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Wining Boy
Sutter owned the land in Marlin County, Mississippi, that previous generations of Boy Willie’s family worked while enslaved by the Sutters. Sutter was a large man, about 340 pounds. Before the beginning of the play, he was killed when he fell into his well. Though it’s rumored that the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog are responsible for this, the facts surrounding the incident are never made perfectly clear. Sutter’s Ghost haunts the members of the Charles family throughout the play, especially in connection with the piano his ancestors acquired by trading enslaved members of the Charles family a couple generations ago, and engages in a deadly invisible wrestling match with Boy Willie at the end. It ultimately transpires that Sutter’s Ghost can only be expelled when Berniece squarely faces the pain of the family’s history, which she does by playing the piano and summoning the spirits of her own ancestors.
Sutter (Sutter’s Ghost) Quotes in The Piano Lesson
The The Piano Lesson quotes below are all either spoken by Sutter (Sutter’s Ghost) or refer to Sutter (Sutter’s Ghost). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1, Scene 1 Quotes
BOY WILLIE: Sutter’s brother selling the land. He say he gonna sell it to me. That’s why I come up here. I got one part of it. Sell them watermelons and get me another part. Get Berniece to sell that piano and I’ll have the third part.
DOAKER: Berniece ain’t gonna sell that piano.
BOY WILLIE: I’m gonna talk to her. When she see I got a chance to get Sutter’s land she’ll come around.
DOAKER: You can put that thought out your mind. Berniece ain’t gonna sell that piano.
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This quote introduces Boy Willie’s plan to make a new life for himself as well as the significance of the piano as a pivotal symbol in the play. The background of Boy Willie’s plan is that the Sutter family owned members of the Charles family as slaves couple of generations ago. During this time, Robert Sutter traded Doaker’s enslaved grandmother and father in exchange for the piano for his wife, Ophelia. Eventually, Boy Charles stole the piano—and now it serves as a symbol of the Charles family’s past traumas. In the present, the latest Sutter patriarch has died, and Boy Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignis
That’s why I come up here. Sell them watermelons. Get Berniece to sell that piano. Put them two parts with the part I done saved. Walk in there. Tip my hat. Lay my money down on the table. Get my deed and walk on out. This time I get to keep all the cotton. Hire me some men to work it for me. Gin my cotton. Get my seed. And I’ll see you again next year. Might even plant some tobacco or some oats.
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In this quote, Boy Willie sums up his plan to buy the Sutter land. The cheerfulness of Boy Willie’s explanation shows how straightforward and optimistic his plan is—he doesn’t anticipate any obstacles to realizing his dream of self-improvement. As Boy Willie notes, this time the fruits of the land will belong to him—in contrast to his family’s history of working the same land as slaves. The songlike cadence emphasizes Boy Willie’s lighthearted tone, and in fact some of the words—“gin my cotton / get my seed”—are probably a reference to the song “Illinois Blues” by Skip James, an early 20th-century Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis c
Act 1, Scene 2 Quotes
Boy Charles used to talk about that piano all the time. He never could get it off his mind. […] He be talking about taking it out of Sutter’s house. Say it was the story of our whole family and as long as Sutter had it…he had us. Say we was still in slavery. Me and Wining Boy tried to talk him out of it but it wouldn’t do any good. Soon as he quiet down about it he’d start up again. We seen where he wasn’t gonna get it off his mind…so, on the Fourth of July, 1911…when Sutter was at the picnic what the county give every year…me and Wining Boy went on down there with him and took that piano out of Sutter’s house.
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In this quote, Doaker is telling the story of the Sutter piano and how it came into the Charles family. His brother, Boy Charles (Berniece’s and Boy Willie’s father), was obsessed with the piano and the family history preserved in its carvings. Because the Sutters initially purchased the piano by trading enslaved members of the Charles family, the piano’s continued presence in the Sutter home symbolizes a kind of perpetual ownership of the Charles family, even though they’re now legally free. That’s why the brothers decided to reclaim the piano for themselves—it was an act of reclaiming their family story Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde
Act 2, Scene 5 Quotes
AVERY: Berniece, I can’t do it.
