Top 4 Fences quotes
“The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football.”
Troy, Act 1, Scene 1
This is Troy’s reaction to learning about Cory being recruited by a college football team. His own experience of being passed over for advancement in baseball due to his race makes him cynical about the attitude of the athletic establishment towards race.
“I’m just stating the facts. If my brother didn’t have that metal plate in his head...I wouldn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. And I’m fifty-three years old. Now see if you can understand that!”
Troy, Act 1, Scene 2
Troy is only able to afford his home because he was able to use the compensation that Gabe received for being injured in the war. Troy feels deep disappointment about this fact, not only in himself but also in the system, which has failed to give him opportunities for self-advancement. Troy is obviously not an incapable man, yet even though he performs his work diligently, he is never able to provide well for his family.
“I took all my feelings, my wants and needs, my dreams...and I buried them inside you. I planted a seed and watched and prayed over it. I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom. And it didn’t take me no eighteen years to find out the soil was hard and rocky and it wasn’t never gonna bloom.”
Rose, Act 2, Scene 1
Rose is deeply anguished by Troy’s infidelity, and she comes out with a tirade against him. She explains that she had realized early in their marriage that he was not the man she had believed him to be. Despite her realization that Troy would not allow her to grow and be her person, she continued to love him devoutly and loyally. She cannot fathom how Troy has rewarded her loyalty with such an abhorrent act of betrayal.
“I ain’t got to say excuse me to you. You don’t count around here no more.”
Cory, Act 2, Scene 4
Cory has feared Troy throughout his life, but this fear begins to turn into resentment when Troy ruins Cory’s career as a football player. After Rose stops treating Troy as her husband, Cory uses it as an opportunity to actively rebel against his father. However, Troy does not see this merely as an act of teenage rebellion, but rather as an attack on his position as the man of the house and so he chooses to expel Cory from his house.
