himself and his father; the decision has already been made.
Once Cory moves beyond the fence and leaves his family, he is an independent
man. Rather than being ruled over by his father and submitting to what Troy wants for
his life, Cory is able to become his own ruler and make his own way. He takes the highly
respected position of a United States Marine and becomes the antithesis of Troy and his
feeling of “standing in the same place for eighteen years” (165). In a way, Troy
Maxson’s dreams become fulfilled in his son Cory and a positive legacy of himself can
live on.
Upon leaving, Cory seems to have succeeded in his struggles from boyhood to
manhood and to have found his identity. But his search for identity and independence is
not complete until he returns home after his father’s death. When Cory left home he
carried resentment and bitterness towards his father; so much that he didn’t want to attend
his funeral. Cory says to his mother, “I can’t drag Papa with me everywhere I go. I’ve
got to say no to him. One time in my life I’ve got to say no” (188). He also likens his
father’s presence to a “shadow that followed you everywhere. It weighed on you and
sunk into your flesh. It would wrap around you and lay there until you couldn’t tell
which one was you anymore” (189). Cory realizes that he carries his father around with
him through the form of resentment, and he cannot fully become a man while he
continues to hold on to this bitterness. Cory’s solution is to “say no” to his father by not
attending the funeral. Rose, however, states, “Disrespecting your daddy ain’t gonna
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make you a man, Cory. You got to find a way to come to that on your own... That
shadow wasn’t nothing but you growing into yourself” (188-189). By not going to the
funeral, Cory’s heart would remain hardened towards his father and he would never be
able to fully accept who he is, because he has so much of Troy within him. Denying his
father would be the same as denying himself. Rose tells Cory, “You Troy Maxson all
over again… Your daddy wanted you to be everything he wasn’t… and at the same time
he tried to make you into everything he was” (189). The real solution for Cory is to
attend the funeral and lay to rest the resentment, bitterness, and differences so that he can
fully accept his identity.
The motif of family serving as the root of identity, along with the central fence
metaphor, are intensified by Wilson’s depiction of Cory Maxson. Cory progresses in a
coming-of-age story from boyhood to manhood. He learns strength, resilience, and
determination from his family experiences; leaves home; and becomes independent.
However it is not until Cory faces his home again, to resolve issues of bitterness towards
his father, that he discovers Troy’s legacy within him. It is in this truth that Cory finds
his identity and adulthood.