[. “I got these big old hands but what I’m gonna do with them? Lay my money down on the table. Specialist for the Spencer/East Brookfield School District, as a Graduate Research Assistant and Advanced Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Teacher at the New England Center for Children, and as the ABA Coordinator at Webster Middle School. BERNIECE:  All I know is Crawley would be alive if you hadn’t come up there and got him. I ain’t studying Boy Willie or Lymon—or the rope. "That is MY piano - MINE!!" I got a little older I know what he was thinking. BOY WILLIE CHARLES is thirty years old. BERNIECE:  Avery, I ain’t ready to get married now. BERNIECE:  I knew you were up to something. Doaker sees the animosity between Berniece and Boy Willie escalate until he has to warn Berniece when she threatens violence against her brother. I give out lessons on it and that help me make my rent or whatever. All I got is these hands. Boy Willie Charles arrives at his sister’s home in Pittsburgh determined to sell the family piano which they have inherited. Berniece’s instinct to protect herself from being hurt by the reckless action of men sets her at odds with Boy Willie, Doaker, and Avery when she refuses to remarry. If Boy Willie doesn’t become aware that the piano is the embodiment of the Charles’ family pride and heritage, and value it for what it is, he’ll end up figuratively doing what the slave owner Sutter did—sell off family members and forever separate them from their loved ones. . BERNIECE:  Seventeen years’ worth of cold nights and an empty bed. Don’t just focus on The Piano Lesson analysis, even though you have the same topic for your assignment. Monologue Compendium for The Piano Lesson: Download PDF: Curriculum Guide. The title The Piano Lesson is taken from the name of a 1983 collage, Piano Lesson, by the African American artist Romare Bearden. “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. . He tries to convince a woman he picked up in a bar that it’s all right to make love on the living room sofa, knowing that Berniece won’t like it. Other than that I ain’t thinking about nothing Berniece got to say. She moved to Pittsburgh with Uncle Doaker, taking the piano with her. In spite of Berniece’s threats of violence against him, Boy Willie locates a buyer for the piano, and starts to remove the piano from her house. Monologue Compendium for The Piano Lesson: Download PDF: Curriculum Guide. Boy Willie decides that the heirloom belongs with the family and returns to Mississippi. Analysis Of The Piano Lesson By August Wilson 983 Words | 4 Pages. BOY WILLIE:  If Crawley ain’t had the gun he’d be alive today. eNotes critical analyses help you gain a deeper understanding of The Piano Lesson so you can excel on your essay or test. [. This is demonstrated when she’s faced with losing her brother to Sutter’s evil spirit. She beats him as she demands to know why her husband isn’t with her. The only thing that make that piano worth something is them carvings Papa Willie Boy put on there. When his heartfelt pleas fail to move her, he arranges to sell the piano anyway, even under threat of being shot. Wining Boy prepares to take the train down south to find a place for himself without using his piano playing to earn a living. AVERY:  It wasn’t me, Berniece. Berniece and Boy Willie’s grandfather carved … [. and in-depth analyses of He don’t know but I’m through with it. The objective characters focus on their limited opportunities as black people in America. She reminds him that their father traded his life for the piano and how their widowed mother suffered: A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. . .] Specifically, Hampton argues that slavery casts a heavy burden on the African Americans in the play who are struggling for both social and economic equality. .] When Berniece suggests they’re living at the bottom of life, Boy Willie tells her of his need for respect and equality. Boy Willie directs his efforts toward what he feels will create fairness in his life. Berniece cannot reconcile her past with her present. Avery’s decision to exorcise Sutter’s ghost causes a struggle against good and evil which forces Berniece to act to save her brother. The piano teaches Willie and Berniece the importance of a family looking out for one another. The Piano Lesson 1916 Museum of Modern Art. BOY WILLIE:  As along as I got the land and the seed then I’m alright. Best I can do is make a fifty-acre crop for Mr. Stovall. Berniece is sarcastic when she finally understands the meaning of Boy Willie’s visit. . Matisse began with a naturalistic drawing, but he eliminated detail as he worked, scraping down areas and rebuilding them in broad fields of color. Once Avery has his dream calling him to be a servant of the Lord, he does everything to make his vision come true. Learn all about how the characters in The Piano Lesson such as Berniece and Boy Willie contribute to the story and how they fit into the plot. (Wilson, p. 67). They never be walking around in this house. Boy Willie’s honest assessment of his situation as a black man in Mississippi makes him completely sympathetic to everyone except Berniece. When the ghost finally menaces him, Boy Willie challenges it without fear or guilt which proves his innocence in Sutter’s murder. Boy Willie stayed in Mississippi. The piano will secure Maretha's future. The Piano Lesson Synopsis . The thirty-year-old Boy Willie introduces the central conflict of the play. After his fight with Sutter’s ghost from which he’s saved by Berniece and the piano, Boy Willie becomes