August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson is a play that tells the story of an African-American family plagued by a problematic past. The play takes place in Pittsburgh in the 1930s, but the rich history of the courageous characters is made relevant by a particular piano that is the object of contention. One of the key roles is played by Charles Doaker, the leading family member and uncle of Bernice and Willie.
Doaker is a calm and wise man of age, who has worked on the railroad for a long time, almost all his life. The character is also the main narrator, from whom the reader learns the play. The author describes him as “He is a tall, thin man of about forty-seven, with stern features, who is permanently retired, although he works full-time as a cook on the railroad” (1.1.2). In this monologue, he says, “This is what I learned in my twenty-seven years on the railroad if a train stays on the tracks… it will get where it’s going. The train never stops. It will come back every time” (Wilson 19). The other characters treat Doaker with respect and deference, always listening to his opinions and listening to his stories, almost without interrupting. Speaking of the character in his youth, he was popular with women “I heard about you, Doaker. They say you got all the women looking out for your down-home” (32).
Doaker has two main goals, which he maintains throughout the play. Firstly, he is the storyteller introducing the rest of the characters to what his family has encountered. As he tells the story, Doaker walks over to the piano, focusing the attention on portraits, and explains, “See these? He carved them from memory. The only thing… he didn’t stop there… He found out everything that happened to our family” (Wilson 44). Secondly, his purpose is to prevent a dispute about the piano between Bernice and Boy Willie, who cannot disentangle whether to sell the musical instrument or drop it. After analyzing Doaker’s actions, the conclusion is that he tries to remain neutral on the matter, trying only to give enough information for the characters to make their own decision but for it to be a hoot. Doaker physically grabbed Bernice during her argument with Boy Willie and said: “Come on, Bernice… leave it alone, it’s not his fault” (Wilson 54). However, this is not the case for the entire play, but only part of it.
It should be noted that the character does not change throughout the novel, nor does his relationship with other characters. However, Doaker clarifies that he is on Bernice’s side and wants to keep the piano in the family. This is the only significant change, but otherwise, Doaker continues to function as a neutral narrator. He does not express his wishes about the future of the musical instrument, shifting that responsibility to Bernice and Boy Willie.
As for the character’s journey through the course of the play, Doaker remains the narrator, who at specific points adds essential information to the story, influencing the characters’ decisions and their relationship to the piano. This is because he has already lived a whole life, and he does not need to change his worldview or principles. He is more of an outside observer, following the story of the piano and waiting to see how the story of the musical instrument ends.
Doaker is thus a fundamental character for the play, which is to tell a complex and ambiguous story. The head of the family does not make any decisions and does not insist on anything, but he becomes a kind of mentor for the findings of the other characters, like Bernice and Boy Willie. The calmness and wisdom of the character, who has lived through life, allows us to treat him with warm feelings, as the reader realizes that no one knows the story, as well as Doaker, does. He is, therefore, a person who must be listened to so that he does not regret his decisions.
Work Cited
Wilson, A. (1990). The Piano Lesson. New York: Penguin Group.