Sutter’s ghost could represent a lot of things in the play, but to me there is only one that stands out the most. The piano. Sutter’s ghost is haunting the Charles’ house throughout the play. We know that the Charles’ are not just imagining him because when Grace goes to the house, she senses him too. She says, “Something ain’t right here. I knew I shouldn’t have come back up in this house” p. (103). He could be haunting them because maybe it was Boy Willie who pushed him down his well and he is getting payback, but the one place where most of them hear him and see him is next to the piano. That’s why I believe that Sutter’s ghost represents the piano.
On page 50, when Boy Willie and Lymon are trying to move the piano to get a sense of how hard it would be to take out the house, Sutter’s ghost is heard. “As they start to move the piano, the sound of Sutter's Ghost is heard” p. (50). This quote leads me to believe that Sutter's Ghost has some affiliation with the piano. There are multiple sightings of Sutter throughout the play, but the first one was Doaker. “I seen Sutter before she did… He was sitting over
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Some of these quotes include, “He throws water at the piano at each commandment.” p. (105), and “You need to bless that piano.” p. (104). The first quote is a stage direction giving to the actors. The direction is to acknowledge the second quote that is stating the Sutter’s ghost is haunting the piano. The first quote helps represent Sutter as the piano, because instead of blessing the house, Avery is blessing the piano. I believe that the first quote and the second quote directly correlate with one another because in the second quote, they admit that it is the piano that is haunted. No one disagrees when Doaker tells Avery to bless the piano. Avery starts to bless the piano, which is agreeing with the idea that Sutter represents it and is haunting