The Piano Lesson

by August Wilson

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Themes: Building One's Future by Establishing a Relationship with the Past

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The Piano Lesson is about building one’s future by establishing one’s ontological and cultural relationship with the past. Berniece has spent her entire life trying to run away from her problems; after her husband died, she left the South for the North to look for a new beginning and to distance herself physically from what she does not want to reexperience emotionally. Not wanting to wake the piano’s old spirits, she “shut the top on that piano” after her mother’s death. In trying to avoid confronting the painful memories of the family’s past, Berniece has uprooted herself from the family tradition and history, thereby exposing her vulnerability to that which she fears the most, making her susceptible to the frequent visits of Sutter’s ghost.

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Themes: Symbolism of Sutter's Ghost

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Themes: The New Generation's Struggle for Freedom and Dignity

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