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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Piano Lesson, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism and Self-determination
Spirituality and the Supernatural
Grief, Hope, and History
Love, Relationships, and Independence
Summary
Analysis
It’s five o’clock in the morning. In the Charles household, there’s the vague feeling of a gathering storm. Offstage, Boy Willie is calling for Doaker and Berniece as he knocks at the door. Doaker, who at 47 is tall, thin, and severe-looking, enters the room. He opens the door, and 30-year-old Boy Willie and 29-year-old Lymon walk in. Boy Willie is boyish, beaming, and talkative; Lymon is reserved and straightforward.
The younger men burst into the Charles household at an unexpected hour, suggesting that they have some kind of connection to the family and that their presence will unsettle things in this quiet home. Whether that will be good or bad for the family isn’t yet clear.
Themes
Doaker is surprised that Boy Willie and Lymon have traveled all the way from Mississippi. Boy Willie explains that they’re here selling watermelons—they have a whole truckload. Lymon says that he hopes to stay in Pittsburgh to see what it’s like here; Boy Willie can take the train back home. The truck has broken down three times since they left Mississippi. Boy Willie calls for his sister Berniece, whom he hasn’t seen in three years.
The Pittsburgh-based Charles family has roots in Mississippi, suggesting that they are one of millions of Black families that would have relocated from the rural South to Northern cities by the Depression era. Lymon hopes to find new opportunities here as well.
Themes
Berniece enters. She’s 35 and still in mourning for her late husband, Crawley, who died three years ago. She’s annoyed that the men have come into the house so noisily at five o’clock in the morning. Boy Willie ignores her scolding and tells Doaker to get him and Lymon a drink—they’re celebrating. Sutter drowned in his well, he explains—everyone says “the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog” got him. Berniece rejects this as “nonsense.”
Berniece’s persistent mourning establishes that she is connected to her past—to such a degree that she could even be said to be stuck there. Though it’s not yet clear who Sutter is, his death is good news for all of them, at least according to Boy Willie.
Themes
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Berniece looks outside at the truck filled with watermelons. She’s skeptical about how Boy Willie and Lymon came to own the truck. As the men drink Doaker’s good whiskey, Boy Willie explains that Lymon bought the truck in order to dodge the sheriff—he even sleeps in the truck. Berniece doesn’t like the sound of this, but Lymon says that the issue between him and the sheriff was a misunderstanding. Berniece tells the two that they need to sell their watermelons as quickly as possible and get out of her house. She goes back upstairs.
Boy Willie and Lymon are both examples of self-determination in the play, although they exemplify that impulse in different ways. Boy Willie, as will become clear, is mainly focused on his entrepreneurial instinct; Lymon, harassed by the sheriff, just wants to live in freedom. Berniece, though, is unimpressed by the men’s disruptive appearance in her life.
Themes
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Boy Willie and Doaker then discuss Wining Boy, Doaker’s brother. Wining Boy’s wife Cleotha died awhile back. Wining Boy visited Doaker and Berniece a year ago and didn’t offer to help pay for food. Wining Boy used to be a musician, playing the piano and even making a couple of records. But now, he mostly wanders around. Boy Willie says that Wining Boy usually shows up when he’s broke. Boy Willie also mentions that the last time Wining Boy was home in Mississippi, he and Lymon were doing time on Parchman Farm.
The casual mention of Parchman Farm—the name of the Mississippi State Penitentiary—shows that incarceration and troubles with law enforcement are a recurrent issue in the men’s lives, so common that it’s practically taken for granted. Wilson hints at the racist underpinnings of the penitentiary system throughout the play.
Themes
Lymon notices the family piano. Boy Willie points out how beautifully polished it is, as well as the pictures carved into it. He says that the piano would fetch a nice price. Lymon says that’s all Boy Willie has been talking about, and Boy Willie retorts that all Lymon can talk about is women.
Boy Willie’s is not interested in the piano as a family heirloom. Rather, he apparently views it as something to sell, hinting at the conflict that’s soon to erupt between family members.
Themes
Doaker changes the subject, asking after Lymon’s family, who still live in Mississippi. Lymon explains that he wants to see what life in Pittsburgh is like instead of going back to Mississippi with Boy Willie. Boy Willie explains that he plans to purchase the land Sutter’s brother is selling. He has part of the money saved up already; he’ll get another part by selling the truckload of watermelons. If he can get Berniece to agree to sell the piano, he’ll have the remainder. Doaker warns Boy Willie that Berniece will never sell the piano.
