American Literature--The Piano Lesson: Character Study of Avery and Lymon (by Vesna Ilievska)

*
*

Avery
Avery is an acquaintance of Boy Willie and Lymon from the South, and considers himself to be Bernice’s boyfriend. He’s in his late thirties and has become a preacher. Like most of the characters in the play, he is also fighting for his dream, and that’s starting his own church and being able to hold congregations there. In addition to his Avery’s passion to preach, he also works as an elevator boy, which in a way nicely depicts how well he has adapted to city life, in comparison to working the fields in the South. Avery holding a menial job and doing a totally different kind of work in his community is also something that can be frequently encountered among the people from the African-American community during that period. Nevertheless, as a preacher Avery gets the chance to climb up the social ladder and earn respect far more quickly than being an elevator boy and that position is seems to match Avery’s almost silly religiousness perfectly.

All of this makes Avery look like a good and strong man, but perhaps a little bit unimaginative and plodding, as we see in his relationship with Bernice. When it comes to her, Avery’s extremely respectful, gentle and thoughtful which almost seems to be counterproductive because Bernice continues rejecting his marriage proposals.

He is extremely persistent as well, because as a preacher he is in good social standing to be able to marry any woman he wants, but instead he keep trying to convince Bernice to be his wife which seems almost futile. Finally, I see Avery as the character that has the most indirect approach to things. Boy Willie is ready to load the piano on his truck and Bernice is ready to shoot Boy Willie to keep the piano in the house, but Avery stops to ask Bernice whether there’s “any woman left in her”, instead of actually kissing her and discovering the woman in Bernice.

Lymon
Lymon is Boy Willie’s good friend from the South that has accompanied him to the North, to Pittsburgh, because he wants to make a chance in his life. He’s in his late twenties and seems to be an easygoing man. Like the others, he’s trying to make a future for himself and is looking forward to a new beginning in a new place. There are two main reasons why he chooses the North over the South, one reason being the fact that he is being prosecuted in the South and the other being his beliefs that the law will always be changed to suit white folks, thus he believes he will never be treated equally and make a living like the others. Here, we also discover Lymon’s struggle to be self-sufficient and independent because he would rather stay in prison than have someone pay his debt and go back to serving someone again.

Lymon seems to be rather spontaneous and direct compared to some of other characters, which we see in his attitude towards him moving to the city. Instead of planning his future a touch more, he seems to be more willing to go with the flow and enjoy the nightlife and the women of Pittsburgh rather than find a place to live, a good job and settle down. We do not see a lot of Lymon’s personality because he is after all a stranger to the family and tries not to get between Boy Willie and Bernice. When compared to Boy Willie, Lymon seems to lack Boy Willie’s explosiveness but often is more brilliant in his own way. This is probably what attracts Bernice towards Lymon. We see him as more laid back, yet caring and sensual. Though he is presented as a bit naïve at certain moments in the play, like when he agrees to buy Winning Boy’s coat because he believes the coat will bring him luck in his love life, it takes him only minutes to get to a point with Bernice which would have taken Avery months or even years. In the end, he and Boy Willie go their own ways and even if we do not have any information on what happens next with Lymon, we somehow feel he will succeed in whatever he puts his mind on.

___________________________________________________________

Note: The American Literature students and I were assigned to develop studies of two characters from the play.

These studies are essentially rough notes, developed to stimulate class discussion. If you quote or paraphrase from these original character studies for a scholarly paper, please cite this post as a source.

___________________________________________________________

Work Cited
Wilson, August. The Piano Lesson. Rpt. in Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction, 4th Ed. Eds. Pamela J. Annas and Robert C. Rosen. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2007. 809-879.
*

American Literature--The Piano Lesson: Character Study of Doaker and Grace (by Daniela Atanasova)

*
*


Doaker
Doaker has a discreet presence in the play The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson, and it would be easy to write him off as a somewhat straightforward and inconsequential character. However, a closer look would reveal that in the persona of Doaker, Wilson has actually created a fully developed character with a complexity all its own.

