Post a response to the following:
Compare what you know about Troy to Wilson's references* of Milwaukee Braves' player and until recently, the Major Leagues home run champ, Hank Aaron. Explore their similarities and differences. Aspects to consider: dreams and aspirations, outcomes, the fence as a symbol, baseball as a metaphor, and historical context.
Be sure to provide page number citations.
* Use the entire text, including the pages the precede the actual play.
John Wins Last Bonus Opp Ever.
Congrats to John, who was the first student to email me the correct answer to how the answers to the "total number of pages read" poll below were strategically picked.
His answer was as follows:
All of these are years. 2008 is our current year, 1984 is the year you were born*, 1812 is for the war of 1812, 1776 is the declaration of independance, and 1492 is the year columbus sailed the ocean blue! These also have to do with American dates, as the course is "American Lit."
* Actually, I was born in 1981. But four outta five ain't bad. Especially in baseball. Which this isn't. But still . . .
His answer was as follows:
All of these are years. 2008 is our current year, 1984 is the year you were born*, 1812 is for the war of 1812, 1776 is the declaration of independance, and 1492 is the year columbus sailed the ocean blue! These also have to do with American dates, as the course is "American Lit."
* Actually, I was born in 1981. But four outta five ain't bad. Especially in baseball. Which this isn't. But still . . .
Photo Feature: Uncle Rico.
A 21st century Tom Buchanan. Sort of.
". . . one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty one that everything afterwards savours of anticlimax. . . . I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game" (10).
The Truth about Bright Eyes.
The band name "Bright Eyes" was taken from Charlton Heston's character's nickname in Planet of the Apes, not Daisy's character description in The Great Gatsby. Sorry to disappoint.
"I looked back at my cousin who began to ask me questions in her low, thrilling voice. It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright, passionate mouth . . ." (Fitzgerald, 13-14).
In Rotation: Selected 07-08 Highlights.
by your request...
Kansas, Moby, Ratatat, & Vampire Weekend.
from the prb. music library...
Bob Dylan, MC Frontalot, and as always, highlights from the following first-rate podcasts: Brooklyn Radio's "The Rub," & "Wake the Town and Tell the People," KCRW's "Sounds Eclectic," and NPR's "All Songs Considered."
About the Blogger.
- —pb.
- Mpls, MN, United States
- Educator. Modern Untrained Photographer. Poet. Wisconesotan. Green Bay Packer fanatic. Borderline unhealthy obsession with mustaches and doppelgangers.
16 comments:
Troy and Hank Aaron are similar in the sense that they are both African American baseball players who are very good. Bono says this about Troy: "If he (Cory) be like you in sports... he's gonna be alright. Ain't but two men ever played baseball as good as you. That's Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson. Them's the only two men ever hit more home runs than you" (pg. 8-9). To which Troy responds: "What it ever got me? Ain't got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of" (pg. 9). Which brings up the key difference between Hank Aaron and Troy: Hank Aaron's baseball prowess accomplished something and got him somewhere, whereas Troy's baseball prowess only caused him pain when his dream of playing in the major leagues was thwarted by racism. Hank Aaron was nationally renowned baseball player who gained recognition, money, and pride from his abilities in baseball. Troy, on the other hand, gained no recognition, no money, and had his achievements branded with a second class status because he played in an all black baseball league.
- Jack Pattee
Hank Aaron and Troy are similar in the sense that they are both colored baseball players, and that they are both very good or at least that's what Troy says "I was hitting .432 with thirty-seven home runs?!" (9). However, the main difference between the two of them is the time that they started playing. Troy is 53 years old whereas Hank Aaron is in the prime of his career. Troy admits it himself, "Don't care what color you were. Come telling me I come along too early" (10). However, when Hank Aaron was playing the "hot winds of change" (xviii) had already started to happen and Jackie Robinson had not yet integrated the league. Thus good negro baseball players could not play in the league.
-Scott
Troy Maxson, and Hank Aaron are similar in way ways. One was a home run champion, the other, homered off of Satchel Paige(34). But they also have a striking difference. Hank aaron "made it." he didn't succumb to the face that his race was heavily disenfranchised, and he fought through it. Troy on the other hand, never made it. He went down swinging, in life, and finally, as a fitting way for him to die(96). Hank aaron was untouchable, a saint amongst mere mortals, for his ability to play baseball, and for making it so that, in sports, and a bit in life, you're skin tone was not the difference, your ability was. Troy was dealt a bum hand, and went down swinging, but he was never able to overcome something that held him down all his life: his race.
