The Piano Lesson

Berniece is warming water on the stove to fill the bathtub she has set up in the kitchen. Avery knocks on the door and Berniece invites him in. Avery has found and rented a property for his church. But later, he says, “I get to thinking how that look to have a preacher that ain’t married” (68). Avery has strong feelings for Berniece and wants to marry her, but Berniece hesitates, hedging that she still isn’t ready. She also needs to consider Maretha. Avery implies that she is less of a woman when she doesn’t have a man, which stuns Berniece and hurts her feelings. She points out the double standard of how no one bothers Avery or considers him less of a man. Avery tells Berniece that she is letting her life pass by to carry Crawley’s ghost. Berniece promises to talk about it again when Crawley has his church. She tells him that she’s overwhelmed right now and that Maretha is now terrified because she saw Sutter’s ghost too. She asks Avery to bless the house, but Avery isn’t sure that he is qualified to exorcize ghosts.

Berniece thinks that Boy Willie killed Sutter, and that Sutter might follow him when he leaves, but Avery points out that the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog have been shoving people into wells since long before Boy Willie was old enough. He suggests that maybe the Ghosts are “the hand of God” (70). But Berniece is certain that a person is responsible for pushing all those people into their wells, and she believes that Boy Willie killed Sutter for his land. Now he is determined to sell the piano, and he’s as stubborn as he has been his whole life. Doaker is no help because he doesn’t like the piano in the first place. Avery proposes that Berniece take the piano to his church and start a choir, suggesting that Boy Willie might give up the idea of selling if he saw it being put to good use.

But Berniece has refused to play the piano since her mother, Mama Ola, died, and she only played before because her mother asked her to. Mama Ola claimed that she heard Boy Charles (her dead husband) and her ancestors speaking to her when Berniece played. Berniece doesn’t want to wake up all those ghosts. She lets Maretha play because Maretha doesn’t know the piano’s story. Avery coaxes Berniece to let all that go and play a hymn on the piano, “claiming it as an instrument of the Lord” (72). Berniece won’t play and wants her bath, so Avery leaves, promising that he will read his Bible and come back tomorrow to bless her house.

Later that night, after Berniece and Maretha are asleep and Doaker has left on a trip, Boy Willie creeps in quietly with Grace, a woman he met at a bar. He tries to kiss her, but she is put off by the discovery that there is only a couch to sleep on. Grace offers her place but warns that her ex, Leroy, could show up. He probably won’t, since he left her for another woman, but he has a key. Boy Willie declines and starts to kiss her. Their kissing becomes passionate, and they knock a lamp over. The noise wakes Berniece, who comes downstairs in her nightgown. She catches them kissing and orders Boy Willie to take Grace elsewhere, insisting that she won’t allow this behavior with her young daughter upstairs. Boy Willie argues, but Grace isn’t interested in staying where she isn’t wanted, and they go. Berniece starts to make tea, and Lymon knocks on the door. She lets him in.

Lymon tells her that he met a woman, but she just wanted him to spend all his money buying drinks, so he left. But he likes Pittsburgh women and thinks he’ll enjoy living here. Lymon likes Grace more than anyone, but he took his time before approaching her, and Boy Willie got to her first. The woman Lymon was buying drinks for was Grace’s friend. Lymon speaks highly of Grace, but Berniece complains that she and Boy Willie knocked over a lamp. Berniece asks Lymon about staying in Pittsburgh, and he states that he’ll never go back to Mississippi and be forced to work for free. Lymon plans to live on his watermelon money while he looks for a job. Berniece comments that Lymon should find a job easily, unlike Boy Willie, who is too stubborn to do what he’s told. Lymon agrees, since they were supposed to go to the movies, but Boy Willie instead took him to a saloon. Berniece tells Lymon to be careful and not follow Boy Willie’s example by spending time in saloons. She warns, “You start out that fast life, you can’t keep it up. It makes you old quick” (78).

Lymon says that most of the people out there are lonely and don’t want to sleep alone, but he wants more. Lymon asks why Berniece hasn’t remarried and mentions Avery. She tells Lymon that he’ll find someone, and then expresses that she doesn’t have strong feelings for Avery. Lymon hopes to get married, and he tells Berniece that she ought to marry Avery, since he’s kind and being a pastor’s wife is a good life. Lymon flirts a little, complimenting her nightgown. He decides to sleep on the couch, since Boy Willie seems to be out for the night. He offers Berniece the perfume he bought as a gift in case he met a woman he liked. She tries to give it back, but he insists, saying, “I wanna give it to you. Make you smell nice” (80). He dabs some behind her ear then kisses her neck. He kisses her, and Berniece kisses him back. Then she pulls away. They gaze at each other for a moment, and she goes upstairs. Lymon is pleased with his magic suit.

