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Topics on the piano lesson by wilson
African american culture and beliefs
African american culture and beliefs
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Everyone comes from a culture that has endured great sadness and hardship, but also great happiness and celebration. However, many people fail to connect and embrace both the negative and positive experiences that help to define one's heritage and culture. In The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson, one African-American family struggles to embrace and come to terms with their families’ difficult past in slavery. Starring two siblings, Berniece and Boy Willie, the play revolves on an argument of whether to keep one of their families’ artifacts from slavery, a piano. The piano is no regular piano though, for it was carved and decorated with the memories and images of their old family members. Moreover, it was crafted by their enslaved ancestors who …show more content…
through blood, sweat, and tears stole and worked tirelessly on it. Although the piano has not been touched in years, due to the fear it is haunted by their families’ old slave owner, Sutter, Berniece wants to keep it in her home. On the other hand, her brother Boy Willie, wants to sell it to buy Sutter’s land. At the end of the play, Boy Willie attempts to sneak the piano out of the house. However, he fails to move it, and quickly becomes chocked by what is thought to be Sutter’s Ghost. After a quick attempt to cleanse the house of spirits, Berniece jumps to the piano and sings to her ancestors for help. Immediately the chokehold and the presence of the ghost vanishes. The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson, provides a profound lesson about how past difficulties endured in one's culture has lasting effects on the present and future; hence, the reader and each character are left understanding how important it is to connect and embrace the history of their family, to be able to accept and move forward from past struggles and hardship. Berniece learned that the piano should not sit disregarded and ignored; instead, she fathomed it must be celebrated and played in order for her culture and families’ past to be preserved and passed on to her daughter, Maretha. Throughout the Piano Lesson, Berniece is opposed to touching and indulging in the piano, for she is in fear of the spirits that may come from playing the piano. However, when the ghost of Sutter, the slave owner their ancestors worked for, begins to tackler her brother in the end of the story, Berniece assumes her past duty of playing, and calls to her dead ancestors to help exorcise the ghost. Hence, she sings "I want you to help me/I want you to help me/Mama Berniece/I want you to help me/Mama Esther/I want you to help me/Papa Boy Charles/I want you to help me/Mama Ola/I want you to help me." After singing and playing the piano, the ghost and disruption in the house vanish. Berniece and her family recognized the connection they had with the piano immediately, and were able to see the strength in both of themselves, their ancestors, and their heritage. Here, she reclaims her culture and right to keep the piano; she proves that their families’ ties with the piano are worth more than any amount of land or money. Moreover, she is finally able to abolish the ghost of Sutter, and stop running from her past and come to embrace it. Clearly, Berniece grasped the importance of keeping a relationship with their families’ origin in that moment, for she was able to recognize not only the strength of her family, but the power of her heritage. Boy Willie discovers how strong his families’ connection is with the piano, enabling him to realize the piano is invaluable and unsellable. During the beginning of the play Boy Willie asserts that he will sell the piano for the land his family used to work on, for he believes it will be worth more and more useful than the piano. Berniece and him argue about this, for she disagrees and wants to keep the piano in her home. He tries to explain his point saying "Now, I’m gonna tell you the way I see it. The only thing that make that piano worth something is them carvings Papa Willie Boy put on there….. Now, I’m supposed to build on what they left me. You can’t do nothing with that piano sitting up here in the house." Essentially, he proclaims that the piano is not worth anything and does not represent something if it is not used, or not creating income. He tries to convince Berniece that he is "supposed to build on what they left (him)," rather than have it just sit "up here in the house." Here he was blindsided that those carvings that Papa Willie Boy and his other family members put on it, were worth an amount that money or land can't buy. However, after the ghost of Sutter attacked him in the end of the book, and he was saved by Berniece's playing and singing on the piano, he demonstrates a clear change of heart. Thus, he says "Hey Berniece…if you and Maretha don't keep playing that piano…ain't no telling…me and Sutter both liable to be back." This change of heart certainly displays that he was finally able to see how strong his family ties are with the piano, and how the money that would come from the land would never be equivalent to the piano's worth. His battle with the ghost before the singing represents the same battle between his family and Sutter, and the one between blacks and whites. Furthermore, being able to end these battles exhibited the strength the piano posses’, and how it must be used in order to make the most of all its powers. Boy Willie was able to open his eyes to the importance of the piano; therefore, he stopped arguing with his sister and learned that she was right about keeping it. August Wilson's Piano Lesson provides not only a lesson for the characters to learn, but for readers too about the difficulties of preserving culture and family connections that come from negative experiences.
