The Piano Lesson, a play, is set in Pittsburgh in 1936, and shows a glimpse into the lives of the Charles family, particularly siblings Boy Willie and Berniece. The two have inherited an antique piano onto which their great-great-grandfather, a slave, carved stories of his life. Berniece wants to keep the piano, while Boy Willie wants to sell it so that he can use the money to buy the land where their ancestors toiled. The two's disagreement paints a poignant picture about the importance of a painful legacy.
Many times the daily oppression of African Americans back in slavery times made being their own persons extremely hard to do Many times families were seriously affected by the mental physical and emotional abuse inflicted by their slave masters thus causing rifts between family members This is evident in both Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun and August Wilsons The Piano Lesson Both authors tackle the issue of identity and family ties in their plays Both families in the two plays are forc
In Amy Tans story Two Kinds is a battle between two generations one being a Chinese American girl named Jing Mei and her mother a Chinese immigrant pursuing the American dream for her daughter Jing Mei is very much an American conditioned teenager and her mother is very much a Chinese born mother with her beliefs in child rearing extreme and absolute One key thing to remember in the story is Jing Mei is the child in the story while she can rebel she is dependent on her mother She is a restless
Paul and Kellers initial encounter in Darwin is able to highlight their dissimilarities and vastly opposing characteristics as Paul is totally unreceptive of Kellers personality and teaching methods As they are able to learn more about one another aspects of their life are made evidently similar Mutual missed chances and blind actions resulting from youthful arrogance show Keller and Paul to be quite similar The powerful human emotion of regret shared by both characters becomes increasingly pro