Grace is a young woman whom Boy Willie meets and brings back to Berniece’s house for a romantic night. She and Lymon later end up together. Mama Berniece was Berniece’s and Boy Willie’s great-grandmother. Along with her son, Papa Boy Charles, she was traded to Joel Nolander in exchange for Ophelia Sutter’s piano.
Why does Bernice come downstairs?
Why does Berniece come downstairs? Why doesn’t Berniece want Grace in her house? She doesn’t want grace to come in because grace in a stranger to Bernice and she doesn’t her Grace there with Maretha there.
What does Wining Boy do for a living?
Wining Boy
A comic figure, he functions as one of the play’s primary storytellers, recounting anecdotes from his travels .
What happened between Lymon and Berniece?
They kiss. Eventually Berniece breaks away . Lymon gives her the perfume, and she goes upstairs. He strokes the silk suit happily.
Why does Berniece want the piano?
Berniece wants to remember and preserve her family’s past by keeping the piano ; Boy Willie wants rectify the past by selling the piano and buying land that once bound his ancestors in slavery; Doaker wants Boy Willie to understand the family’s past through the history of the piano.
Who kissed Bernice in The piano Lesson?
Lymon compliments Berniece’s nightgown and prepares for bed. Musing on Wining Boy’s supposed magic suit, he withdraws a bottle of perfume from his coat pocket and gives it to Berniece. He anoints her and they kiss.
Who carved the piano in the piano lesson?
So, Sutter ordered Willie Boy, Berniece and Boy Willie’s great grandfather , to carve pictures of them into the piano. Willie Boy did as he was asked, but went even further. He carved the faces of his wife and child, who were traded for the piano, but he also carved the whole history of his family.
Why did Sutter’s wife get sick?
During slavery, a man named Robert Sutter—the recently deceased Sutter’s grandfather—owned the Charles family. ... Though initially Miss Ophelia, Sutter’s wife, loved the piano, she started to miss her slaves and attempted to trade them back. When Nolander refused, she fell desperately ill .
Who is 30 years old in The Piano Lesson?
Boy Willie , Berniece’s brother and another of the play’s protagonists, is 30 years old. He is boyish, impulsive, talkative, and can behave a bit crudely. He comes across as optimistic and a bit naïve.
Why does Boy Willie want to buy land?
Why does Boy Willie want to purchase Sutter’s land? The land that Boy Willie wants to purchase is the land that his grandfather was kept as a slave on , which is very important to him.
Who sees the ghost first in The piano Lesson?
| A B | What is the name of Doaker’s grandfather? Willie Boy | Who sees Sutter’s ghost first? Doaker | Who does Lymon want to give the bottle of perfume? Grace | Where did the Yellow Dog get its name? color of the boxcars |
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What is Parchman Farm in The piano Lesson?
Boy Willie tells Doaker to bring out more whiskey. Doaker brings out the whole bottle. Boy Willie starts talking about how he and Lymon were down on Parchman Farm, which is a penitentiary . (It’s basically like prison, but you have to work all day.)
What does the piano symbolize in The piano Lesson?
Piano Symbol Analysis. The Charles family’s piano, which resides in Berniece’s house, symbolizes the family’s history and identity—both their past sorrows and their hopes for the future . The piano belonged to the Sutter family, who once enslaved Berniece’s and Boy Willie’s ancestors.
Should berniece sell the piano?
Berniece does not want to let her brother, who has come to claim his half of the piano, sell the piano because it is symbolic of her family’s freedom . ... He wants to sell the piano in order to get the money to buy the Sutter land, something he believes will end, once and for all, the enslavement of the Charles family.
What lesson did berniece learn in The Piano Lesson?
When the ghost of Sutter attacks, Berniece finally conquers her fears and plays the piano. She calls on the spirits of her ancestors to help banish Sutter’s ghost. Berniece finds a spiritual connection through the piano and calls on not only the strength of her ancestors, but on the power of the African American race.
What happens at the end of the piano lesson?
The play reaches its climax when Boy Willie and Lymon attempt to roll the piano out of the house. ... At last, Berniece saves the day when she plays the piano, calls on the spirits of her ancestors, and banishes Sutter’s ghost. In the end, Boy Willie heads back down to Mississippi without selling the piano.
