ipl-logo

The Piano Lesson Play Analysis

1056 Words5 Pages

In August Wilson’s play The Piano Lesson, Berniece struggles to come to terms with the violence in her family’s past. Berniece relocates up north to escape the violence prevalent in her family legacy. Berniece is unable to reconcile with this fact, because of this she is unable to discuss this part of history as well as other aspects of her family history with her daughter Maretha. Berniece’s hesitation to reveal this truth to her daughter is detrimental because of the fact that Maretha is oblivious to an important part of her family history. In the end of the play Berniece is finally able to acknowledge the importance of this part of history, as a result she realizes that this is something which she should share with her daughter rather …show more content…

The carvings of the piano and the piano itself remind her of her mother and father and the sacrifices they made. The piano reminds Berniece about how her great grandfather carved the family’s faces into the piano. It reminds her of how Mama Ola spent hours polishing it with her blood, sweat, and tears. Berniece remembers how her father dies trying to get the piano back. Although the piano holds significant value, she still refrains from sharing the reason for this importance. Despite the fact that the piano has great significance to her, Berniece refuses to play the piano. Berniece allows Maretha to play the piano, she teaches her songs that she can practice. When Avery asks Berniece about using the piano for his church Berniece says to him “ I done told you I don’t play on that piano. Ain’t no need in you to keep talking about that choir stuff. When my mama died I shut the top of that piano and I ain’t never opened it since. I was only playing it for her. When my daddy died seem like all her life went into that piano. She used to have me playing on it… had Miss Eula come in and teach me… say when I played she could hear my daddy talking to her.” “I used to think them pictures came alive and walked through the house. Sometimes late at night I could hear my mama talking to them. I said that wasn’t gonna happen to me. I don’t play the

Show More
Related

Berniece's Relationship With Boy Willie

395 Words | 2 Pages

have a great relationship with Boy Willie. Once Lymon notices the piano and tells Boy Willie, this is where the drama begins. Boy Willie tells Lymon that he wants to sell the piano because he thinks it is worth a lot of money. Doaker already knows that Berniece will not let him sell the piano because of the significance it has within the family. Another reason Berniece does not want to sell the piano is because her daughter, Maretha, is learning how to play it.

Read More

Nilaja Sun No Child Analysis

823 Words | 4 Pages

Nilaja Sun’s No Child… is a comedy play about a group of delinquent students that are required to learn and perform a play within six weeks. The characters in the play are what makes the story unique. Each character seems to bring reason to the title of the play in their own way. All of them have their own personality that makes the play enticing to read or watch being performed. The title No Child… means that no child is what they are expected to be.

Read More

Let's Get It Loaded Before Berniece Come Back By Maggie

640 Words | 3 Pages

“Papa Boy Charles brought that piano into the house. Now I’m supposed to uild on what they left me”(Wilson 51).If Boy Willie purchases the land he will be able to do more and help his family because he will prosper if he sell it instead of having it sit in Berniece’s house. Boy Willie wants to avoid an argument with Berniece so he decides to take the piano while she is at work. “Come on,let’s get it loaded before Berniece come

Read More

The Piano Man's Daughter Character Analysis

1673 Words | 7 Pages

The Piano Man’s Daughter executes all of the elements of a great book perfectly. Works Cited Findley, Timothy. The Piano Man 's Daughter. New York: Crown, 1995. Print. "

Read More

Adultery In Kate Chopin's 'The Storm'

1162 Words | 5 Pages

Therefore, Kate Chopin focuses on the relationship between Calixta, the noble housewife, and Alcee, her old lover, by reuniting without anyone knowing, Calixta’s son and husband coming home to a happy wife and mother, and both of them not getting caught by cheating on their spouses. When Calixta and Alcee reunited together, they had did not have any care in the world, and it was risky that they could have been caught in the act. It is ironic when the thunder storm started right when Alcee showed up; however, the storm became stronger and that made him come inside Calixta’s house, and the woman sexuality was shown to be constraint as represented by the house chores Calixta performs. Chopin confirms the relationship between Calixta and Alcee’s unlawful experience together, but is not unaware of the dangers to which it may lead. Not only did Calixta commit adultery, but after it happened, her husband and son came home

Read More

Theme Of Innocence In All Quiet On The Western Front

624 Words | 3 Pages

In Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front, poetry, and visual art, the theme of loss of innocence is uncovered. In “Piano After War”, Gwendolyn Brooks exposed the theme of loss of innocence. Revealing the details of his experiences after being on the front, the narrator describes the trouble he has had appreciating the simple and beautiful things life has to offer when suddenly “a cry of bitter dead men who will never attend a gentle maker of musical joy”(Gwendolyn 11-12). Gwendolyn shows the struggle of listening to the piano when he suddenly is thinking back to memories on the front.