The following morning, Boy Willie enters and roughly wakes Lymon up, ignoring his protests. Boy Willie spent the night at Grace’s house, but her ex showed up, and that was when Boy Willie decided to leave. Lymon tells Boy Willie that Wining Boy saw Sutter’s ghost last night, but Boy Willie doesn’t believe it. He needs Lymon’s help because the man who buys instruments offered $1,100 for it. They need to load the piano onto the truck and bring it to him, and Boy Willie wants to get it done before Berniece gets home. They try to pick it up, but it won’t budge. Suddenly, there is the sound of Sutter’s ghost, but they don’t hear it. They struggle with the piano with no luck. Doaker enters and tells them not to touch the piano until Berniece gets home. Boy Willie argues that he can move his piano if he wants, but Doaker asserts that he can only take the half of the piano he owns. If he wants the whole thing, he needs to wait for Berniece. Finally, Boy Willie gives in, but he takes Lymon and exits to find some rope and a board with wheels to move the piano when he gets back.

Back from his errand, Boy Willie busies himself screwing wheels onto a wooden board. Doaker plays cards at the table. Maretha sits on the piano stool and listens as Boy Willie tells her about the men who burned in the boxcar and the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog. Maretha asks if people can see the Ghosts, but Boy Willie explains that they can’t be seen, only felt—like the wind. But if someone goes out there and calls their names, they supposedly talk back. Berniece comes in and beckons Maretha so she can do her hair. She tells Boy Willie to leave, but he ignores her. Maretha is scared to go up the stairs, but Boy Willie accompanies her, reassuring her that he’ll protect her. Berniece questions Doaker as to what Willie is trying to do, and Doaker tells her that he and Lymon are trying to take the piano. Berniece tells Doaker that she is finished with this, and if Boy Willie tries to take it, she will get Crawley’s gun. Maretha comes back down and informs her mother that they’re out of hair grease, so Berniece sends Maretha to the store.

Berniece again tells Boy Willie to get out. He retorts that he’s in Doaker’s house, not Berniece’s, so only Doaker can tell him to go. Doaker stays neutral and won’t do it. Boy Willie declares that he is taking the piano and doesn’t care what Berniece wants. Berniece exits to get her gun. Doaker tells Boy Willie to stop, but Boy Willie states that he isn’t afraid to die. Everyone dies. He once had a puppy that died suddenly, and he took it to church and prayed as hard as he could for the dog to live again. Nothing happened. He said to himself, “Well, ain’t nothing precious” (88). Boy Willie found a cat and killed it, and he “discovered the power of death.” He explains, “See, a n***** that ain’t afraid to die is the worse kind of n***** for the white man. He can’t hold that power over you” (88). Doaker mentions that Avery is supposed to be bringing his Bible and blessing the house. Maretha returns, and Berniece starts to do her hair, ignoring Boy Willie’s ranting about the Bible and then Avery.

Boy Willie comments that at least Avery has found a direction for himself, even if it’s being a preacher. Maretha cries out in pain as Berniece does her hair, and Berniece chastises her, complaining that if Maretha had been a boy, she wouldn’t have to deal with her hair. Boy Willie criticizes her parenting, insisting that saying that she wishes Maretha were a boy will hurt her feelings. Instead, she should tell Maretha about the piano. Berniece ought to be proud of what their father did when he took the piano back. Berniece snaps that when he has his own child, he can parent them however he wants. Boy Willie questions, “What I want to bring a child into this world for?” (91). He says that he has nothing to offer a child. He’s strong and capable and a hard worker, but he doesn’t own anything. That’s why he’s pushing so hard to get the money so he can finally own a piece of land, believing that it will make him equal with white men. Boy Willie asserts, “If you teach that girl that she living at the bottom of life, she’s gonna grow up and hate you,” and Berniece spits back, “I’m gonna teach her the truth. That’s just where she living. Only she ain’t got to stay there” (91).

