A Study Of The Ghosts In The Piano Lesson

August Wilson (1945-2005) is regarded as one of the most successful blackplaywrights and a black culture fighter to the greatest extent in the history ofAmerican theatre. He has won the Pulitzer Prize twice and many other literary awards.He is generally considered to be the fourth most important playwright after EugeneO’Neill, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller in American theatrical circle.Although his mother is a black woman, he is proud of his black identity. He isconcerned about the experiences of African Americans in the United States andpresents them into his dramas. While probing into the psychology and culture of thoseat the bottom of the society, he makes every effort to translate his concern into hisworks, exposing their living dilemma on the stage. He likes the African tradition andculture most, and makes them permeate throughout his works, since he maintains thatthis is an effective way for the African Americans to resist the racial injustice anddiscrimination, and keep their cultural identity in America with the white culture asthe mainstream culture.The Piano Lesson, written in1988, one of the representative works of AugustWilson, explores a series of historic ironies as a black brother and sister argue overthe legacy of a family piano, and African Americans’ different attitudes towards theirown history and culture. It won Wilson the second Pulitzer Prize in1990.August Wilson and his works, including The Piano Lesson, have been studied inrecent years. The studies of The Piano Lesson are from the aspects of traumaticrereading, the importance of Blues, the African American culture, the attitude towardshistory and cultural legacy, the pursuit of identity, and the double consciousness. Theghosts in the drama are preeminent, however, they are seldom studied.The thesis explores the three kinds of ghosts in the drama, namely, the Sutter’s ghost, the ghosts of the Yellow Dog Train and Boy Willie’s ancestral ghosts, to findout Wilson’s real intention by inserting supernatural elements into his works: thepreservation of African culture and history is the best explanation for their identity inthe mainstream white culture. At the same time, the comparatively new reading of thedrama The Piano Lesson from the perspective of the ghosts brings a new light to themankind of understanding and recognizing the cultural differences between differentnations, and of handling the relationship between minority culture and dominantculture in a right way.The thesis is divided into six parts: Introduction, four chapters and Conclusion.The part of Introduction briefly discusses the life experiences of August Wilson,the researches on his play The Piano Lesson home and abroad from different anglesand the goal and significance of the thesis.Chapter One analyzes Sutter’s ghost which is the symbol of the persistence ofthe white culture over the black culture. The older sister Berniece’s frequent sense ofSutter’s ghost and her keeping the history of the piano from her daughter reflect thedeep impact of the white culture on her. The younger brother Boy Willie is insistent inselling the family piano to buy Sutter’s land. However, Sutter’s ghost is in strongopposition to his purchase of the land which once belonged to the whites. It is also avivid illustration of the hegemony of the white culture.Chapter Two focuses on connotations of the ghosts of the Yellow Dog Train,showing the dilemma of the black culture in the dominant white culture. The blackancestors who once took the Yellow Dog Train were burned to death by the whitejackals, and became the helpless ghosts wandering in the white society. They are therepresentations of the black history and culture. Their death indicates the disharmonyof the blacks with the whites. Their wandering ghosts cannot settle down because thewhite culture suppresses the black culture so that it cannot flourish, showing their sense of non-belonging. Living in the shadow of racial discrimination and injustice,the blacks have no access to happiness.Chapter Three analyzes the ancestral ghosts of Boy Willie. They stand for thehistory of the black culture. The blood and tears shed by Mama Ola on the piano are abridge between the living and the dead, passing the ancestral spirit to the blackoffspring. The ownership of the piano is the only way to re-master their destiny. Thecarvings on the piano are an alarm that the African Americans must not forget theirown culture and ancestral spirit. Otherwise, they will become the “silent”“invisiblemen” in the white society.Chapter Four expounds on the meaningfulness of the black ancestral ghostsrepresented by Boy Willie’s ancestors, that is, the maintenance and transmission ofthe black culture. The older sister Berniece’s recognition of and younger brother BoyWillie’s return to the black culture are a clear indication that they have realized thesignificance of black history and culture which are the pillar of the black community.Only the understanding, appreciation and inheritance of the black culture can aid theAfrican Americans in grasping their roots and living their lives.The last part concludes the different implications of the three kinds of ghosts,and points out that the appreciation and respect of the black culture and history is theonly way for the African Americans who live in the dominant white culture of theUnited States to sense their existence and their value of living.