Explain How this poem applies to Fences by August Wilson.

This Be The Verse

By Philip Larkin

They fked you up, your mum and dad.

They may not mean to, but they do.

They fill you with the faults they had

And add some extra, just for you.

But they were fked up in their turn

By fools in old-style hats and coats,

Who half the time were soppy-stern

And half at one another's throats.

Man hands on misery to man.

It deepens like a coastal shelf.

Get out as early as you can,

And don't have any kids yourself.

The poem "This Be The Verse" by Philip Larkin applies to August Wilson Fences in as much as it could summarize Cory's plotline in the play.

Throughout the play, we see the stark personality of his father, Troy, and how he treats his family. Because of how the racist society has treated him and his father before him, he has assimilated an idea of masculinity and providing for the family through dominance and material possession. Every time he is questioned, he dwells upon the idea that it is his responsability and his duty to provide his family with food and shelter, but not with love.

Troy mentions throughout the play how his father treated him and how he wanted to run away from that, and teach his children to make sure they go and take what the deserve instead of expeting it to be handed to them.

Rose, on the other hand, stands for compassion. This is shown in her acceptance of Troy's illegitimate daughter. Still, she wants to keep her loved ones with her at all costs, forgiving Troy's abuses to her and making Cory forgiving his father too.

These character's traits parallel Larkin poem. Their parents and racist society have been mean to Troy and Rose, and in turn, even if they wanted different for Cory, they pass on their faults on him. He wants to get out of there as early as he could and finally joined the military, as we see at the end of the play, when he comes home for Troy's funeral.