Intro for The Piano Lesson essay

    In the book, The Piano Lesson, August Wilson portrays the theme that a person will do whatever it takes to fulfill their dreams, even if it means cheating their own family. The piano, in The Piano Lesson, symbolizes history. In the family’s history, people fight over the piano in order to achieve their dreams. In the present, people are fighting over the piano for the same reason. This conveys the theme that people will do whatever it takes to fulfill their dreams, even if it means cheating their family. Boy Willie is willing to take the piano, even though his sister, Berniece, doesn’t want him to. They both own half of it. Boy Willie wants to take the piano and sell it to buy land. That’s his dream. Berniece’s dream is to see Maretha grow up and play the piano. They both want the piano, and they are arguing over it. Both of them want it to fulfill a dream.