Doaker Charles is described as a forty-seven-year old man “with severe features” (809) who has been working for the railway for twenty-seven years. He has a house which he shares with his niece Berniece and her daughter Maretha and where all the drama of the play takes place. We find out that he has had a wife, Coreen, but they are now separated or divorced and she lives in New York City. There is certain mysteriousness around the story as well as around Doaker’s relation to women in general. According to Boy Willie, his nephew, Doaker used to be or is still very popular with women, and we cannot know to what extent what he says is true, but it is clear that at the time of the action in the play Doaker is well accustomed to living on his own and apparently has no thoughts of chasing women. In several scenes we see him cooking, ironing, etc. so it appears that he does most of the household work (additionally, he works as a cook) and the other characters seem to take that as natural. There is no question of a diminished masculinity here, the fact that Doaker works around the house, I would say, only adds to the dignity he enjoys in the eyes of others.

Again from Boy Willie we find out that Doaker is respected in the black community they all came from, probably because of his job in the railway. Doaker also takes great pride in his work and we can imagine how it must have been more of a big deal earlier, when he was younger and when black people rarely had steady jobs. Doaker has managed to win his independence, to move north and have his own house and reliable income, and that was a great achievement for a black person at the time, which immediately distinguished and separated him from the community as someone to look up to. He is the complete antipode to his brother Wining Boy and his insecure, gambling, adventurous, haphazard way of life. Doaker may be seen as the epitome of sobriety and moral firmness in the play, when compared to the other male characters, although he was not always an angel. For instance, he took part in the family theft of the renowned piano which is the centre of conflict in the play, but perhaps he did that driven by the sense of family loyalty, the same sense, or generosity, which motivated him to admit under his roof Berniece and Maretha for whom he cares and provides support.

Doaker has a very realistic view on life and the people around him; sometimes he even exhibits an ironic trait, like for example when he talks about Avery’s epiphany (827) or when he denigrates Wining Boy for visiting them only when he is broke. However, in the end he still supports Avery in setting up his church and lets him bless the house to drive away Sutter’s ghost, and still gives money to Wining Boy, which shows that he has a warm heart and understands people, their flaws and their dreams. The speech he makes about the railroad on page 820 reveals a contemplative side of Doaker. He knows that people travel in search for a better life; however, to him this only means that they are trying to run away from their existing lives and problems…and what they come up against most of the time are disappointments. Therefore, in his view it is better to stay in one place and play with what you have and try to make the best of it. That is exactly what he is doing and hence he is the centre of stability in the play.

In the conflict between Berniece and Boy Willie, Doaker plays the role of mediator. Although he tries to remain as disinterested and as impartial as possible, he is inevitably drawn in the arguments and sometimes forced to take a side. He never refutes the legitimacy of the claim both Berniece and Boy Willie lay on the piano, but sometimes it seems like he supports Berniece more. However, at one point he states his opinion clearly that Berniece should let go of the past, sell the piano and marry Avery. Nevertheless, he remains respectful of her wishes until the end and even exerts his authority to stop Boy Willie and Lymon from taking the piano out of the house.

Finally, Doaker is an altogether positive character, a caring person that in a way provides shelter and support for all the other members of his family circle. He tells the history of the family to Lymon, his is the house everybody comes back to, he is the one they can always rely on in times of distress to fill them with a sense of belonging and create a consciousness that they at least have a secure base they can start from and build upon.

Grace
Lymon most succinctly describes the type of women Grace represents: “Mostly they be lonely and looking for somebody to spend the night with them. Sometimes it matters who is it and sometimes it don’t” (857). Although she is a minor character that appears in the play only on two occasions, she is set to be a counterpart to Berniece. Contrary to Berniece’s independence, loftiness and reserve when it comes to men, Grace is one of those girls who go out in the bars in a constant search for some love and male companionship. When she meets Berniece the night when they come to Doaker’s house together with Boy Willie, she plays the dignified, and she probably does put on an attitude of a girl with morals and principles. This is doubtful though, since she spends one night with Boy Willie, goes out with Lymon the following day and we hear of a previous boyfriend she used to live with who still has a key to her apartment. However, I believe that she is a good and naïve girl at bottom who will probably find a husband in the end and get settled.

___________________________________________________________

Note: The American Literature students and I were assigned to develop studies of two characters from the play.

These studies are essentially rough notes, developed to stimulate class discussion. If you quote or paraphrase from these original character studies for a scholarly paper, please cite this post as a source.

