Symbolism In August Wilson's The Piano Lesson

In August Wilson’s play, The Piano Lesson, the primary conflict of the story is which member of the family is most deserving of the rather significant piano. According to the inheritance, Berniece and her brother, Boy Willie, have equal possession of it, but the two of them have different plans for the heirloom. Boy Willie has the intention of selling the piano and using the money to buy the land of his ancestor’s slave owner, Sutter, but Berniece refuses to allow this to happen because of her difficulty coping with the reality of the pain inflicted by slavery to her loved ones and others like them. Facing this would force Berniece to acknowledge the oppression she currently faces. Her evasion of this sense of reality reveals how progression

Their spirit is embodied through the piano in result of the carvings Willie Boy created so long ago. Their residence of the piano is something that serves to unite them. Doaker and Wining Boy, having had taken the piano with Boy Charles are equally bound to it along with Berniece and Boy Willie. Berniece seemingly wishes to ignore this bond. Not playing the piano is Berniece’s passive defiance of her destiny to the piano. With the ancestral spirits representing their own unity and strength, they are hindered by Berniece’s detachment. Thus, their presence serves to inspire and persuade Berniece to join them and confront her past and her destiny. There is also a clear relationship between these spirits and Sutter. Along with their service of protection and persuasion, they are also trapped by Sutter’s ghost. As long as Berniece does not act towards possessing the piano, Sutter is the true owner and because of this, he has claim to the ancestral spirits of the Charles family as his ancestors did. The presence and suffering of Berniece’s ancestors force Berniece to consider how she values her family’s struggles and choose whether or not to follow her destiny and duty to the