Danny's Reflection
The
Piano Lesson by August Wilson is a Pulitzer Prize winning book based around
an African-American family trying to work their way up in life in the midst of
much white oppression. The Piano Lesson is a stupendously written play
and allows for many different views on the book. For instance I found myself
jumping back and forth from Boy Willies side to Bernice’s. I found the books
mixture naturalistic and supernatural makes it at time kind of odd. Given that
the book is in the end a ghost story I found it a little halfhearted as a
result of no present danger or for that matter much impact from the ghost until
the very end. I believe that the book
feels a little unmemorable today because its issues of white supremacy and the
modern struggles of African-Americans are now unrelated. Along with that the
book was short and was almost without book worthy events until the end, and
even then all that really changes is that Grace has to play the piano which isn’t
all that important either. On the contrary however, given that the book is
written to be a play it can be effectively used to describe the life of an
African-American family of that time period. Also because of its wonderful writing
and relatively easy to reproduce set it can be a great play, but from a book
point of view is not very memorable. It is on many levels hard for me to
personally relate to the play because my family all lives together and we do
not have any heirlooms, however I can relate to other themes such as music and the
idea of leaving a mark on the world. On the music side my family owns a piano
(which I play), a trumpet (which I play) and a flute. I know what it’s like to
just have an instrument sit around and not be played, but mine aren’t haunted
and sometimes I would like to sell mine for some money but I still need to play
them. I can also relate to Boy Willies dream of being able to leave a mark on
the world as well as everyone else does probably. The question is how to do it,
for him it’s to own some land and produce crops, for me it’s to hopefully own
my own business. In the end I could only recommend the book to theatre programs
in order to illustrate the struggle of African-American families recently out
of slavery.
Alexis's Reflection
Sadly, my microphone for my computer decided to malfunction and with the lack of money, I could not buy one to make a video for you. Nevertheless, this reflection is worth reading. I did not particularly like this play, but that didn't mean that it wasn't good. I would recommend it to someone for the simple fact that it made me laugh when it wasn't suppose to.
Since this book is focused on the drama of an African American family, I can relate to it to some degree. My brother does not live with my family either, and sometimes when he comes I do get that feeling, "Why is he here? What does he want now?". Just like Berneice did when her brother, Boy Willie, came and tried to take the piano and sell it. I don't have anything in my family that gets passed on though, which is quite upsetting. So if I was in Berneice's shoes, I wouldn't want someone to come and take it either. Boy Willie seemed like he had good intentions but that didn't mean he needed to disrespect his sister and his heritage like that.
While I was reading one of the things that I kept thinking about was why no one believed Berneice when she said that she saw Sutter's ghost. I've had many discussions with people about whether or not ghosts exist. Many people would argue that they do not. I, for one, am not one of those people. I do believe that if someone leaves this earth but their soul is not at rest, it may stay behind. In this case, Sutter's stayed with the piano because it had been taken from him and his wife.
Last but not least, I believe that if something was passed down to you in your family, then you should respect that item, and it was obviously important if their father died over it. The carvings on it were drawings of their family, and the fact that Boy Willie wanted to give that to someone else was like degrading it, and making it have less importance then it did. I think that everyone should know about their heritage and where they came from and if you have something in your family that represents that, then it should stay in your family only. It seemed like Sutter's ghost wanted them to keep playing it, and when Boy Willie wanted to get rid of it, Sutter didn't like that. So he was somewhat trying to protect the secrecy of the item to that family. I, sadly, don't know about my heritage and it upsets me, and to think about someone just giving away a part of their own for money is just mind boggling. If I had something that had been in my family for a while, I would cherish it.
Like I said, I didn't LOVE this play, but I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. It got me thinking about concepts that high school students don't generally think about on a day to day basis, and I think it deserves credit for that. On the other hand, there were parts that were quite absurd and that made me laugh. If you have any urge to read this play, then I would say by all means, go for it.
Since this book is focused on the drama of an African American family, I can relate to it to some degree. My brother does not live with my family either, and sometimes when he comes I do get that feeling, "Why is he here? What does he want now?". Just like Berneice did when her brother, Boy Willie, came and tried to take the piano and sell it. I don't have anything in my family that gets passed on though, which is quite upsetting. So if I was in Berneice's shoes, I wouldn't want someone to come and take it either. Boy Willie seemed like he had good intentions but that didn't mean he needed to disrespect his sister and his heritage like that.
While I was reading one of the things that I kept thinking about was why no one believed Berneice when she said that she saw Sutter's ghost. I've had many discussions with people about whether or not ghosts exist. Many people would argue that they do not. I, for one, am not one of those people. I do believe that if someone leaves this earth but their soul is not at rest, it may stay behind. In this case, Sutter's stayed with the piano because it had been taken from him and his wife.
