Compare and contrast Cory relationship with Troy and Lyons relationship with Troy

Lyons is Troy's thirty-four-year-old son from a previous marriage; he was raised by his mother after Troy was sent to jail, and he has little respect for his father's advice. He does, however, have need of his father's money, frequently arriving at the house on Troy's paydays. Lyons hopes for a career as a musician and is disinterested in any work that would interfere with his goal.

Cory's relationship with his father is strained. A gifted athlete Cory has the potential to play professional football. Troy resents his own son for having opportunities that he did not have. When Cory quits his job to concentrate on football, his father retaliates by going to the coach and forbidding Cory to play. After a particularly heated confrontation, Cory leaves home. At the play's end, he returns after an absence of seven years for his father's funeral Cory has spent the last SIX years as a Marine, but he is now considering a new direction that includes marriage and a new job. Initially he does not want to attend his father's funeral, the chasm is too wide, and he believes his controlling father never loved him. He eventually realizes that he must put the past behind him, forgive his father, and attend the funeral.