___________________________________________________________

Work Cited
Wilson, August. The Piano Lesson. Rpt. in Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction, 4th Ed. Eds. Pamela J. Annas and Robert C. Rosen. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2007. 809-879.
*

American Literature--The Piano Lesson: Character Study of Boy Willie and Wining Boy (by Anita Manceva)

*
*


Boy Willie
Boy Willie, a rash and impulsive 30-year-old man, comes to Pittsburgh with a truck loaded with watermelons only with one goal – to sell them and to sell the family piano which has a great meaning for the all members of his family.

Boy Willie is the character who introduces the conflict in the play. His intention to sell the family piano brings him into a quarrel with his sister, Berniece, who is strongly opposed to selling the piano. However, his strong will and obstinate nature does not allow him to step back despite his sister’s disapproval, which leads him in fierce quarrels with Berniece every time they meet. Furthermore, taking into consideration his reluctance to listening Bernice’s arguments when they quarrel, his selfish and inflexible nature comes to light. Every time Bernice determinedly says she does not want him to sell the piano he does not even listen or ask her why she does not want the piano to be sold but goes on listing his own arguments and needs (he needs money to buy Sutter’s land on which his ancestors worked as slaves).

Willie is especially zealous about questions of race. He does not acknowledge any difference between himself and white men. His goal in life is to leave a mark of his existence in the ‘white’ society. He follows and acknowledges only the laws that he thinks are just, in the same way he obstinately pursues his intention to sell the piano because he thinks the selling of the piano will serve for a higher purpose.

Boy Willie is a practical man, with practical beliefs, believing that the past should be used for creating a new and better future. He believes that with buying Sutter’s land he will do better in his life than his father did. His buying the land is even more important because that is the land his ancestors worked on as slaves and now he will be the owner of that land, which would be a huge improvement.

Boy Willie is a man with strong beliefs and his own outlook of life. He is the embodiment of the rebellion against the stale conventions of a transient society where “the black” is still seen as obtrusive. Although many readers may take the side of Berniece who tries to preserve the historical legacy of the family (thus refusing to let go the past and face the future), Boy Willie is a man whose practical ambition will inevitably bring progress to all the members of the family, and even wider world: the whole African-American community.

Wining Boy


Wining Boy appears in Act 1 Scene 2 and Wilson depicts him tremendously:

Wining Boy is fifty-six years old. Doaker’s older brother, he tries to present the image of a successful musician and gambler, but his music, his clothes, and even his manner of presentation are old. He is a man who looking back over his life continues to live it with an odd mixture of zest and sorrow (826).

Wining Boy, a tragicomic figure in the play, is just as Wilson delineated: an amalgamation of joyful appearance and latent sorrow. He is lonely (which is most obvious when he talks about his deceased wife Cleotha) and tries to fill the emptiness by gambling and drinking. His soft side comes to light when he talks about his dead wife, enabling us to see Wining Boy not only as a comic figure in the play, but as a man capable of feeling deep emotions.

He tries to leave an impression of successful musician, although his hoarse voice betrays his “success.” He being gifted as a musician, i.e. capable of playing the piano, emphasizes even more the strong connections the family has with the piano (also, Bernice knows how to play the piano and she teaches Maretha; thus Wilson depicts the complex connection of the family lineage with the piano, the whole being symbol of the family generations, Wining Boy representing the past, Berniece the present and Maretha the future).

In addition, he is very persuasive, persuading easily Doaker to give him $5 and persuading Lymon to buy “the magical suit”. He is so good at this that even the reader is puzzled whether he really believes in the things he says. Furthermore, he claims he had talked to the Ghosts of Yellow Dog, which creates even more to the confusion; also this faintly points out his mentally distorted perspective of perceiving things.

Wining Boy is not playing a major role in the play, he is a marginal character; however, Wilson brilliantly manages to depict him as an old shallow fool at first glance, but as the play goes on Wining Boy is more and more humanized and made a more complex character, which perfectly adds to the powerful theme of the play.

___________________________________________________________

Note: The American Literature students and I were assigned to develop studies of two characters from the play.

These studies are essentially rough notes, developed to stimulate class discussion. If you quote or paraphrase from these original character studies for a scholarly paper, please cite this post as a source.

