The Piano Lesson

Boy Willie and Lymon arrive from Mississippi before dawn, waking the household. Boy Willie reveals his plan to sell the piano. Doaker explains the family's railroad life and the household dynamic. The first signs of Sutter's ghost appear.

Doaker tells the full history of the Charles family piano — the original sale, Bowing Willie's carvings, the theft, the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog. Wining Boy arrives. The family's relationship to the past and to music is deepened.

Boy Willie and Berniece have their first direct confrontation over the piano. Berniece refuses to let it be sold. Boy Willie challenges her refusal to play it. Lymon pursues his own ambitions in the North. The ghost intensifies.

Avery attempts a Christian exorcism that fails. Wining Boy plays the piano and sings. Boy Willie continues pressing Berniece to sell. The ghost's violence escalates. Lymon and Berniece share a quiet, unexpected moment of connection.

Boy Willie prepares to physically move the piano. He and Berniece reach the edge of violence. The family argument becomes a struggle over the piano's body. Sutter's ghost attacks Boy Willie directly, and the confrontation can no longer be deferred.

Berniece sits at the piano and plays. She calls the ancestors by name. The music drives out Sutter's ghost. Boy Willie leaves for Mississippi. The piano stays. The resolution is not victory but a reckoning.