Read More

Quotes From The Piano Lessons

1206 Words | 5 Pages

This is supported by her final decision to play the piano, that she so very disliked, in order to save her brother’s life, “Berniece realizes what she must do… She crosses over to the piano… She begins to play.” Berniece combated these conflicts in order to reconcile, not only, the relationship she had with her brother, but the relationship with her ancestors that faltered when she gave up on the piano. Berniece finally accepted that it was not Boy Willie’s fault that her husband passed away or that it was his fault, that the Charles family has went through many troubles to acquire the object that ties all their family history together. It is shown that Berniece finally accepts Boy Willie due to her thanking of him at the end of Sutter’s attack, “...me and Sutter both liable to be back...

Read More

Examples Of Grief In The Piano Lesson

547 Words | 3 Pages

The history of what the piano and her family makes it hard for her to have any contact with the piano. Berniece also mentions that she does not want to play it because she might wake the spirits of her ancestors that had passed. We can conclude that, that is the reason she says " Avery.. I done told you I don’t want to play that piano, now or no other time"(page 71). But that changed till one day the family experienced the presence of Sutter, and in order to remove it Berniece was brave enough to play the piano and call out her ancestors to help them remove the

Read More

Character Analysis Of Jillian Horton's 'The Bicycle'

856 Words | 4 Pages

This fifteen-year-old girl was willing to remove herself from her social life, free time activities, and even her family in order to further her piano career and thus earn the coveted respect of her Tante. That requires an immense amount of devotion, likely even more than some adults have. Hannah was so absorbed in her piano studies that “sometimes it seemed that there was nothing else in the world but Tante Rose and me and Tante Rose’s piano” (3). She saw nothing but what was necessary for her goal of becoming a concert pianist. Her devotion to the piano, and by extent Tante Rose, overwhelmed all other aspects of her life.

Read More

Theme Of Irony In Desiree's Baby

1210 Words | 5 Pages

1) The family adopted the girl that had no family. “Madame Valmonde abandoned every speculation but the one that Desiree had been sent to her by a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection” (Chopin... Pg. 1) To wind up my essay.

Read More

Malcolm Gladwell's Case Study: Success In Social Work

1409 Words | 6 Pages

Case Study: Success in the Social Work In today’s society, people are obsessed with the notion of success and the ways to achieve mastery. Many people believe it is all based on luck and innate talent versus opportunity and practice. In this case study, I analyze how Malcolm Gladwell’s concepts in Outliers applies to being a successful professional member of the social work discourse community. In order to gain insight, I conducted an interview and job shadowing with Mr. John Davis from the University of Sacramento.

Read More

Gender Roles In Billy Elliot

1854 Words | 8 Pages

This incinerated piano was once used by a woman in an expressive, sentimental manner; however, it is destroyed by Jackie for the pragmatic use of firewood (Daldry, Billy Elliot). Unfortunately, men are pushed to believe that they are responsible for the welfare of their entire family and are given a stressful amount of

Read More

The Awakening And Story Of An Hour Analysis

822 Words | 4 Pages

Chopin’s novel and short story provides awareness of the lack of independence and individuality that women are granted in that era. Chopin’s voices how Louise and Enda becomes accustom to living according to what the man of the house desires. “Then would be no power will bending hers in that blind persistence” (The Story of An hour). With Louise husband being gone, he would no longer interfere with her actions or even overrule what she has to say. Louise would be completely free from his authority.

Read More

Comparing Poems 'Piano And Those Winter Sundays'

659 Words | 3 Pages

The speaker as a child would see his father as a harsh man but as an adult, when he looked back he saw that his father had a love for his family. His father's love could be considered as a hidden love. However in the poem “Piano” the speaker's life seemed great until he looked back at his past to see his mother playing the piano and

Read More

Theme Of Racism In Desiree's Baby

1280 Words | 6 Pages

Arnold David Arnold Hensley English 11/ Fifth Period 27 February 2018 Part 12: Rough Draft #1 In Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby” one will notice Chopin’s well known use of racism and local color in the story. With the story taking place in the deep South prior to the Civil War the reader will start to notice racism being incorporated into the story. Chopin uses this theme to show how crooked some people’s morals are in this time period.

Read More

More about The Piano Lesson Play Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document