Troy's Divided: Summary

In the beginning of the play, the setting and main characters are established. Troy is a hard working trash collector who is responsible for providing for his family. The theme of race relations is introduced when Troy asks why all of the garbage truck drivers are white, while the blacks are the ones who have the hard work of loading the trash. After filing a formal complaint to the union about the situation, many people warn Troy that he could be fired. Troy is not worried about getting fired because all he is doing is asking a question. Bono changes the subject to talk about a girl named Alberta that Troy has been buying drinks for. Although Troy denies that he is having an affair with his wife, Rose, this conversation foreshadows the affair he will eventually have with Alberta.
In Act 1, conflict develops between Troy and his son Cory. Troy was a baseball player in the Negro League until he was forty years old and he aspired to be in the white major league. By the time the whites started allowing blacks into the …show more content…
The hospital informs her that Alberta has died while giving birth to Troy’s daughter. After learning the news, Troy goes to the hospital to get his daughter. When he returns from the hospital with his daughter in his arms, he asks Rose if she will help him care for his daughter. Rose responds to him by saying that “A motherless child has got a hard time” and that “From right now . . . this child got a mother. But you a womanless man” (Wilson). Rose’s strength is highlighted by this response because she is not showing any anger or jealously towards this innocent child, rather she is going to treat her with love and care as if it was her own child. Not only is she taking up for the child, she is taking up for herself by telling Troy that he not only has responsibility of this baby, but he still has the responsibility of her, Cory, and Lyons; all with nothing in