In the beginning of the play, the two siblings, Berniece and Boy Willie, shunned and hid from their culture and families’ difficult past. Therefore, they failed to recognize the importance, and connect with their families most treasured artifact, the piano. Their fear of Sutter’s ghost, forced them to hide from their heritage and be blinded to the strength of their ancestors. Their uncle, Doaker, explained the ghost’s presence at the piano by once saying "Berniece don't know, but I seen Sutter before she did. […] He was sitting over there at the piano. It is apparent that the ghost of their families’ old slave owner, Sutter, was still lurking and “enslaving” their family with the reminder of the hardship he had put their family through. Clearly, the family was still struggling with the slavery their grandparents had endured, making them feel trapped and disconnected from their heritage. The two siblings shunned away from the piano for so long, because of this fear of the ghost and the reality of their families’ past struggles. However, when Bernice abolished the ghost, and the battle between her family and slavery, from her song and playing, she discovered the strength of her origin and culture for herself and the reader. Wilson illustrates how essential it is for …show more content…
people to accept their culture, in order to best move on and grow from it; moreover, that families can overcome anything, if they all unite together. It is apparent how difficult it can be to accept and celebrate the bitter experiences of one’s culture; thus, The Piano Lesson, depicts how important it is to fight through the difficulty and overcome past hardships.
Wilson employs the piano as a symbol of the last connection the family has with slavery, but also with their ancestors. Therefore, creating the difficult choice for Berniece and Boy Willie, of whether they should cut off ties with their origins, or if they should swallow it whole and be stronger for it. The two argue about what to do with the precious artifact until it becomes clear the piano and their family are much stronger than slavery and the ghosts of their old slave master. Dealing with heritage and past family woes is difficult for people everywhere; however, Wilson illustrates how the strength of family, when united in purpose, can overcome any
obstacle.
Surprisingly, this novel ends with Boy Willie and Lymon going back to Mississippi without selling the piano. Finally, Boy Willie closes by telling Berniece that if she doesn’t keep playing on the piano, he and Sutter would both be back. In saying this, Boy Willie means that if they don’t keep their inheritance close to their heart, unfavorable events could begin happening once
Toni Cade Bambara’s ‘The Lesson’ starts with the Sylvia’s description about one African-American’s appearance, who is called Miss Moore. The story is focused on the the event of field trip that Miss Moore conducted for her students one day. She takes her students to pricy toy store which is called F.A.O. Schwartz, to let them see the reality of gap between poor and rich. The story took place in 1970s which was during the movements for civil and social rights, equality and justice swept the United States. According to university of California, during this time, the opportunity to African American was really limited in a lot of aspects, including the education. People often tend to interpret the most important main point of this
The Piano Lesson written by August Wilson is a work that struggles to suggest how best African Americans can handle their heritage and how they can best put their history to use. This problem is important to the development of theme throughout the work and is fueled by the two key players of the drama: Berniece and Boy Willie. These siblings, who begin with opposing views on what to do with a precious family heirloom, although both protagonists in the drama, serve akin to foils of one another. Their similarities and differences help the audience to understand each individual more fully and to comprehend the theme that one must find balance between deserting and preserving the past in order to pursue the future, that both too greatly honoring or too greatly guarding the past can ruin opportunities in the present and the future.
However, his desire conflicts with the racial situation during the time of the play. The play is set during a time when blacks were primarily slaves and considered property. They also didn't own any property. His belief that he is of equal standing with a white man could probably be traced to his lineage with the piano. The piano had symbolized his ancestors since the piano has been around during his grandfather's ...
Every time the family comes to a confrontation someone retreats to the past and reflects on life as it was back then, not dealing with life as it is for them today. Tom, assuming the macho role of the man of the house, babies and shelters Laura from the outside world. His mother reminds him that he is to feel a responsibility for his sister. He carries this burden throughout the play. His mother knows if it were not for his sisters needs he would have been long gone. Laura must pickup on some of this, she is so sensitive she must sense Toms feeling of being trapped. Tom dreams of going away to learn of the world, Laura is aware of this and she is frightened of what may become of them if he were to leave.
life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.
thesis of how the musical brought our inner child out to realize our true struggles in life.
The Piano Lesson by August Wilson is taking place in Pittsburg because many Blacks travelled North to escape poverty and racial judgment in the South. This rapid mass movement in history is known as The Great migration. The migration meant African Americans are leaving behind what had always been their economic and social base in America, and having to find a new one. The main characters in this play are Berniece and Boy Willie who are siblings fighting over a piano that they value in different ways. Berniece wants to have it for sentimental reasons, while Boy Willie wants it so he can sell it and buy land. The piano teaches many lessons about the effects of separation, migration, and the reunion of
Wilson demonstrates how one should accept and respect the past, move on with their life or slow down to pay respects to their family?s history, by describing the struggle over a symbolic object representing the past like the piano. Often people will sulk in the past and struggle with themselves and the people around them when they cannot come to terms with their personal history or a loss. Others will blatantly ignore their personal history and sell valuable lessons and pieces of it for a quick buck to advance their own lives. Berniece and Boy Willie in The Piano Lesson are great examples of these people. Through these contrasting characters and supernatural occurrences, Wilson tells the tale of overcoming and embracing a rough and unsettling family history.
