The Piano Lesson

The Piano Lesson by August Wilson I believe the piano is one of the main characters. Most of the reasons the families argument is because of the piano. Berniece wants to keep it because it holds a special memory about her family’s history. On the other hand Boy Willie wants to sale it to get more money to buy the third half of the Sutters land. If the piano was not a big deal in this play there would not be a play that’s why I believe the piano is one of the main characters. In this play the conflict over the piano is compelling because the main focus is on the piano and what the Charles’s family should do with it; should they sell it or should they not? The piano tells the history of the Charles family. That’s how the readers know that the piano is important to them. Over all I would not sell the piano because it’s would not be in the family for this long if it was not important.

Berniece

The Piano Lesson written by August Wilson, Berniece is one of the main characters in this play. I find Berniece very interesting, the first thing I found out about her is that she really does not like Avery the same way he likes her. I believe she likes Lymon because he kissed her and she did not push him away, she went in for the kiss as well. I do like Berniece, just for the fact that she comes off to me as an independent woman and also that she does not need a man to complete her. I find Berniece the type of women that does not give up like most women would probably back in the day; she fights for what she believes in. The reason I think that is because in the play Berniece is contently fighting with her brother Boy Willie for the piano to stay at the house and not sale it and give it away to some random folks for money. While read I still feel the same way about her, I still think what Berniece believes is right and what she stands for is 100% correct. This lady stands up for her own beliefs and sticks to her word. The one thing I really don’t agree with her is that she won’t touch the piano. I believe the piano should stay in the house with the family, but at the same time she should play it as well.

Wining Boy’s Values

The Piano Lesson written by August Wilson is a historical play that tells the story of the Charles’s family, whose history is symbolized through a piano. Thru this play Wining Boy is one of the characters. He is a fifty-six year old man who likes to gamble and who plays the piano for a living. He is a musician that has traveled to a lot of places and likes to tell about his experiences thru out life. The two main things Wining Boy values is his ex-wife Cleotha and their family’s piano because it symbolizes his family’s history.

The first thing Wining Boy valued was his ex- wife Cleotha he loved her with all his heart even though they were not together anymore. They were childhood sweet hearts for one another. They got married and argued a lot, so they split up. Even though Wining Boy was not with Cleotha he still cared about her dearly and so did she. Cleotha told him before he left that “Wining Boy, you got a home as long as I got mine” (pg.31). As the reader you can also tell Wining Boy still cared about Cleotha because he tells Doaker in one of the passages “Man that woman was something. I used to thank the lord. Many a night I sat up and looked over my life. Said, well, I had Cleotha. When it didn’t look like there was nothing else for me, I said, thank God, at least I had that” (Pg.32). You can tell in this passage that Wining Boy really loved and valued Cleotha. Wining Boy also respected Cleotha because he considered her to be a good woman.

Wining Boy’s niece Bernice and nephew Boy Willie are fighting over what they want to do with the family piano. Bernice wants to keep it and Boy Willie wants to sell it. Wining Boy sides with Bernice because he doesn’t want the piano to be sold. He values the piano because it has family history and sacrifices. He values the piano because his brother died for it and because it tells the story of the trials his ancestors faced. In a passage on (pg 57) Doaker tells Wining boy that he agrees that they should selling the piano because it has brought nothing, but trouble with the Sutter ghost. Wining Boy tells him that he doesn’t agree because their brother Charles didn’t take it to give it back. He said “He took it because he figured he had more right than Sutter did”. Wining boy is a person that values history and since part of his history is connected to the piano, he values it.

Wining Boy is a musician and a gambler. He is a person that moves from one place to the other, but he never forgets his family history because he values it. He separated from his Ex- wife, Cleotha, but he still loved her and cared about her very much. The reason Wining Boy as so much respect for his family history was because of the piano because he had a lot of stories and memories that relate to the piano. His ex-wife and the piano are the two things that Wining Boy values the most and he feels they kept him safe.

No One Deserves This

Sixth grade was when I was first bullied, not just by one person, but my whole sixth grade class. I could not believe my own classmates that I called my “Friends” treated me the way they did. When the terrorist attack happened on September 11th, 2001 my whole life changed. I hated coming to school after that day. The people I called my friends called me names they would tell me “Go with your uncle Osama and blow up buildings”. I went home crying everyday because I was teased because of my race. I never teased anyone before and I wondered why my classmates were doing it to me. That was the first time I wished I could have been any other race but Indian. I hated being Hindu because I was made fun of almost every day for something “My uncle” did. I did not want to tell anyone because I did not want to be known as a “Snitch” and have my fellow classmates make fun of me.

One day my mom noticed I was crying and she asked me “Why are you so sad?” I wanted to tell my mom, but then again I did not because I knew it would just start more trouble for me at school. I just kept it to myself hoping that everyone would just get tired of teasing me. One month went by and my classmates still said “Ashima go back to your country and bomb something there”. Every time someone said that I felt like punching them in the face, but I did not want to get in trouble by my teacher or principle. I knew if I got into a fight with anyone I would have to explain why I did such a thing. I did not want to explain to them how I felt because they were adults and they would not understand. So I went to my sister and asked her what I should do because I was getting so tired of being made fun of and not being able to do anything about it. She told me “Ignore them and sooner or later they will stop”. She also told me “the less you pay attention to them the more they get frustrated because you are not reacting”. Therefore, I just kept my mouth shut and just ignored everyone then. I hoped my sister’s advice worked because if it did not I was going to have to tell someone and that’s something I did not want to happen.

I still hated going to school every morning I just wanted to drop out because I was so tired of being made fun of for something I had nothing to do with. No one even bothered to ask me if I was the same race as Osama bin Laden. Osama and I were not even part of the same culture, but yet my skin tone was the same as his so my classmate automatically assumed I was related to him. After two months went by, things started to cool down and my classmates stopped making fun of me. I guess they saw that I did not respond to what they were saying so they got bored and eventually stopped. I was glad I went to my older sister for advice because it worked and they finally stopped. I was so happy. My friends that I would always hangout with started to hang out with me again. I felt like my life was going back to the way it use to be before all the September 11th terrorist attacks happened.

I am still friends with those students that I had in sixth grade and when we got older they realized how much I did get hurt by them calling me names and teasing me because of my race. They have apologized to me and as the bigger person I did forgive them. I still talk to most of my classmates till this very day. I will never in my life ever forget about the tragedy that happened in New York on September 11th 2001. It changed my life forever.