The Piano Lesson by August Wilson is a Pulitzer-Prize winning play about a conflict between family members about selling a piano. Berniece, a single mother, wants to keep the piano because it holds the great price of her ancestors. However, her brother Boy Willie wants to sell the piano because of its monetary value in order to achieve his goal of buying land that his ancestors used to work on as slaves. The play takes place in a seemingly ordinary manner: the conflict and the story take in ordinary conversations and places, such as the kitchen and the living room. Yet, the play asks an important question: How should we respect family history and our ancestors?
It has been a while since I read a full play. I have carefully avoided them after reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (I still don’t really understand what occurs in that book), but The Piano Lesson was intriguing. Although the scenes were only described through the dialogue of the characters, the meaning behind Wilson’s story did not fail to translate. It felt as though only a play could express the true meaning and story behind the piano.
Wilson attempts to answer the question regarding the family legacy through the perspectives of Berniece and Boy Willie regarding their piano. Berniece sees the spiritual and the historical value of the piano most. The piano was bought at the price of their ancestors as slaves and the piano cost the life of Berniece’s father. Additionally, the piano holds a spiritual value as the family’s ancestors endure through the piano’s existence in the Charle’s family household. Boy Willie does see the perspective of Berniece, but believes it is more important to sell the piano for his “greater” purpose. Boy Willie doesn’t understand why Berniece plays the piano, even with its significant spiritual and historical value. Thus, Boy Willie hopes to reclaim his ancestor’s past by buying the land his ancestors worked on as slaves but with the cost of the piano and utilizing the piano in some way.
The conflict stems from both siblings fighting, but Wilson choses Berniece’s side in the end. When Berniece plays the piano in the very last scene, her playing creates a spiritual force from their ancestors that solves an external force, a ghost of a descendant of the ancestors’ slaver, present in the house and the conflict between the siblings. Boy Willie realizes that her sister’s playing is useful for the house but also he is able to reclaim his past without buying land and fighting the ghost. The piano and its historical/spiritual value overpowers the physical objects and values in the play. Therefore, Wilson answers his question of what to do with family legacy: to preserve and honor it.
Comments