August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, tells a story of a family haunted by the pain of their past and their struggle to find peace to move forward. The story begins with character Boy Willie coming up from the south visiting his sister Bernice. Boy Willie introduces the idea of selling the family’s heirloom, a piano, to raise enough money to buy the land on which his ancestors were enslaved. However, both Boy Willie and his sister Berniece own half a half of the piano and she refuses to let Boy Willie sell it. Through the use of symbolism, Wilson uses his characters, the piano and the family’s situation to provide his intended audience with the lesson of exorcising our past in order to move forward in our lives. Our past will always be a part of our lives, but it does not limit or determine where we can go, what we can do, or who we can become.
Do you ever have one of those days when you remember your parents taking away all of your baseball cards or all of your comic books because you got a bad grade in one of your classes? You feel a little depressed and your priced possession has been stolen. This event is the same as August Wilson’s, The Piano Lesson. The story is about a sibling rivalry, Boy Willie Charles against Berniece Charles, regarding an antique, family inherited piano. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano in order to buy the same Mississippi land that his family had worked as slaves. However, Berniece, who has the piano, declines Boy Willie’s request to sell the piano because it is a reminder of the history that is their family heritage. She believes that the piano is more consequential than “hard cash” Boy Willie wants. Based on this idea, one might consider that Berniece is more ethical than Boy Willie.
In the play, The Piano Lesson, music played an important role. The piano in the play represented the African American history and culture. The ghost of Sutter represented the pain and trauma that had been endured throughout the generations in the Charles family. Berniece did not play the piano because she associated it with pain and the bad things that happened to her family members. She did not want to accept the things that had happened in her family’s past. She thought that she could deny everything and act like it never happened. She believed if she continued to run from everything and everybody that the pain would go away. Berniece was burdened and haunted by the ghost of Sutter until she gave in and played the piano after all of those years. After playing the piano, Berniece was no longer burdened or haunted by the past. She was free from all of the denial. She escaped the pain through the music and reflecting on the carvings on the piano, which represented her heritage. Berniece’s brother, Boy Willie, told her “Berniece, if you and Maretha don’t keep playing on that piano… ain’t no telling… me and Sutter both liable to be back” (Wilson 108). By saying that, he meant that if she did not allow her daughter to continue playing the piano and learning about her culture that she would end up going through the same things that Berniece had gone through. Music has a huge impact on the African American culture in several ways and many things about the past can be learned through it.
The Piano Lesson, is a play by playwright August Wilson. This play was part of Wilson’s The Pittsburg Cycle and was released in 1987. This play is centered around the conflict of a brother, Boy Willie, and sister, Berniece, trying to figure out what to do with their heirloom of a piano. Throughout the play the theme of in order to build a better future you must look to the pass is presented in numerous ways. For example, the piano itself represents a mirror to look into the pass. Another example are the characters thoughts on what to do with the piano that help convey the theme as well.
In The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson, Boy Willie struggles with a burning desire for control which leads him to try to forget his past, specifically Sutter’s ownership of his ancestors. His failure to do so reveals your past is a part of you, and it is impossible to escape it. Throughout the play, Boy Willie wanted nothing but to sell the piano and got into many heated arguments with Berniece as a result. The act of selling the piano was not exclusively for the money, Boy Willie wanted to overcome his past, he could not bear to be reminded of his family’s slavery. Boy Willie wanted desperately to buy Sutter’s land, but it was not for the land itself. He could have easily bought other pieces of property, but he exclusively wanted Sutter’s.
A common motif in Shakespeare’s many plays is the supernatural element, to which Hamlet , with the presence of a ghost, is no exception. The story of Hamlet, the young prince of Denmark, is one of tragedy, revenge, deception, and ghosts. Shakespeare’s use of the supernatural element helps give a definition to the play by being the catalyst of the tragedy that brings upon Hamlet’s untimely demise. The ghost that appears at the beginning of the play could possibly be a satanic figure that causes Hamlet to engage in the terrible acts and endanger his soul. The supernatural element incorporated into the play is used as an instigator, a mentor, as well as mediation for the actions of the protagonist that ultimately end in tragedy, with the loss of multiple lives, as well as suscept Hamlet’s soul to hell. Shakespeare’s portrayal of the ghostly apparition causes a reader to question whether the ghost is a demonic force on the basis of its diction, conduct towards others as well as Hamlet, and it’s motive to kill.