August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson (1987) which plays in Pittsburgh in the kitchen and parlor of a railroad cook’s house in 1936 is the third drama of his cycle of an investigation of Black Americans’ lives in the U.S. after slavery.
Boy Willie travels with a friend to his uncle’s, a railroad cook’s, house where his sister Berniece lives, in order to sell their mutual heirloom, a piano bearing carved life scenes and faces of their ancestors, to buy the dead slave owner’s land for farming. Two of their ancestors once were sold as slaves for the price of this piano, and their father ultimately had been burned in a railroad car of the Yellow Dog for stealing the piano he conceived as family possession. The almost deadly argument between brother and sister ends in not selling the piano, after Boy Willie had to fight the ghost of the murdered slave owner, and Berniece saved his life by playing an exorcism song on the piano she had not dared to touch for years.
Wilson’s characters make gothic experiences at the famous railroad crossing at Moorhead, MS, where allegedly the ghosts of the Yellow Dog talk back to the seeker. Says Wining Boy, the musician: “The train passed and I started to go back up there and stand some more. But something told me not to do it. I walked away from there feeling like a king. Went on and had a stroke of luck that run on for three years.” (35) What do ancient African sacrificial rites have to do with American railroad lore? This review paper will focus on the importance of railroad music in The Piano Lesson, and the mystical veil covering the railroad crossing, “where the Southern crosses the Yellow Dog.”
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: The Spirit World, and Finding One’s Self
2. African Ritualism and the Yellow Dog Mystery: C.W. Handy’s Rag and Blues
3. Character Development, Music, and the Piano
Objectives and Topics
This paper investigates the intersection of African American history, railroad folklore, and mystical elements in August Wilson’s play The Piano Lesson, specifically focusing on how these elements contribute to the characters' development and search for identity.
- The role of railroad lore and the "Yellow Dog" myth in African American culture.
- Symbolism of the piano as an ancestral heirloom and a source of both burden and empowerment.
- The significance of music (blues, work songs, and spiritual exorcism) in the drama.
- How supernatural experiences, particularly ghost narratives, reflect historical trauma and the quest for justice.
- Character agency, specifically Boy Willie’s pursuit of land ownership versus Berniece’s preservation of heritage.
Excerpt from the Book
African Ritualism and the Yellow Dog Mystery: C.W. Handy’s Rag and Blues
The picture above shows the famous railroad crossing at Moorhead, Mississippi, in the “Sunflower District.” At this point, the “Southern,” which was the Southern Railway running North to South and beginning operations in 1894, crosses “The Dog,” or the “Yellow Dog,” a vernacular name for the Yazoo Delta Railroad running East to West. Thus, the sentence “where the Southern cross the Dog” can stem the earliest from 1894. “Dog” or “short-dog,” by the way, was railroad slang for a local or branch line. According to an anecdote by C. W. Handy, this railroad acquired the name though a black trackside worker who, when asked what the letters “Y.D.” on the tender of a locomotive meant, answered “Yaller Dawg, I guess.” The reason for this, however, remains mysterious: it can either have to do with strikers and protests, regarding the “yellow dog contracts,” or with an actual yellow dog running along the tracks and barking at the trains.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: The Spirit World, and Finding One’s Self: This chapter introduces the core thematic concern of identity formation through history and music, while outlining the spectral presence of slave owners in the drama.
2. African Ritualism and the Yellow Dog Mystery: C.W. Handy’s Rag and Blues: This section explores the historical and mythological significance of the railroad crossing in Moorhead, Mississippi, linking it to African American blues traditions and the "Yellow Dog" legend.
3. Character Development, Music, and the Piano: This chapter analyzes the central tension between Boy Willie and Berniece, discussing how the piano functions as a conduit for ancestral voices and a catalyst for personal and racial liberation.
Keywords
August Wilson, The Piano Lesson, Yellow Dog, Moorhead MS, Railroad Lore, African Ritualism, Identity, Slavery, Ancestry, Ghost Narrative, Blues Music, Boy Willie, Berniece, C.W. Handy, Gothic Mode
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research paper?
The paper examines how August Wilson utilizes railroad lore, mysticism, and African ancestral traditions to explore themes of identity, historical memory, and racial tension in his play The Piano Lesson.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
The central themes include the search for personal and ancestral self-definition, the trauma of slavery, the role of music as a vehicle for cultural expression, and the integration of the supernatural within realistic domestic settings.
What is the research paper’s primary objective?
The main goal is to analyze the "mystical veil" surrounding the railroad crossing known as where the Southern crosses the Yellow Dog and to show how this legend informs the characters' struggles for agency and peace.
Which scientific or analytical methodology is applied?
The author uses a literary analysis approach, drawing upon cultural, historical, and mythological contexts to interpret Wilson’s use of the "gothic mode" and the significance of slave narratives within the drama.
What topics are covered in the main body of the text?
The main body investigates the origins of the "Ghosts of the Yellow Dog" myth, the biographical and cultural inspirations behind the play, and the distinct character arcs of Boy Willie and Berniece.
Which keywords best describe the paper?
Key terms include August Wilson, The Piano Lesson, Yellow Dog, African Ritualism, Identity, Ancestry, Ghost Narrative, and Blues Music.
Why is the "Yellow Dog" railroad crossing significant to the plot?
It represents a sacred, haunted site in African American folklore where the spirits of murdered ancestors reside; for the characters, interacting with this site is a way to confront the past and reclaim their spiritual power.
How does the piano serve as a narrative device?
The piano is a dual symbol: it represents the burden of a traumatic history (as the family's "story" of enslavement) and a potential path to freedom through music and ancestral connection.
What is the author's interpretation of Boy Willie's character?
The author views Boy Willie as an enterprising, visionary "builder" who, despite his pragmatic focus on land ownership and his initial skepticism of ghosts, ultimately reconnects with his heritage through the supernatural conflict at the end of the play.
- Quote paper
- Dr. Christina Lyons (Author), 2006, Railroad Lore and Mysticism in August Wilson’s "The Piano Lesson", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1132805
