The Blues In The Piano Lesson

Before America even bore its name and declared its independence, African Americans faced the dire task of resisting the urge to conform to the American standard of Eurocentric supremacy. If African Americans proceed to replicate the white standards their true identity will be lost due to the mixed cultures. Unfortunately, African Americans have been plagued with slavery, which ended only to take on new forms in their minds through white expectations and the fallacious stereotypes manifested by minstrelsy. In The Piano Lesson, many characters, such as Berniece, are haunted by their past trauma in the form of a ghost. On the contrary, Boy Willie is tempted by the allures of fulfilling his dreams which have become tainted by the white culture
The blues were consequentially “about heartbreak, loneliness, sadness, and the trials and troubles of daily life” (“History and Influence”). The genre of blues was essential in helping African Americans cope with their disadvantaged lives. Wining Boy illustrates the significance of the blues coping mechanism with the loss of his most cherished woman, Cleotha. A major aspect of the play involves strife in all its forms. The constant strife between Berneice and Boy Willie, concerning the fate of their family piano, left most scenes wrought with tension. The overall tensions of the reiterated arguements reached a tipping point when Boy Willie physically tries to remove the piano. Berneice begins threatening to shoot Boy Willie making for the most tensely filled scene of the play. The tempers are dissolved when Wining Boy interruptingly plays the blues instigated by the death of Cleotha. As a result, Wining Boy’s mood provoked playing of the blues helped ease his troubles concerning heartbreak while inadvertently defusing the tensions that could have easily led to certain heartbreak amongst the family. The random instance of Wining Boy’s music is a characteristic of the blues because it is usually inspired by current feelings. Such as in Wining Boy’s case, music, especially blues, defused tense moments that littered the play. By Wilson alleviating stressful scenes with music, he is essentially illustrating how music played a role in the progression of African American history through preserving the bonds between them. The coping affect of blues helped keep the unity between African Americans whose stressful lives created just the right environment for disunity. As Wining Boy plays his unique presentation of blues, brewing violence is laid to rest.