___________________________________________________________

Work Cited
Wilson, August. The Piano Lesson. Rpt. in Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction, 4th Ed. Eds. Pamela J. Annas and Robert C. Rosen. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2007. 809-879.
*

American Literature--The Piano Lesson: Comparison and Contrast of Lymon and Avery (by Kosta Bojcheski)

*
*


If we analyze August Wilson's play The Piano Lesson we would come to a conclusion that every character in it is a world of its own. Every character is a separate mixture of feelings and interpretations of the world around them. One could say that a character study of The Piano Lesson would also give a pretty colorful picture of the African American community in the first decades of the 20th century. The two extremes of this culture are presented in this play by the characters of Lymon, 29, and Avery, 38.

If we compare these two characters, we come to a conclusion that they are quite different and apart in society. However, one thing that binds them together is their goal--to prosper and survive in a society which is thought of as “generally white.” They try to accomplish this in different ways.



Lymon is a young man who--determined to leave the cruel treatment of the South--decides to move to Pittsburgh. From his first appearance in the play, he is presented as a quiet man who does not speak unless it is absolutely necessary. He owes some money to a man from the South, but he would not work for a white man. His dream is to move to the North, meet a nice woman (or a few) and make it on his own.

On the other hand, we have Avery, who moved to Pittsburgh some time before Lymon, and is trying to make a living out of serving the “white man.” He is running an elevator in a sky scraper, and, as Wilson puts it--he “has taken to the city like a fish to water” (826). This distinction between Lymon and Avery is important for understanding the two basic currents in African American culture, something which can be traced back as far as slavery time--the need to conform or, the opposite--to become an individual.

Avery becomes a preacher after-- as he says--“the dream about the three hobos” (824), which we might understand as trying to find an escape from the oppressed position of black people in society, whereas Lymon buys a truck and decides those who persecute him.

Another thing that puts these two characters together is the central female figure in the play. Berniece is a young widow who is raising an eleven-year old daughter. Avery is trying to convince her to marry him. This is definitely not attractive to Berniece because she can see that he is only interested in his social status--a married preacher is better than a single preacher. However, he is in love with her and is trying to take care of her and her child.

On the other hand, there is Lymon, whose quietness makes him mysterious, and his rebellious spirit makes him attractive. He [tries] to seduce Berniece, but is too busy thinking about all the women he can get in Pittsburgh for her to get him seriously.

So, although it would be reasonable to say that Avery is a better match for Berniece because he has a sober point of view and realistic ambitions and expectations from life, it would be unfair to say that he is ideal for her. From the play, we get an impression that Berniece is more attracted to Lymon than to Avery. But, [in a way], they both fail her. Lymon takes Grace out to see a movie and Avery does not have the courage to bless her house and get rid of Sutter’s ghost.

I would say that Lymon is a better match for Berniece, but her actions, as well as theirs, are strong proof that a woman like her can be independent and live on her own. So, in a modern world, Berniece would be better off alone, or at least in a search for a more suitable partner.

________________________________________________________________

Note: The American Literature students and I were assigned to develop studies of two characters from the play.

These studies are essentially rough notes, developed to stimulate class discussion. If you quote or paraphrase from these original character studies for a scholarly paper, please cite this post as a source.

________________________________________________________________


Work Cited
Wilson, August. The Piano Lesson. Rpt. in Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction, 4th Ed. Eds. Pamela J. Annas and Robert C. Rosen. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2007. 809-879.
*

American Literature--The Piano Lesson: Character Study Exercise

*
*
Lymon (Courtney B. Vance) in the "Berta, Berta" Scene in The Piano Lesson
___________________________________________________________________

Tasks 1, 2, 4 and, 5 will consist of developing character studies of two characters.

Task 3 will consist of comparing and contrasting two characters.

We will discuss these character studies in class (tentatively on December 7). I will then ask that you submit, via email, your studies, which I will post on the website (I'll let you know in class when this is due).

Task 1: A.M.

--Boy Willie, 30

--Wining Boy, 56

Task 2: V.I.

--Lymon, 29

--Avery, 38

Task 3: K.B.

Compare and contrast:

Lymon, 29, and Avery, 38.

In your opinion, which of these characters would be the best match for Berniece?

Task 4: D.A.

--Doaker, 47

--Grace, age not specified, probably slightly older than Boy Willie and Lymon

Task 5: Ms. Siegel

--Berniece, 35

--Maretha, 11

*