Describe the relationship between Cory and Troy in Fences.

The question is correct in identifying the parental
relationship as one where there is generational conflict converging with personal
difficulty in articulating emotions.  This is the setting in which there is challenge in
the relationship between Cory and Troy.  In the end, this is what causes the rift
between them.  Troy has seen life at its very worst, experienced what it means to endure
the ruptured bonds of both dreams and relationships, and understands the downside
offered in a social setting that marginalizes on both race and class conditions.  In
contrast, Cory is part of a younger generation that believes in its own promises and
possibilities.  He interprets his father's fears and poor articulations of emotions as
being stifling and realities imposed on the father from the son in the attempt to cut
off the latter's chance at happiness.  There is a generational issue present, but it is
also hampered by the presence of social conditions that take away at one's heart and
soul, at one's state of being in the world.  The father seeks to protect his son from
such a reality, something that the son sees as oppressive and repressive, a reaction
that the father sees as ingratitude.