Curated set · answers marked
In The Piano Lesson, what motivates Boy Willie to sell the family piano?
ATo settle a gambling debt he owes to Sutter's family
BTo buy back the land in Mississippi that used to belong to the Sutter family✓
CTo relocate to Chicago and begin a new life in the North
DTo fund his sister Berniece's college education
Rationale
Boy Willie intends to sell the piano — which features carvings of their enslaved ancestors' faces and tells their story — to buy the land in Mississippi where his family was once enslaved. However, his sister Berniece opposes the sale, seeing the piano as a unique symbol of their family's heritage and sacrifices.
What does the carved piano in the Charles family home primarily represent in the play?
AThe family's hopes of achieving middle-class status through music education
BThe history and suffering of the Charles family's enslaved ancestors, whose likenesses are carved into it✓
CBoy Willie's wish to modernize the family home by selling it
DBerniece's commitment to preserving European musical traditions within African American culture
Rationale
The piano features carvings of the faces and figures of the Charles family's ancestors, created by their great-grandfather during his time as a slave. It stands as a powerful symbol of the family's painful past and their connection to African American heritage, highlighting the conflict between Boy Willie, who wants to sell it, and Berniece, who is determined to keep it.