Last but not least, I believe that if something was passed down to you in your family, then you should respect that item, and it was obviously important if their father died over it. The carvings on it were drawings of their family, and the fact that Boy Willie wanted to give that to someone else was like degrading it, and making it have less importance then it did. I think that everyone should know about their heritage and where they came from and if you have something in your family that represents that, then it should stay in your family only. It seemed like Sutter's ghost wanted them to keep playing it, and when Boy Willie wanted to get rid of it, Sutter didn't like that. So he was somewhat trying to protect the secrecy of the item to that family. I, sadly, don't know about my heritage and it upsets me, and to think about someone just giving away a part of their own for money is just mind boggling. If I had something that had been in my family for a while, I would cherish it.
Like I said, I didn't LOVE this play, but I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. It got me thinking about concepts that high school students don't generally think about on a day to day basis, and I think it deserves credit for that. On the other hand, there were parts that were quite absurd and that made me laugh. If you have any urge to read this play, then I would say by all means, go for it.
Leon's Reflection
Hi, this is my person reflection on
the play, The piano Lesson, by August Wilson.Overall, I didn’t like this play
very much as the plot feels a little dull and rushed. The only action in the
play was the final climatic scene; the other events, such as Boy Willie and
Grace’s relationship had little point being in the plot. The play was too dull
for me, as most of it was basically flashbacks regarding Willie’s family
history. Also, the ending seems a bit rushed to me and there was no clear
explanation of what exactly happened when Bernience played the piano, the
outcome of Bernience and Lymon’s relationship, or who really killed Sutter.
Therefore, I feel left “dangling off a cliff” at the end when all that happens
is Walter leaves and Bernience saying “Goodbye”. Nevertheless this play was
entertaining to read because of the tense atmosphere of the whole play and the well developed themes that drive the plot.
The most important theme in the play, I feel, is family. The play starts with Boy Willie returning to his family and starting a huge conflict with his sister over the piano. This conflict reveals the differences in interests and motivations of the two main characters, Boy Willie and Bernience. While Boy Willie wants to sell the Piano to gain land, and hence equality with his white neighbors, Bernience views the piano as a symbol of her family’s history and pursues to keep it alive. This conflict escalates to the point, which during the last scene, Bernience threatens to shoot Boy Willie and Lymon if they try to take the Piano.
This type of conflict is also reflected in my family as my mom tends to value family while my father is more likely to pursue fun and excitement. For example, whenever my family tries to decide where to go for vacation, my mom wants to go to China to visit my grandparents and look after them. On the other hand, my dad wants to visit places we’ve never been to before like France.
The second overarching theme in this play is the topic of ghosts and the supernatural. Ranging from The ghost of the Yellow Dog to Sutter’s ghost, the Sprits in the play all have the goal of revenge. The Ghosts of the Yellow Dog took vengeance on Sutter by drowning him in the well. However, Sutter’s ghost comes back at the end to take revenge on the family for stealing his piano. Bernience ends this feud by playing the Piano to call the ghosts of her ancestors and calms the fight. Through supernatural, this theme connects to real life in that revenge provokes more revenge. Conflicts are never settled unless peace is made by compromise and forgiveness.
Finally, Music also plays an important role in this play. Whenever music is played, the mood tends to soften. For example, Bernience plays the piano in the last scene and the music calms the scene. Furthermore when Willie Boy asks Maratha to play the piano, the atmosphere in the room became more relaxed and Bernience goes upstairs instead of demanding that Willie Boy leave the house.
I would give this play 2 out of 5 stars because even though i didn't particularly like it, the plot was well paced (except for the ending) and the themes connect very well to real life's experiences.
The most important theme in the play, I feel, is family. The play starts with Boy Willie returning to his family and starting a huge conflict with his sister over the piano. This conflict reveals the differences in interests and motivations of the two main characters, Boy Willie and Bernience. While Boy Willie wants to sell the Piano to gain land, and hence equality with his white neighbors, Bernience views the piano as a symbol of her family’s history and pursues to keep it alive. This conflict escalates to the point, which during the last scene, Bernience threatens to shoot Boy Willie and Lymon if they try to take the Piano.
This type of conflict is also reflected in my family as my mom tends to value family while my father is more likely to pursue fun and excitement. For example, whenever my family tries to decide where to go for vacation, my mom wants to go to China to visit my grandparents and look after them. On the other hand, my dad wants to visit places we’ve never been to before like France.
The second overarching theme in this play is the topic of ghosts and the supernatural. Ranging from The ghost of the Yellow Dog to Sutter’s ghost, the Sprits in the play all have the goal of revenge. The Ghosts of the Yellow Dog took vengeance on Sutter by drowning him in the well. However, Sutter’s ghost comes back at the end to take revenge on the family for stealing his piano. Bernience ends this feud by playing the Piano to call the ghosts of her ancestors and calms the fight. Through supernatural, this theme connects to real life in that revenge provokes more revenge. Conflicts are never settled unless peace is made by compromise and forgiveness.
Finally, Music also plays an important role in this play. Whenever music is played, the mood tends to soften. For example, Bernience plays the piano in the last scene and the music calms the scene. Furthermore when Willie Boy asks Maratha to play the piano, the atmosphere in the room became more relaxed and Bernience goes upstairs instead of demanding that Willie Boy leave the house.
I would give this play 2 out of 5 stars because even though i didn't particularly like it, the plot was well paced (except for the ending) and the themes connect very well to real life's experiences.
