The Piano Lesson Slavery Quotes

As we note in our entry on the theme of "Art and Culture: Music," this is a song that Boy Willie and several of the other characters sang on Parchman Farm, an infamous prison farm. This type of prison song is descended from work songs of the slaves. The fact that the two types of songs are so similar seems to highlight the fact that Parchman Farm was very much like a slave plantation reborn. It's mostly black inmates were forced to do grueling work under very poor conditions.

Doaker's grandmother and father were traded for the piano. The fact that human beings could be exchanged for an object highlights the degradation of slavery. When Doaker tells this story from the Charles family history, the piano becomes a symbol of the family's history of enslavement.

It's interesting that Miss Ophelia got so upset over the absence of her slaves. We have to assume that she thought of them as a little more than servants, if she took to her bed over it. If she cared about them so much why did she let them be traded? Did she realize after they were gone that she actually valued them as human beings? This story shows the often-complex relationships that existed between masters and slaves.

This was common in slavery times. Many slaves were skilled craftsman. However, the things they made were automatically the property of their masters.

The ceremony of "jumping the broom" was the slaves' wedding ceremony. Many think that the ceremony originated from African traditions, but no definite evidence has been found. It's important to point out, though, that this ceremony wasn't recognized by the white establishment. As Doaker's story of his grandparents shows, couples could be split up and sold at any time.

To Boy Charles, the piano represented his family. He refused to let it be owned by Sutter. The thought of the piano being in Sutter's house was just too big a reminder of slavery. By taking the piano from Sutter's house, Boy Charles in a way symbolically cut the ties that bound his family. Unfortunately, it cost him his life. Do you think it was worth it?

Notice, that they take the piano on July 4, Independence Day. When they take the piano, they are symbolically liberating their family from slavery. In a way, they are creating their own kind of Independence Day.

Boy Willie is wrestling the ghost of the man whose family once owned Boy Willie's family. In a way, you could see this wrestling match as an allegory for the African American race's struggle to overcome the historical aftershocks of slavery. Boy Willie is fighting to once again free his family from Sutter's oppression.

Christianity was taught to the slaves by their white masters. When the slaves first arrived from Africa they had their own spiritual beliefs and practices. However, the whites saw these as wrong. Given all this you could interpret Avery's failure to get rid of Sutter's ghost as the failure of Christianity itself. The "white" religion doesn't serve the African-American characters in their time of need.

When Berniece banishes Sutter's ghost by calling on the spirits of her ancestors, it's almost as if she's finally totally liberated her family from slavery. Sutter, the ghost of slavery, has been kicked out of their house once and for all.