Prompt 2: The Piano Lesson and the Blues
The blues is described as a uniquely African American musical tradition, combining folk music, traditional work songs once sun by slaves, jazz, and other musical traditions to describe both personal suffering and to create an oral history of all individuals who have sung it. In August Wilson’s 1986 play The Piano Lesson, an heirloom piano comes to embody the blues tradition for its central protagonists Boy Willie and his sister Berniece. Whether to transform the piano into money, as Boy Willie wishes to do, or to save it, becomes symbolic of the role of the blues in African American history and society. The blues, like the piano itself, is problematic because of its ties to the history of slavery, but it cannot be nor should not be eradicated, given the loss this will create for the community.
The piano was carved by African American slave, and is an important part of the family legacy and history. While the family are sharecroppers during the Great Depression, and facing dire economic straits on one hand, the piano contains carved images of the family’s ancestors, symbolizing a vital link with the past Bernice believes must be preserved (44). Bernice, interestingly enough, is not a musician herself. One character explicitly says, Berniece “don’t play that type of music,” that was once heard coming from the piano, in other words the ancestral music of the blues (57). But Berniece still feels a connection and a bond the piano that other characters in the play do not, even though the piano’s legacy is mixed.
This is certainly suggested in Boy Willie's ruthless and callous demeanor with respect to an heirloom for which his father gave his life. Doaker reports at one point that "he say he gonna cut it in half and go on and sell his half. They been around here three days trying to sell them watermelons. They trying to get out to where the white folks live but the truck
But the piano is also inlaid with carvings made by her father's own hands. Bernice's ambivalence is also exemplified in the fact that Bernice refuses to sell the piano, yet she also refuses to play the instrument, for fear of waking the spirits within it. "I don't play that piano 'cause I don't want to wake them spirits" (70). Bernice's brother Willie scoffs "ain't no ghost," which demonstrates his often
Piano Lesson, by August Wilson, who one a Pulitzer Prize for the work in 1990. Specifically, it will address the form, protagonist, and analyze a character in the play. THE PIANO LESSON The Piano Lesson," written by August Wilson is a climatic play with the climax coming when Berniece finally sits down to play the piano, something she has not done for many years. She conjures up the spirits of her
Piano Lesson In August Wilson's play The Piano Lesson, Berniece is the protagonist or the heroine and main character, who represents the traditions and heritage of the family going back to the times of slavery and even to Africa itself. Willie on the other hand is the antagonist, a violent and angry man, a thief and a murderer who takes revenge on the Sutter family but now intends to use the
Boy Willie's father, Boy Charles, set out to steal the piano with pictures of his family carved by his father, to return it to the rightful owners. As far as Boy Charles was concerned, the piano "was the story of [their] whole family and as long as Sutter had it . . . he had [them]," (Wilson, 1990, p. 45). Similarly, Boy Willie wishes to sell the family piano
At the same time Bernice doesn't tell her daughter the history of the heirloom, in fear of waking the spirit. This means that even Bernice is not using her legacy positively, but is afraid of it. Both characters are able to embrace their history with pride by the end of the play, as Boy Willie comes to understand the Piano's significance and Bernice begins to play it again (Sparknotes.com) 3.
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now