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imitation?

"CORY is at the tree hitting the ball with the bat. He tries to mimic TROY, buy his swing is awkward, less sure."

justatposition between imitating Troy and not caring what he says

thinks he can achieve his fathers dreams?

cupboard: what rose cannot reach cory is helping t

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following troy as baseball as denial

learned denial tries to mimic

CONTRADICTION: tries to mimic, but say he doesn't care

uses baseball baseball emobodies broken dreams

operating within Troys framework -> leave football and join the team

shift into act two

cory is rejecting Troys

denied and compelled

this is corys transition into no longer wanting to be like his father! start of act 2, he is unsure about swinging the bat.

At the beginning of Fences second act, August Wilson uses metaphor to communicate the beginnings of Cory's shift in viewpoint towards his father. The scene begins with Cory pondering his identity with respect to his father's, Troy. Cory, just having been denied by his father to pursue his own dreams, stands at the last shred of evidence of Troy's now broken dreams. He is "at the tree hitting the ball with the bat," engaging in a broken form of baseball – the representation of his fathers childhood dreams. Cory is not playing baseball, he is merely "hitting the ball with the bat," a shallow imitation of the true game. This imitation is physically attached to "the tree," an embodiment of unnoticeably slow change and growth. The tree's progress seems to stagnate, its growth only apparent when looked for. This pattern of growth reflects the societal progress which Troy is not willing to look for despite his son's pleading. Instead, Troy falls into the illusion of stagnation and tells Cory to quit pursuing his dreams. After hearing this message, Cory's alignment with his father starts to shift: "he tries to mimic TROY, but his swing is awkward, less sure." Cory is making an active, conscious effort to be like his father. He does not simply mimic Troy, but rather he "tries to" mimic Troy. However, he is no longer confident about wanting to be like his father. Instead, he mimics awkwardly, and is "less sure" than his father. Cory has begun his shift into rejecting his father as his role model. The stage directions end with Rose entering "from the house," representing how Rose is an extension of Troys stagnation. Rose then makes a mundane request to Cory, to which he responds "I ain't quitting the team. I don't care what Poppa say." Cory's non sequitur of a response further indicates his state of thought and uncertainty. Despite his seemingly matter-of-fact statement, he is truly looking to his mother for support and validation in the rejection of his fathers wishes. However, in Cory's rejection of his father, he is truly becoming more like him. Just as Troy rejected his father and chose to pursue his sports dreams, Cory is now rejecting his father to pursue his similar dreams, veering to follow in Troys footsteps. Cory is shifting from trying to be like his father to being like his father by rejecting him. This nuanced shift is a microcosm of the larger theme of generational shift and boundaries that inhabit the play. However, this shift is not complete. While Cory claims to not "care what Poppa say," he mimics Troy only seconds earlier. Cory of course does end up quitting the team in accordance with Troy's wishes.

This rejection is still unclear as In rejecting Troy, Cory is becoming more like him? Setting himself up to follow in his footsteps Cory is still in a transition phase, he has not yet fully distanced himself from his father? Troy rejected his father and pursued sports, just like Cory is rejecting his father to pursue sports.

Inherent in Cory's rejection of his father as a role model is Cory's repetition of his father's life, illuminating the nuance in generational differences through the play.

cory is cosntantly representing his…….. stagnation

about

“all that is allo..

the qoute: "Everything not forbidden is compulsory."

about compulsory and forbidden?

forcing to cross boundries vs forcing to stagnate

cops are holding (stagnating) gabriel, forcing Troy to pay to release. payment? sacrifice

cory is being stagnated by his father (Troy)j rose is being stagnated by Troy Troy is stagnated by his obligation?

cyclic obligation?

trapped by obligation -> obligation as fence nuance – good and bad in obligation

obligation cycles. Rose is obligated Troy is obligated to Cory R, T, C, G:

R {T, C} T {C, R} C {R}?

(Wilson 59) the baseball is tied to the tree,

TREE: represents, growth? stagnation..? no. Wisdom? acient? orr, stuck to the ground. unmoving? at the mercy of others / the elements? farm trees like slavery..? oof no..

In the beginning of the seconf act of fences, August wilson uses metaphor to communicae the beginnog fo vory shift in viepoint towards his father. the scene begins with cory pondering his identity with repsentc to his father. the scene beigins with cory pondering his identity with repsect to this fathers. cory, having just been denied by his father thefreedom to pursue his own dreams, stand the the last shred of evidence of Troys's now broken dreams.

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In the beginning of the second act of Fences, August Wilson uses metaphor to communicate the beginnings of Cory's shift in viewpoint towards his father. The scene begins with Cory pondering his identity with respect to his father. Cory, having just been denied by his father the freedom to pursue his own dreams, stands at the last shred of evidence of Troy's now broken dreams. He is "at the tree hitting the ball with the bat," engaging in a broken form of baseball — the representation of his fathers childhood dreams. Cory is not playing baseball, he is merely "hitting the ball with the bat," a shallow and impoverished imitation of the true game. This imitation is physically attached to "the tree," an embodiment of unnoticeably slow change and growth. Just as the baseball represents dreams, it represents death from systemic racism: hanging lifelessly, hopelessly, from a tree. The tree's progress seems to stagnate, its growth only apparent when looked for. This pattern of growth reflects the societal progress which Troy is not willing to look for despite his son's pleading. Instead, Troy falls into the illusion of stagnation and tells Cory to quit pursuing his dreams. After hearing this message, Cory's alignment towards his father starts to shift: "he tries to mimic TROY, but his swing is awkward, less sure." Cory is making an active, conscious effort to be like his father. He does not simply mimic Troy, he actively "tries to" mimic Troy. However, he is no longer confident about wanting to be like his father. Instead, he mimics awkwardly, and is "less sure" than his father. Cory has begun his shift into rejecting his father as a role model.

Inherent in Cory's rejection of his father as a role model is Cory's repetition of his father's life, illuminating a nuanced exploration of generational differences that takes place throughout the play. The stage directions end with Rose entering "from the house," portraying Rose as an extension of Troy's stagnation. Rose then makes a mundane request to Cory, to which he responds "I ain't quitting the team. I don't care what Poppa say." Cory's non sequitur of a response further indicates the uncertainty in his state of mind. Despite his seemingly matter-of-fact statement, he is desperately looking to his mother for support and validation in the rejection of his fathers wishes. However, in Cory's rejection of his father, he is truly becoming more like him. Just as Troy rejected his father and chose to pursue his sports dreams, Cory is now rejecting his father to pursue his similar dreams, following in Troy's footsteps. Cory is shifting from trying to be like his father to being like his father by rejecting him. This nuanced shift is a microcosm of the larger themes of generational shift and boundaries that permeate the play. However, this shift is not complete. While Cory claims to not "care what Poppa say," he had mimicked Troy only seconds earlier. Cory, of course, does end up quitting the team in accordance with Troy's wishes.