A Psycho-Neuro-Marxist Analysis of Troy Maxson in August Wilson’s Fences (1986)

Abstract

Around the mid-20^th century, the lives of African Americans were characterized by severe segregationist laws and mass racial violence. However, the period saw many firsts for black Americans and sowed the seeds for upcoming civil-rights movement, too. The racial tension of the period has been reflected in a variety of literary works composed during this time. Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, August Wilson’s Fences (1986) portrays the struggles of its protagonist, Troy Maxson, as he navigates through the challenging times. Drawing on Jodi Melamed’s notion of racial capitalism (2015) and Mark Solms’s neuropsychoanalytic model of affective consciousness (2021), this article situates Troy’s life within structural mechanisms of racial differentiation and exclusion, along with analyzing Troy’s diverse affective responses shaped by his lived experience. Through a critical analysis of Troy’s character, the paper argues that Troy’s personality depicts an internalization of racial capitalism where systemic racial-economic exploitation results in inscribing flawed notions of masculinity, emotional defensiveness, and interpersonal failure in the subject. Ultimately, the study reveals a tragic figure caught in a web of memory, masculinity, and material hardship, depicting Troy Maxson as a symbol of psychological and political tragedy.