Boy Willie states that he’s on the top, not the bottom, but Berniece retorts that he’s at the bottom with everyone else. Boy Willie admonishes her for thinking that way, claiming that their parents and Crawley didn’t live with that belief, and their parents would have beaten her for saying it. Doaker states that he’s just trying to survive in the best way possible without thinking about the top or bottom. Berniece accuses Boy Willie of just talking a lot and never doing anything. Boy Willie replies that all he wanted was an easy life, but that wasn’t the world he was born in. He says, “I was born to a time of fire” (93). He knows that the world doesn’t want him, but his heart pounds just as powerfully as everyone else’s, maybe even more so. The world expects him to humble himself as a Black man, but he wants to “mark [his] passing on the road” (93).

Avery shows up, carrying his Bible, to bless the house. Berniece tells Avery to ignore Boy Willie, who is pestering him and trying to get him to say that Berniece won’t go to Heaven if she only has a halfway faith in the Bible. Avery and Doaker talk about the loan Avery hopes to get for his church, and Avery says his congregation is growing. When he has his church, he hopes that Berniece will marry him. Berniece interjects that she hasn’t made any promises and is still thinking about it. Boy Willie rolls his eyes at the idea of blessing the house, claiming that Berniece just imagined the ghost. Doaker points out that there’s no harm in it either way. Avery comments that Maretha also saw Sutter’s ghost, and that he believes he has found the part of the Bible that he needs to exorcize the ghost. Lymon returns, having found rope, and Boy Willie greets him impatiently. Lymon explains that he saw Grace and bought her a drink, and she’s going to go to the movies with him. Boy Willie takes the rope and gets to work trying to move the piano. Again, Doaker tells him to stop, since Berniece hasn’t agreed, but Boy Willie doesn’t care.

Berniece enters with Crawley’s gun. Avery tries to mediate, but neither Berniece nor Boy Willie is interested in talking. Lymon pauses, realizing that Berniece hasn’t agreed to sell the piano. They all argue and refuse to listen to each other. Berniece tells Maretha to go to Doaker’s room, and she exits. Boy Willie and Lymon continue to struggle with the piano. Wining Boy enters, chattering drunkenly and oblivious to the scene he has walked in on. He wants a drink, but everyone tells him that he’s had enough and should lie down. But Wining Boy wants to have fun. He sits at the piano and plays a song he wrote “in memory of Cleotha” (100). After Wining Boy performs his song, Boy Willie tells him to get away from the piano. Wining Boy is determined to stop them from taking it, guarding it with his body. Someone knocks at the door. Doaker opens it and Grace enters, having tired of waiting for Lymon in the truck. Berniece tells Lymon to go and take her with him, but Lymon stays to help Boy Willie with the piano. This time, when they try to move it, all but Grace suddenly sense the presence of Sutter’s ghost.

Grace complains about Lymon making her wait. Then, abruptly, she senses the ghost and says, “Something ain’t right here. I knew I shouldn’t have come back up in this house,” and she exits (102). Lymon goes after her, promising to come back after he takes Grace home. Everyone feels Sutter again. Berniece urges Avery to bless the house. Doaker suggests that he focus on the piano. Avery agrees that the problems seem to be coming from the piano. He lights a candle and reads from the Bible, commanding Sutter and all evil to be cast out. He sprinkles the piano with water. Boy Willie mimics him, shouting at Sutter to get out of the house and flinging water all over. He builds to a feverish frenzy. There is the sound of Sutter’s ghost, and Boy Willie is unexpectedly tossed backward. Something chokes him and he fights against it, running upstairs and shouting at Sutter.

From upstairs, there is the sound of Boy Willie wrestling with the ghost. Avery helplessly tells Berniece that he can’t exorcize the ghost. Suddenly, Berniece understands what she needs to do. She goes to the piano and sits. Berniece starts to play and sing, repeating, “I want you to help me” and calling on Mama Berniece, Mama Esther, Papa Boy Charles, and Mama Ola by name (104). There is the sound of a train, and the sounds of wrestling upstairs start to fade. Boy Willie shouts for Sutter to come back. Berniece shifts the song to repeat “Thank you” (106). Everything calms. Boy Willie enters. He asks Wining Boy if he’s ready to catch the train to Mississippi. Boy Willie tells Berniece that if she and Maretha stop playing the piano, both he and Sutter’s ghost may return. Boy Willie exits, and Berniece says, “Thank you,” one last time (107).