August Wilson’s Lesson
Literary Essay —August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson
Throughout August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, he explores the economic, personal, and emotional oppressions that burden a new generation of a once enslaved African-American family. Wilson teaches how important it is to accept, conquer, and embrace the past sufferings of their ancestors. The drama of the play is driven by Boy Willie and Berniece’s necessity to accept and embrace their past in order to free themselves from their emotional enslavement. Boy Willie and Berniece both most understand the piano is a positive representation of their family and not treat the piano as a burden. The piano represents the history and legacy of their family; however, Boy Willie wants to sell the piano in order to gain economic power and Berniece wants to keep it because of the pain their ancestors endured to acquire the piano. Wilson also creates Sutter’s ghost so that Boy Willie and Berniece can make the transition from their oppressions to freedom. Wilson shows how Boy Willie accepts his past by not selling the piano to free himself from economic enslavement, while Berniece learns to embrace her past by playing the piano to overcome her emotional enslavement.
Wilson shows how Boy Willie moves away from economic oppression by embracing his past. Throughout the majority of the play Boy Willie believes he can only buy Sutter’s land if he sells the family piano. In the beginning of the play, the reader sees his motive when he loudly enters Doaker’s house unannounced, after years of being gone. Shortly after he arrives, he immediately asks Doaker if Bernice plays the piano anymore. Conflict arises between Boy Willie and Berniece when she refuses to allow him to sell it. As the play continues, Wilson illustrates Boy Willie’s desire to overcome his economic struggle when Boy Willie keeps trying to persuade Berniece to sell it. Wilson shows his motive for selling the piano is so that he can buy the land his family was burdened to for so many years when he writes, “I’m trying to get me some land, woman. I need that piano to get me some money so I can buy Sutter’s land (1574). Boy Willie is so determined to buy Sutter’s land that he misses the symbolic value of the piano. Wilson makes this evident when Berniece tells Boy Willie, “Money can’t buy what that piano cost. You can’t sell your soul for money”(1574). He would rather sell the piano to gain back the land his family were enslaved on in order to have something his ancestors were unable to have. Boy Willie feels burdened by his past and would like to just move on, but Berniece will not allow him to do it. The reader can see that even though Boy Willie is trying to escape economic oppression he is still keeping himself bonded to Sutter. Wilson illustrates Boy Willie’s bondage to Sutter through his need to prove to himself and society that he is capable of owning land; however, he has to sell his past to a white man to gain another white man’s land. The reader sees this evident when Wilson writes, “Now I want to get Sutter’s land with that piano. I get Sutter’s land and I can go down and cash in the crop and get my seed. As long as I got the land and the seed then I’m alright. I can always get me a little something else. Cause that land give back to you”(1574). Boy Willie is motivated to change his life to escape social oppression; however, he has to sell his past to get there. At the end of the play, Wilson shows how Boy Willie moves from economic and social oppression to acceptance when Boy Willie wrestles Sutter’s ghost in the end. Once he conquers the ghost, he is able to accept that he does not need to sell his past to gain economic power. Wilson makes this evident when Boy Willie exits the stage without the piano. Moreover, Wilson uses Berniece’s emotional attachment to the piano in order to help Boy Willie remember that he does not need to sell their history to buy Sutter’s land.
Even though Berniece values the family piano, she sees the piano as a painful reminder of her ancestors’ suffering. Wilson also shows Berniece’s emotional and personal enslavement when she describes what the piano means to her. Berniece tells Boy Willie, “Mama Ola polished this piano with her tears for seventeen years. For seventeen years she rubbed on it till her hands bled. Then she rubbed the blood in… mixed it with the rest of the blood on it” (1575). Through this dialogue Wilson shows the reader that Berniece is burdened by her family’s pain. Once Berniece accepts her past, she can escape her emotional and personal pain. Wilson further shows Berniece’s emotional enslavement by creating a parallel between Berniece’s family’s suffering through the piano and her continued mourning for her husband after three years. Wilson illustrates this when Berniece and Avery are discussing Berniece’s need to overcome her family’s pain and her husband’s death. Avery tells Bernice, “You got to put all that behind you. Berniece. That’s the same thing like Crawley. Everybody got stones in their passway. You got to step over them or walk around them. You picking them up and carrying them with you” (1585). Wilson shows the audience that Berniece greatly values the piano, but she does not play the piano because it represents a painful past. This is evident when Boy Willie tells Berniece “You can’t do nothing with that piano sitting up here in the house. That’s just like if I left them watermelons sit out there and rot. I’d be a fool” (1574). Berniece sees her past as a burden and a negative reminder of her ancestors. It is apparent in the play when she tells Avery, “When my mama died I shut the top on that piano and I ain’t never opened it since” (1585). It is not until the end of the play that Berniece learns to embrace the past when she plays it to invoke her ancestors to help her cast away Sutter’s ghost. Wilson shows Berniece’s dramatic change from emotional enslavement to accepting her past when Berniece repeats the chant, “I want you to help me”. (1605–1606). Berniece learns through Sutter’s ghost that she needs to embrace her past in order to conquer her enslavements.
In August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, he shows Boy Willie and Berniece’s struggle to accept their past in order to fee themselves from the pains of their ancestors. Boy Willie and Berniece’s struggle to accept their past by understanding what the piano should symbolize and conquer their past by casting out Sutter’s ghost. Wilson approaches Boy Willie’s transformation from economic enslavement to economic freedom because he learns he does not need to escape his past to prosper financially. Berniece learns to embrace the family’s piano in order to appreciate and positively exercise the use of the piano. Both Boy Willie and Berniece embrace their past in order to be free from the enslavement of their family.
