Berniece refuses to play the piano because she's afraid to wake the spirits of her ancestors. However, when Boy Willie is attacked by Sutter's evil ghost, she uses the piano to release those spirits to save her brother.

How does Berniece feel about the piano?

Bernice thinks that the piano is literally haunted by the spirits of her father and other ancestors and thinks it's best that these spirits not be awoken. In the end, it turns out that Berniece is totally right about this whole haunted piano thing.

Why does Berniece keep the piano?

Berniece does not want to let her brother, who has come to claim his half of the piano, sell the piano because it is symbolic of her family's freedom. ... He wants to sell the piano in order to get the money to buy the Sutter land, something he believes will end, once and for all, the enslavement of the Charles family.

What does Berniece represent in The Piano Lesson?

At the heart of The Piano Lesson is a brother and sister couple at war over the question of using the family legacy. Berniece, the sister, fiercely protects the piano from being sold. She figures as the guardian of the family's past.

What does doaker think Berniece should do with the piano?

Why won't Berniece sell the piano? ... What does doaker think Berniece should do with the piano? He thinks she should get rid of it because it brings nothing but trouble. To who and for how much does Wining boy sell his silk suit?

The Piano Lesson

30 related questions found

How much can Boy Willie get for the piano?

How will Boy Willie get the money to pay for Sutters land? He wants to sell the piano, to come up with the funds for buying sutters land, which total up to about 2000 dollars. How long has it been since Crawley died?

Does doaker want to sell the piano?

Berniece, Doaker explains, will never sell the piano because her father died for it. Boy Willie believes the best thing he can do for his father's memory is to do what his father never had the chance to: farm his own land. ... “Money can't buy you what that piano cost,” she tells him.

What does Berniece say about herself?

Berniece is a strong-willed woman, portrayed as levelheaded, serious, and single-mindedly focused on providing for Maretha and herself. However, she can be fiery and emotional when the moment calls for it: for example, she resolutely refuses to sell the family piano when her brother, Boy Willie, asks.

What does Berniece say she has upstairs?

"I ain't playing with Boy Willie," says Berniece, "I got Crawley's gun upstairs" (2.5. 13).

Why do Berniece and Boy Willie fight incessantly What is the origins of their conflict?

The conflict between Berniece and Boy Willie continues throughout the play. Berniece thinks that selling the piano would be the same as selling their souls. Boy Willie, on the other hand, feels that the best way to honor the memory of his ancestors is by putting the piano to use.

Why does Boy Willie want to sell the piano?

Boy Willie wants to sell piano to buy Sutter's land where his family worked as slaves and to start his life and The American Dream.

Why does Berniece think Boy Willie killed Crawley?

Berniece enters and commands Willie to stop, since the piano is their legacy. Berniece invokes the memory of their mother, who attended to the piano until the day she died. She attacks Boy Willie for perpetuating the endless theft and murder in their family, blaming him for the death of her husband.

How old is Martha in The Piano Lesson?

Maretha. Berniece's eleven-year-old daughter.

What is the significance of the piano in the piano lesson?

The Charles family's piano, which resides in Berniece's house, symbolizes the family's history and identity—both their past sorrows and their hopes for the future.

What does piano stand for in the play The Piano Lesson?

In his play, The Piano Lesson,August Wilson uses the piano to represent the Charles family's history as well as the struggle of African Americans to reclaim their identity, language, and culture in the generations following slavery.

What does Wining Boy suggest Avery bless?

He suggests to bless the piano. What does Wining Boy want Avery to bless? ... Bernice plays the piano and pleads for help from her ancestors.

Why does Wining Boy believe berniece should keep the piano?

Berniece wants to remember and preserve her family's past by keeping the piano; Boy Willie wants rectify the past by selling the piano and buying land that once bound his ancestors in slavery; Doaker wants Boy Willie to understand the family's past through the history of the piano.

What does Wining Boy Tell Boy Willie about Lymon's parents?

Wining Boy says that Lymon's father was "one bad-luck n*****" (2.1. 68). He ended up getting shot at a dance by someone who thought he was someone else. Doaker enters dressed in his railroad uniform ready for work.

Why did the author choose a piano as a symbol of the past?

Throughout the play, the family's piano is a central symbol that comes to embody the family legacy with its deep-rooted meaning and connections to the past. ... The piano initially represents the conflict and suffering that define much of the Charles family's history of enslavement.

What is the ghost of the Yellow Dog?

The Ghost of the Yellow Dog is a spirit of the men whom died in the boxcar that was set ablaze. Apart of this group was Boy Charles and four other homeless men. They were murdered, and the Ghost has been said to get revenge on the individuals that killed them.

How long ago did the ghost of the yellow dog get Sutter?

How long ago (before the time when the play opens) did the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog get Sutter? 3 years 13.

What is doaker's relationship to Boy Willie?

Doaker is Berniece and Boy Willie's uncle and the owner of the household in which the play takes place.

Who killed Crawley The piano Lesson?

Crawley was Berniece's first husband. He died about three years ago, shot by the sheriff while helping Boy Willie and Lymon haul some wood they'd been hoarding. Though little is said about Crawley, it's suggested that he was an impulsive but loyal man.

What was in Avery's dream in The Piano Lesson?

Avery used to do farm work with Boy Willie and Lymon. Boy Willie wants to know why Avery decided to be a preacher, and Avery explains it started with a dream in which he volunteered to protect a group of people with sheep heads from a valley full of wolves. He intends to call his church Good Shepherd.