Boy Willie explains what’s brought him to Pittsburgh. Unlike Lymon, he doesn’t intend to stay here; rather, he hopes to earn the money to make a better life for himself back in Mississippi. However, Doaker senses from the outset that this plan won’t get off the ground, hinting at the difficulty of breaking from one’s troubled past and reinventing oneself.
Themes
The piano has “blood on it” in the sense that it symbolizes a long, painful history within the family that Berniece doesn’t want to face. The “extra school” is a reference to the Irene Kaufman Settlement, a real place in Pittsburgh’s historically Black Hill District. The Kaufman settlement’s mission was to provide educational and recreational opportunities to the community at large—especially Jewish, immigrant, and Black residents of Pittsburgh.
Themes
The conversation shifts back to Sutter’s land: according to Boy Willie, Sutter’s brother from Chicago is eager to sell the remaining section of Sutter’s land. Because of the long history between the two families, Sutter’s brother has offered the property to Boy Willie for $2,000. However, Boy Willie knows that Sutter’s brother has offered it to Jim Stovall for $1,500. Boy Willie didn’t challenge this—he just asked for two weeks to get the money. This is why he’s come to Pittsburgh with a truck full of watermelons and a determination to sell Berniece’s piano.
It’s hinted that the “long history” between the Sutter and Charles families may have something to do with the “blood” on the piano, suggesting that there has been a dynamic of violence or oppression between the Sutters and Charleses. Sutter shamelessly exploits this history through his attempt to cheat Boy Willie. Undaunted by this, Boy Willie proceeds with his plan, showing his determination to realize his goals regardless of others’ racist motivations.
Themes
Doaker maintains that Berniece will be hard to convince. He tells Boy Willie that Avery Brown followed Berniece to Pittsburgh from Mississippi two years ago, wanting her to marry him after her husband, Crawley, was killed. Avery is a preacher now. Boy Willie says that Avery believes all white men are rich and successful—he doesn’t realize that some white men have less than he does. Doaker says that Avery has tried to get Berniece to sell the piano, too, in order to get money for him to start a church. Avery even sent over a white man who collects musical instruments and who offered to buy the piano for a nice price. Boy Willie wants to find out who this man is.
Violence and grief loom over the Charles family—though the circumstances surrounding Crawley’s death aren’t yet explained, they clearly seem to have been traumatic for Berniece, and she doesn’t yet seem to be interested in remarrying. Boy Willie believes that Avery thinks too highly of white people and too little of himself—there’s an undercurrent of suggestion that Boy Willie doesn’t greatly respect Avery’s approach, though arguably, Avery is taking his own route to self-determination.
Themes
Just then, the men hear Berniece shouting from upstairs. As Berniece enters the room, breathless, Boy Willie runs upstairs to see what upset her. He calls down that nobody is there. Catching her breath, Berniece says that she saw Sutter standing at the top of the stairs. Boy Willie says that she’s imagining this, but Doaker says that Berniece wouldn’t make up such a thing and encourages her to tell them what she saw. Berniece says that Sutter was standing in the hallway wearing a blue suit and resting his hand atop his head, as if he were afraid that his head would fall off. He was calling Boy Willie’s name. Berniece tells Boy Willie that she believes he pushed Sutter to his death in the well.
This is the first appearance of a supernatural element in the play. Even though Boy Willie doesn’t believe Berniece’s claim to have seen Sutter, the existence of supernatural beings like ghosts, and the ability of humans to interact with them, seems to be largely taken for granted within the play. Already suspicious about Boy Willie’s visit, Berniece takes Sutter’s appearance as evidence of wrongdoing on her brother’s part.
Themes
Boy Willie argues that this is ridiculous. He and Lymon weren’t anywhere near Sutter when Sutter died; he thinks the “Ghosts of the Yellow Dog” got Sutter. Lymon agrees. But Berniece tells the two men to leave her house—they only bring trouble. She even blames Boy Willie for Crawley’s death. Boy Willie says he’s not going anywhere until he sells the watermelons. Anyway, he doesn’t believe that Sutter’s ghost would be looking for him—Sutter was looking for the piano. He tells Berniece that if she wants to get rid of Sutter’s ghost, she needs to get rid of the piano.
The “Ghosts of the Yellow Dog” are not fully explained at this point in the play. Though vague, they serve as additional evidence of people’s belief in the existence of the supernatural and the ability of those forces to affect the living. Boy Willie perceives that Berniece’s suspicion of him is a misdirection—it’s the piano’s mysterious connection to Sutter that should be of greater concern to her.