-Christopher
August Wilson uses the theme of baseball throughout the play Fences to relate Troy’s life to the game. Specifically, Wilson relates him to famous baseball player Hank Aaron. Hank Aaron was, for a long time, the all-time home run record holder. As it says on page 34, Hank Aaron was an African-American baseball player. When Troy says that “Hank Aaron ain’t nobody”, I think it shows that Troy is jealous. It also says on page 34 that Troy played baseball in the Negro League. I think Troy feels that he should’ve had a chance like Hank Aaron. However, on page 39, Rose tells Troy to stop being resentful towards sports because he was too old to play in the major leagues. It was always Troy’s dream to play in the major leagues and when he couldn’t, he lost his main and maybe only life aspiration. I think Wilson uses the fence to symbolize that Troy is trapped. With the fence only half-way built, Troy wasn’t completely confined. He still was living in the past and dwelled on his baseball life. He didn’t want his son Cory to go through what he did: being discriminated against because of his race. This is shown on page 33 when Troy trash talks the all white teams. However, when Troy completes the fence, it shows that he is happy and is content with his life and family. The fence symbol also relates to Hank Aaron because hitting a home run is hitting it over the fence. Aaron hit it over the fence quite often, and Troy was jealous. He wanted to get over that fence to prove that he was still worth something. In “The Play”, the Milwaukee Braves are mentioned. I think this is because they had black players on their team and won the world series as the underdogs. This gave hope to a lot of people, including Troy. Although Troy would never admit it, Hank Aaron whose who he aspired to be.
-Nina
Hi! I'm sure that both Hank Aaron and Troy Maxson both have their fair share of struggles and sucesses, but these happen to be very much the same. They are very athletic and have once pursued the same sport.In baseball, they were both talented, young and hopeful athletes whose dream was to make it to the major leagues. I believe that when H.A. got discouraged, he'd keep trying to accomplish his goals, whereas T.M. became exceedingly frustrated and eventually wasn't allowed to play baseball in the Majors due to the color of his skin; but in my opinion, he lacked the ambition to do so. He was afraid of losing. His life-long motto of "you gotta take the crooked with the straight" is used to show others, and to remind himself, that you can't "win them all", whether it be baseball games, family struggles or relationship problems with your brother Gabe, your wive or a woman a few doors down. Baseball is a way for Troy to relate what he's saying to his family and friends. His hardest lessons and fears were discovered during this game, and could also be determined by "the fence." He learned that sometimes bad things happen (in ball and in life), but you need to shake it off and go into the next inning and not dwell on the errors of the past. The fence in baseball symbolizes glory, honor and victory. Going beyond the fence is a guaranteed homerun (given it's a fair ball), but striking out gives the ball player an automatic sickening, gut-wrenching bad feeling that you've let yourself, your coach and your team down (or yourself, your wife and you family/friends down in Troy's case after his days in the Negro leagues) Hank Aaron overcame the differences between him and his white teammates and is arguably the best ball player...ever. Troy seemed jealous of H.A. and all the opportunities he capitalized on, or at least nostalgic for his ballgame-days. He didn't realize how good he had it until it was gone, but H.A. seemed to savor his games, so much that he continued to play, despite the controversy. He "took the crookeds with the straights" and kept fighting. (or swinging...) They're similar on a basica level; they both played ball, they're African Americans, they were good at their sports and they grew up around the same time period (though it was easier for H.A. to adapt to playing in the Majors because it was later on in history, and the times were changin' "Times have changed a lot since then" Bono to Troy, 9)But on a deeper level, they are both such complex characters that are different in almost every way. They seem almost opposite in the way of their personalities. One lies and complains ("I know some teams Jackie Robinson couldn't even make...Jackie Robinson ain't nobody", 10), and gives up when proven wrong ("I told that boy about that football sutff. The white man ain't gonna let him get nowhere with that football")while the other doesn't give up, even when discouraged. H.A. aspired to go beyond the fence, while all T.M. wants to aspire to be is the man within the fence. He wants to be left alone, and keep his sucess and talents to himself in fear that he'll be mocked or they'll be challenged (when admired for his homeruns, "What has it ever get me? Ain't got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of", 9).
