August Wilson's The Piano Lesson details a family struggle between brother and sister of their prized family legacy. Wilson creates vividly dynamic and diverse characters, each with their own identity and standards, as he creates a dynamic culture and lifestyle of the family and their history. As in The Janitor, Wilson pays special attention to dialect while writing dialogue, emphasizing their manner of speech and distinct language.
To further emphasize a dynamic black history, Wilson incorporates music and song as if a source of documentation and time line for the family. Wilson's characters mention the boogie-woogie on the piano, traditional slave songs, the blues, and traveling songs. The piano itself represents the trading of human beings for material possessions as well as the family's genealogy. It is the source of conflict between Boy Willie and Berniece, and it becomes Berniece's altar as she resurrects her relationship with the ancient piano while pleading for help from her ancestors.
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