Themes
After Berniece goes upstairs to wake up Maretha and Doaker exits, Lymon suggests that Boy Willie stay in Pittsburgh with him. Boy Willie refuses, though—he thinks Lymon is too optimistic about Pittsburgh. Boy Willie, on the other hand, wants to farm all of Sutter’s land. Doaker reenters to make breakfast. He remarks that he believes what Berniece said—she’s never seen Sutter wearing a suit before, so she must have seen Sutter’s ghost in his burial suit.
Boy Willie’s and Lymon’s opposite views of self-determination are on display here. Where Lymon wants to start over fresh in a new place, Boy Willie is equally determined to build something new on old ground. Doaker, meanwhile, clearly believes that Sutter’s ghost is real.
Themes
Boy Willie changes the subject, teasing Doaker about all the girlfriends he’s rumored to have in Mississippi (he travels there every month because of his job as a railroad cook). Doaker denies this. He also reminisces about his past job lining track for the Yellow Dog railroad, where his brother, Wining Boy, used to work with him. Doaker has been with the railroad for 27 years. He reflects that trains only go in one of four directions at any given time—you’d think that people could understand that, he goes on, but surprisingly few people do. Instead, people get mad when they find out that the train isn’t going the direction they want to go. If people would stay in one place, Doaker believes that it would be a better world.
Besides Doaker’s occasional tendency to daydream of the past, his reflections on the railroad also reveal something about his character. Doaker is a steady man who generally accepts the condition of the world around him and does the best he can within those parameters. Rather than portraying this as a compromising attitude, Wilson portrays Doaker’s steadfastness as its own form of self-determination, just as worthy of respect as his nephew’s bolder method.
Themes
The younger men are distracted from Doaker’s monologue by the breakfast he is cooking. Then Maretha enters, and Boy Willie coaxes the shy girl into conversation, talking about how big she’s gotten. He also teaches her how to improvise a boogie-woogie on the piano. When Maretha admits she doesn’t know anything about the pictures carved on the piano, Boy Willie is surprised. Berniece calls for Maretha before Boy Willie can press the issue.
Boogie woogie is a musical genre that developed out of the blues and was especially popular in the African American community around the 1930s; it was intended for dancing and suits Boy Willie’s playfulness. Maretha’s unfamiliarity with the piano’s history suggests that Berniece doesn’t want her to know about the family’s past.
Themes
Just then Avery Brown knocks on the door, and Doaker lets him in. Avery is 38, “honest and ambitious,” well-dressed, and carrying a Bible. He is surprised to see Boy Willie and Lymon, and they tease Avery about becoming a preacher. When Boy Willie asks how Avery got the idea, Avery tells him that God’s call came to him in a dream. Doaker encourages Avery to tell Boy Willie and Lymon about the dream.
Avery’s focus, professional dress, and overall conventional look contrast with the younger men’s more carefree lifestyle. The implication is that Avery is more willing to adapt to the norms and expectations of Northern urban culture. However, he got there in an unusual way himself: via supernatural prompting.
Themes
Avery describes his dream: in it, he watched three hobos get off a train. The hobos said they were from Nazareth and were heading to Jerusalem. They handed Avery a candle and took him along. In a house, Avery saw a crowd of diverse people who all had sheep heads. Then the hobos dressed Avery in a blue and gold robe and instructed him to choose one of three doors. Avery went through a door and felt as if his candle’s flame set his head on fire. In this room, other robed men overlooked a valley filled with wolves. A voice said that the sheep people must be led across the valley of wolves and asked, “Who shall I send?” Avery volunteered. Then Jesus came to Avery and told him that he would cross the valley with him. Avery woke up, feeling at peace with his new calling.
Avery’s dream contains fairly common Christian imagery and symbolism for someone who’s thinking of becoming a preacher. The hobos’ journey follows the journey of Christ’s life; the “sheep people” are a flock in need of a shepherd to defend them from dangerous wolves. In other words, there’s nothing too mysterious about the content of the dream—yet it functions as inspiration toward a new path in life, much like what Boy Willie and Lymon are seeking.
Themes
Berniece comes in with Maretha and greets Avery. Before she and Avery take Maretha to the Settlement House, Boy Willie asks about the white man who’d been interested in buying the piano. Berniece tells Boy Willie she knew he was up to something, and that she’ll never agree to selling the piano. She leaves with Avery and Maretha. Soon after, Boy Willie and Lymon venture out to sell watermelons.
The play’s central conflict is established: Berniece is just as determined not to part with the piano as Boy Willie is to sell it. The rest of the play will be a contest between the siblings’ respective wills and their views of the piano’s place in their family.
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