Ahh...that took too long.
-Shaina
Hank Aaron and Troy are both African American Baseball players who hit hundreds of home runs. The symbol of a fence related to baseball is a barrier that prevents people from succeeding. Hank and Troy both hit tons of home runs, however, Hank hit more, and was able to get over the fence, which was race. Troy tried, and was successful hundreds of times, however, it just wasn't enough, and he just couldn't overcome the fence. Somehow no matter how good he was, he was only allowed to play in the negro leagues. This is very similar to Cory's situation. Troy acts like a fence to Cory, no matter how much success he has, Troy does his best to discourage his success. Hank Aaron was able get over some racial fences as he passed the american hero, babe ruth to become the homerun king. Troy was never able to get over the race fence, for whatever reason, probably because he played much earlier than Hank. And like Chris said, Troy never stopped thinking about going over that fence, and his death was fitting as he went down swinging.
-tyler
Troy and Hank Aaron have both gone through the same and different struggles in their lives. Both have had to dell with the struggle of being black going through a "white only" cycle. But they are different in the ways that are internal. Aaron has lived out the dream that Troy has struggled to get all his life and trying to protect his son Cory from. Cory always tries to make good conversation with his father about sports to help persuade Troy to let him play football but every time he does troy shuts him down and complains about how bad that team or that individual player is and brags about how he can do better." Hank Aaron ain't nobody." pg 34 or Selkrik! Thats it! Man batting .269, understand? .269. What kind of sense that make? i was hitting .432 with thirty-seven home runs!" pg 9
Troy says all of this because he was internally hurt when the major leagues rejected him. Because of that the fences that lives around his house shields him from the world and all of the changes happening in it.
Hank Aaron also has a fence that lives around him but the only difference between his fence is that Aaron wants to go beyond it and hit the ball the distance.
Troy and Aaron are similar in that they both have dealt with the constant societal struggles of black men. Aaron represents the life that Troy believes he should have and has earned. For this, Troy feels resentment. He says, "Selkrik! Thats it! Man batting .269, understand? .269. What kind of sense that make? i was hitting .432 with thirty-seven home runs!" (9) Although it is typical human tendency to resent those who have what you do not and feel you deserve, the resentment also comes from Troys inability to accept change. His building of the fence shows that he wants to hide from the world around him because he believes it does not accept him. Aaron is proof that a black man can make it in society. He is going over the fence that Troy is hiding behind. This shatters Troy's theory of how the world works. Aaron challenges him to rethink the black man's place in society and he is forced to consider that perhaps isolation from the outside world is not necessary.
-Adam Jensen
Erik G
Troy is like Hank Aaron in the sense that they both overcame great struggles/hardships. Hank Aaron was a pioneer in Major league baseball who overcame racism by being one of the first black men in a predominantly white league. Troy overcame the struggle of being filed away as just another ex-con by raising a big family that he (deep down, even if he doesn't show it on the surface) loves. They both have earned their respect by pushing themselves to achieve. They both aimed for the fences and strived for perfection. However, the thing that differentiates them is the end. Hank Aaron went out as a great baseball player, if not one of the best of all time. Troy went out as an angry man, as illustrated on page 87: "Yeah, I'm crazy! If you don't get on the other side of that yard...I'm gonna show you how crazy I am! Go on...get the hell out of my yard". He threatens violence to his own son over an argument.
August Wilson thinks that the Milwaukee Braves won the world sieres before "the hot winds of change that would make the sixites a turbulent, racing, dangerous, and provocative decade" (xviii). Troy doesn't think that Hank Aaron playing baseball changes anything, Troy doesn't think Aaron is any better than himself. Troy played in an all black league and never got to see the change for himself so he didn't believe it could happen. Because his dreams were crushed he didn't pay attention to the change that could happen in the future. Hank Aaron kept his hopes up and was able to play in the major leagues. When Bono says "Times have changed, Trot. You just come around too early." Troy replies "There ought not never have been no time called too early!" (9). Because Troy doesn't think there should be a reason to need to have change. He shuts himself out to the possiblity which is the main differece.