(There are more sounds heard from upstairs. DOAKER and WINING BOY stare at one another in stunned disbelief. It is in this moment, from somewhere old, that BERNIECE realizes what she must do. She crosses to the piano. She begins to play. The song is found piece by piece. It is an old urge to song that is both a commandment and a plea. With each repetition it gains in strength. It is intended as an exorcism and a dressing for battle[.])
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At the end of the play, Boy Willie gets locked in a life-or-death wrestling match with the invisible spirit of Sutter. This climactic scene—mostly portrayed here through stage directions—especially touches on the play’s themes of the supernatural and the enduring pull of history. Berniece had initially tried to delegate the exorcism of Sutter’s ghost to her boyfriend, Avery, but now she discovers that Sutter can only be expelled by his oppressors. This is not so much a comment on Avery’s weakness as on Berniece’s strength; she finally acknowledges her spiritual power and decisively exercises self-sufficiency in this area of life. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupt
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Sutter (Sutter’s Ghost) Character Timeline in The Piano Lesson
The timeline below shows where the character Sutter (Sutter’s Ghost) appears in The Piano Lesson. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1
...Willie ignores her scolding and tells Doaker to get him and Lymon a drink—they’re celebrating. Sutter drowned in his well, he explains—everyone says “the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog” got him....
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...to Mississippi with Boy Willie. Boy Willie explains that he plans to purchase the land Sutter’s brother is selling. He has part of the money saved up already; he’ll get another...
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The conversation shifts back to Sutter’s land: according to Boy Willie, Sutter’s brother from Chicago is eager to sell the remaining...
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...He calls down that nobody is there. Catching her breath, Berniece says that she saw Sutter standing at the top of the stairs. Boy Willie says that she’s imagining this, but...
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Boy Willie argues that this is ridiculous. He and Lymon weren’t anywhere near Sutter when Sutter died; he thinks the “Ghosts of the Yellow Dog” got Sutter. Lymon agrees....
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...too optimistic about Pittsburgh. Boy Willie, on the other hand, wants to farm all of Sutter’s land. Doaker reenters to make breakfast. He remarks that he believes what Berniece said—she’s never...
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Act 1, Scene 2
...in the truck to guard the watermelons. Boy Willie starts talking with Wining Boy about Sutter and the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog. Boy Willie says the Ghosts have gotten around...
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...to give it up. It dates back to slavery, when the family was owned by Sutter’s grandfather. The piano was originally owned by a man named Joel Nolander in Georgia. One...
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...impossible to trade the piano back for the slaves, Ophelia began pining away. Then, Robert Sutter summoned Doaker’s grandfather Papa Boy Willie, a talented woodworker, and made him carve his wife’s...
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Doaker doesn’t know exactly what happened after Sutter got home. Soon after, Boy Charles’s house was set on fire. But by that time,...
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...to help him attempt to move the piano. While this is going on, Doaker hears Sutter’s ghost. The ghost is heard again as they’re sliding the piano back in place—everyone hears...
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Act 2, Scene 1
...upstairs anymore. Doaker tells Wining Boy that although he hasn’t told Berniece this, he saw Sutter’s ghost before she did, sitting at the piano with his hand resting on his head,...
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Doaker says that he thinks Berniece is wrong about Boy Willie pushing Sutter in the well. Rather, he thinks that Sutter is haunting them because of the piano—he...
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Act 2, Scene 2
...established. Right now, she has too much going on. She tells him about Maretha seeing Sutter’s ghost and asks him if he might be able to bless the house. Avery is...
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Act 2, Scene 4
...get it loaded onto the truck. As they each take a side of the piano, Sutter’s ghost is heard offstage. The piano won’t budge.
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Act 2, Scene 5
Berniece gets home and sends Maretha upstairs. Since Maretha’s still scared of Sutter’s Ghost, Boy Willie goes with her. Berniece asks Doaker what’s been going on, and he...
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...Lymon and Boy Willie get ready to move the piano, everyone senses the presence of Sutter’s ghost. Grace leaves, uneasy, and Lymon runs out after her. Berniece tells Avery to go...
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...stairs, but he runs back up. Avery admits to Berniece that he’s powerless to expel Sutter’s ghost. After a few stunned moments, Berniece abruptly realizes what she has to do: she...
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...tells Berniece that if she and Maretha don’t keep playing that piano, maybe he and Sutter’s ghost will both come back. He leaves. The play ends with Berniece voicing a final,...
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