Compare And Contrast Fences And A Lesson Before Dying

Aristotle was a greek philosopher who proposed a set of characteristics or traits which are to be used as criteria when evaluating characters and their status as tragic heroes. Put in a condensed manner, they are as follows: a tragic hero must have noble stature, be a victim of hamartia, be responsible for his own downfall, be admirable and pitiable, gain wisdom and repent before death, and conjure a cathartic release of emotions from the reader. These traits will be used to evaluate, by form of comparing and contrasting, two different characters, Troy Maxon and Grant Wiggins, protagonists of Fences by August Wilson and “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines, respectively. Fences, is a dramatic play set in the late 1940’s, it revolves …show more content…
Troy’s downfall begins the moment he begins having his affair with Alberta, but given Rose’s judgement of the matter, “quote” (cite), it’s obvious that Troy holds the decision of overturning his descent, which he throws out the window the moment he tells Rose that Alberta is pregnant with his child. This reveal breaks off all the trust that Rose had in Troy and severed their connection almost entirely. This event, given that Rose is the central foundation of Troy’s renewed semi-successful life, leads Troy into his eventual downfall. The second reason and what causes his eventual death was the culmination his final encounter with Cory, foreshadowed by their ongoing conversation with Cory about striking out, “quote” (cite). On the outside this conversation seems to be about Cory striking out against Troy, but really the message relayed by the author is that Troy is striking out of rekindling his relationship with his son. His constant interference and