Maddie
Hank Aaron vs. Troy Maxson
By Carly Reicho
Block 5
Throughout Fences, Troy is constantly struggling with his sense of class-inferiority towards the culture of power. Often times, the only way he knows how to with this is by building up his sense of skill-superiority. “Selkirk! That’s it! Man batting .269, understand? .269. What kind of sense that make? I was hitting .432 with thirty-seven home runs!” (9) Troy is always comparing himself to others in order to make up for what he actually accomplished in his life. Hank Aaron was one of the lucky few who had the chance to be chosen to fulfill his dreams. What Troy can’t see, because of jealousy, is that although the system isn’t fair yet, it is a huge stride towards integration. “Hell I know some teams Jackie Robinson couldn’t even make... Jackie Robinson wasn’t nobody.” (10) He is so envious of the fact that he wasn’t lucky enough to be in the same position as Hank Aarons that he can’t see the achievement that has been made. Many of Troy’s points are valid towards the issue of segregation, yet he does not know how to cope with his setbacks. “If you could play ball then they ought to have let you play. Don’t care what color you were.” (10) Instead of dealing with the unfairness in a healthy way, he often times resorts to alcohol or taking out his problems on other people.
Troy and Hank Aaron are similar because they both are african-american Baseball players. They are both extremely talented except, Troy came before African-Americans were allowed in the Major Leagues. They both had to overcome fences of their own. Troy had to overcome his race, and the fact that he is a convicted criminal. Hank Aaron has to overcome the fences as being one of the pioneers of the league. They both had similar dreams: to become a great baseball star. They both in their own way are part of the "racing provocative decade" (xviii) of the 60's. Hank was in his prime baseball years, hitting consistently, while Troy was overcoming fences of being a garbage truck driver. They both understand "that to take a chance and grab a moment of beauty can crumble the delicate fabric of an intricate value system and leave one desolate and alone. Strength of body and strength of purpose are not enough. Chance and the color of one's skin, chance again, can tip the balance." (viii) This quote opens up lots of interpretation. I think he is comparing Troy to Hank when he is explaing that chance and the color of one's skin tip the balance. Hank was lucky and entered the league. While Troy was not as lucky and ended up a truck driver. But throughout their lives they both dream of base ball. "Hank Aaron ain't nobody... We had better pitching in the Negro leagues." (34) Troy still believes in his heart he could be better than hammerin' hank.
Troy and Hank Aaron are similar because they both are African American baseball players who loved to and were good at hitting home runs. One of the biggest differences between the two is that Hank Aaron made it into the NBL and Troy didn't. "Ain't but two men ever played baseball as good as you. That's Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson. Them's the only two men ever hit more home runs than you."(9) Bono believes that Troy was a better baseball player then most of the players in the national league but he was to old when he got out of jail and couldn't make it then because he was over 40. "Hank Aaron ain't nobody. That's what you suppose to do. Thats how you suppose to play the game. Ain't nothing to it. It's just a matter of timing... getting the right follow-through. Hell, i can hit fourty three home runs right now."(34) Troy thinks that he is a better athlete then Hank Aaron and the only reason he didn't make it was because he was an African American and didn't think it had any thing to do with the fact that he was 40 years old.
Andi
They are both black baseball players who hit lots of home runs. However, in addition to being in the MLB, Hank Aarons had "an understated style." We often seem to see Troy yelling about one thing or another and being a generally belligerent jerk. But they both had the same obstacles to overcome in being a black man trying to make it as an athlete. That is when the idea of luck comes in.
-Nik
Hank and Troy are both African American baseball players. They were both very good at playing baseball as well. I think that the main difference between Hank and Troy is that although they both faced negativity because of their skin color, i believe that Hank didn't give up, he kept going even thought the times were hard. I do believe they are very similar because they both did have to go through segregation and all that negativity. I think that often times Troy avoids that confrontation, where as Hank did not. Troy seems to take his anger and aggretion out on other people, making him appear to be a negative charecter. “If you could play ball then they ought to have let you play. Don’t care what color you were. (10)"
the one above is mine!
-Becca
Post a Comment