aware of the significance of piano, and realizes that it belongs with Berniece. He’s tired of waiting for her to realize what a good life she could have as his wife, if she would just let go of the past and entrust her future to him and the Lord. MATISSE AND MEMORY. Doaker, in explaining why Berniece won’t sell the piano, recollects how his father was traded for it, and how his brother was burned alive after stealing it. His persistence causes her great anxiety, while her refusals frustrate him. A quiet spoken widow of thirty-five. We soon learn Boy Willie's big plan. (Wilson, p. 27) (Wilson, p. 108). Wining Boy, She cannot bring herself to play it, afraid to release a torrent of pent-up emotions.” (Pereira, p. 91)  Boy Willie is not emotionally attached to the piano. Put them two parts with the part I done saved. He tries to convince his sister to let him sell the family piano. You can’t blame me for nobody else. MATISSE AND MEMORY. After Berniece defeats the ghost, Boy Willie imagines that both he and the ghost might return if Berniece doesn’t keep playing it and keep connected to their ancestors. Get Berniece to sell that piano. The Piano Lesson Summary - http://tinyurl.com/m569c4g You can Visit this Great Website to Learn The Piano Lesson Summary And you call yourself a preacher. And I’ll see you again next year. He assumes the role of a preacher when he flings water around the house in a mock exorcism. She’s still pretty and desirable, but has shunned men in the three years since her husband’s death. . This highly abstract painting is important because of its relation to the Cubist grid developed by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, because of its biographical aspects, and especially due to its thoughtful iconography (symbolic content). The cost incurred by the objective characters is the negative energy expended when called upon to conceptualize a way to achieve their goals: Doaker imagines that by telling every tragic event surrounding the piano in detail, Boy Willie will understand Berniece’s attitude toward the piano. Coming from Mississippi, he plans to sell the family piano and buy the land his ancestors once worked as slaves. (Wilson, p. 86-87). First her father, Boy Charles, was burned to death after stealing the piano. The Piano Lesson depicts the living room of Matisse's home in Issy-les-Moulineaux, with his elder son, Pierre, at the piano, the artist's sculpture Decorative Figure (1908), at bottom left, and, at upper right, his painting Woman on a High Stool. She sings for the spirits of her family to help her. In the middle of The Piano Lesson's chaotic final scene, Berniece has an epiphany. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara. .] Boy Willie believes it’s an instrument to be used one way or the other. She building on it. Interdiction slows the subjective story:  Boy Willie’s blind determination to sell the piano for money to buy land that will alter his future, prevents him from understanding that the piano is the embodiment of his family’s heritage and pride. Doaker manages the Charles’ household while Berniece works as a maid and raises her daughter without a husband; Lymon is on the run from authorities in Mississippi as he helps Boy Willie sell watermelons in Pittsburgh; Avery tries to get a bank loan to start a church and convince Berniece to marry him; Maretha practices lessons on the piano and attends two schools so that she can be a teacher one day. She must also quit using the piano as an excuse for her fear and bitterness, and take steps to bury the past and get on with her life. In addition to the Storyform, you'll also find any additional analysis or media related to the story in question. Piano Analysis First Stanza. . Avery’s determination to fulfill the prophecy of becoming a preacher drives him to attempt to exorcise Sutter’s ghost, which leads to it attacking Boy Willie. Avery confesses that he’s getting tired of Berniece’s excuses for not marrying him. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Piano Lesson, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Sort by: Top Voted. I look at you and you’re all the same. . But you alright, huh? Boy Willie’s sense of self triumphs even though he fails to sell the piano to raise money to buy farmland. His mother kept the piano, and when she died it was inherited by Boy Willie and Berniece equally. At the end … The dramas take place in a different decade, from the early 1900s until the 1990s. Produits de conserves; Graines & Farines; Entretiens & Soins; Viandes & Poissons; Boissons & Liquides; Articles Scolaires. Boy Willie rushes up to Pittsburgh to sell the piano disregarding Berniece’s attachment to it; dismisses her claim that she saw Sutter’s ghost; criticizes her reasons for keeping the piano as sentimental; challenges her to go ahead and shoot him when she threatens him. . “Family is everything” is a well-established archaic saying. In The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, this idea of sentimentality is carried by the Charles family through a piano. is this truer than in The Piano Lesson by August Wilson. He explains his idea and his reason for coming to Pittsburgh. . Wining Boy, vivacious and talented, tried to obtain success as a recording artist, having failed that he’s reduced to being just another black blues player without an identity of his own. I don’t play that piano cause I don’t want to wake them spirits. After Berniece saves him from the ghost using the piano, Boy Willie considers the possibility that it belongs with his sister, and leaves for Mississippi without it. . it’s a long row to hoe for me to get something of my own.”  (Wilson, p. 91), As a thematic counterpoint to his true self, Boy Willie considers himself just as worthy as any white man to make a difference in the world. Here's an in-depth analysis of the most important parts, in an easy-to-understand format. It is believed to show the jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams, who grew up in Pittsburgh, sitting for a piano lesson. BOY WILLIE:  [. Henri Matisse The Red Studio 1911 Museum of Modern Art. Evidence is given more weight thematically in the subjective story. Boy Willie’s relentless campaign to advance himself in the world regardless of what it costs his sister, creates a major dilemma for Berniece. Henri Matisse Bathers with a Turtle 1907-08 Saint Louis Art Museum. But Doaker say you ain’t touched that piano the whole time it’s been up here. The Piano Lesson tells the story of family that struggles in the side and what do with a family heirloom that takes the form of an ornately carved upright piano. The lack evidence accelerates the conflict between Boy Willie and Berniece. Boy Willie searches the house for signs of Sutter’s ghost when Berniece first sees it, but fails to find any evidence of a haunting. You just looking at the sentimental value. His eye is only to the future. He decides to pressure Berniece to sell the piano which causes her to fight him with accusations and finally threaten his life. She’s drawn to the carvings etched into the piano, and intuitively uses its music to summon her ancestor’s spirits. (Wilson, 10-11), Boy Willie reveals his true nature as a sharecropper when he explains the hopelessness he imagines his father felt in the same position. Doaker has resigned himself to being slotted in the subservient role as railroad cook, traveling wherever he’s told, whenever he’s told. AVERY: Thirty-eight years old, Avery is a preacher who is trying to build up his congregation. Boy Willie Charles — Berniece's brother, sharecropper. . Dive deep into August Wilson's The Piano Lesson with extended analysis, commentary, and discussion She refuses. Despite being called a "soundtrack", this is a partial score re-recording, as Nyman himself also performs the piano on the album (whereas the film version is performed by lead actress Holly Hunter). She can’t deny the urge to call upon her family to save her brother, something she’s compelled to do despite their differences. For seventeen years Berniece watched her mother grieve and devote the rest of her life to the care of the piano. Berniece and Boy Willie’s grandfather carved portraits of his family into the piano legs in memory of the loss of his wife and son. Berniece refuses to part with the instrument. Now, I’m supposed to build on what they left me. Henri Matisse Formes, Plate IX, from "Jazz" 1947 Greenfield Sacks Gallery. . Crawley’s dead and in the ground and you still walking around here eating. When Boy Willie asks for the name of the man who wanted to buy her piano, Berniece doubts are confirmed. . Doaker relates the sad tale of how, during slavery, his grandmother and his daddy were traded for the piano, and how his brother was burned alive for stealing it from the Sutters. Berniece snubs her brother when she offers to fix only her uncle dinner; emotionally rejects Avery’s marriage proposal; refuses his challenge to play the piano and overcome her fears; chases Boy Willie and his girlfriend out of the house; rejects Lymon’s advances. Piano is a lyric poem. For what? The Piano Lesson Character Analysis | LitCharts. Berniece dedicates herself to the endeavor of convincing Boy Willie that he’s not going to sell the piano. The play was inspired by Romare Bearden's painting Piano Lesson. BOY WILLIE:  That’s why I come up here. Henri Matisse Bathers with a Turtle 1907-08 Saint Louis Art Museum. Many is the time I looked at my daddy and seen him staring off at his hands. . She has a strong sense of survival and justice that is bolstered by her Christian beliefs. Berniece fears that she’s lost control over the piano, Boy Willie, and her entire household. © Copyright 1994-2020 Write Brothers, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Then her husband died in a shoot-out with the sheriff during a wood-stealing foray with Boy Willie and Lymon. Matisse, Piano Lesson. . if you and Maretha don’t keep playing on that piano. The Piano Lesson is the fourth of August Wilson's cycle of plays about the African American experience in the twentieth century. Doaker is content with his career as a railroad cook. She believes it’s a shrine to their family’s suffering. The story begins with character Boy Willie coming up from the south visiting his sister Bernice. With the recent death of John Sutter, the last descendant of the Charles’ family owner, Boy Willie has a chance buy land of his own. Avery’s wariness of Berniece’s reasons for rejecting his proposals prevents him from realizing that she’s afraid, and causes him to antagonize her by his constant nagging. The title The Piano Lesson is taken from the name of a 1983 collage, Piano Lesson, by the African American artist Romare Bearden. Produits de conserves; Graines & Farines; Entretiens & Soins; Viandes & Poissons; Boissons & Liquides; Articles Scolaires. He has two weeks to produce the cash for it, and his savings aren’t enough. Lymon foresees his future up North with a steady job, a comfortable home, and a wife suited to him. He is right about how owning land will change his life in a racist society. 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