WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Piano Lesson.
Netflix’s new historical drama The piano lesson makes references to the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog and reveals Sutter’s ghost. Directed by Malcolm Washington, The piano lesson is a film adaptation of the play of the same name written by August Wilsonwho also wrote the original play that inspired the Oscar-winning film Fences. The piano lesson The cast is led by John David Washington (Principle, The Creator),Samuel L. Jackson (pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight), Danielle Deadwyler (The more they fall, Eleven Station) and Ray Fisher (True Detective, Justice League).
Although the film and play are deeply rooted in American history, The piano lesson It is not based on a true story or true people. The piano lesson It received strong reviews, earning an impressive Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 90%. The piano lesson marks the feature film directorial debut of Malcolm Washington, the youngest son of Denzel Washington who directs his older brother, John David Washington, in the film. At the end of The piano lesson, Washington’s Boy Willie and Deadwyler’s Berniece are forced to face the ghosts of their family’s past in the form of a slave owner named Sutter.
Boy Willie blames mythical ghosts for the deaths of people who fall into wells
The Yellow Dog Ghosts are the spirits of murdered slaves
Boy Willie references the Yellow Dog Ghosts as the mythical figures he claims were responsible for the deaths of several slave owners who fell into wells. Sutter, a slave owner who previously owned the family piano in the Doaker home, died this way after apparently falling down a well with no one around. Boy Willie, who is known for causing and seeking trouble to survive, explains to Berniece’s daughter, his niece, Maretha, that the Yellow Dog Ghosts are responsible for all of these eerily similar deaths. Maretha thinks her uncle is just telling scary ghost stories, while Boy Willie seems to know more than he’s letting on.
As Boy Willie says in The piano lessonThe Yellow Dog Ghosts are the collective name for the spirits of several enslaved black men who were murdered by Sutter. The Yellow Dog Ghosts are said to have been responsible for the deaths of several slave owners who fell into wells like Sutter. The former slaves died near a railway line called “Cão Amarelo”, hence the mythical name of the group. In the context of the major themes of The piano lesson, the Yellow Dog Ghosts represent the collective ancestral spirits of enslaved men and women who were unjustly brutalized and killed.
Who is Sutter’s ghost and why does he haunt Doaker’s house and family
Sutter seeks revenge for piano Boy Charles stole
The Yellow Dog Ghosts are not the only ghostly figures in The piano lesson. Sutter’s ghost returns and even physically manifests itself in the Doaker house, seeking revenge on Boy Willie and his family for stealing his piano years earlier. Boy Willie and Bernice’s father, Boy Charles, was captured and burned to death by Sutter and his associates after they discovered he had stolen the piano. That would Boy Charles, one of the ghosts of the yellow dog that Boy Willie talks about. Although the film treats Sutter’s ghostly characterization as a physical presence, there must be some other explanation for how Sutter and other slave owners died.
It’s entirely possible that Sutter is looking for more revenge than just the piano. He only starts haunting the Doaker house and scaring Berniece and Maretha after Boy Willie shows up, suggesting that Boy Willie may have had a more direct role in Sutter’s death than he lets on. If Boy Willie killed Sutter, he wisely kept that information to himself, even his family. In a figurative sense, the combined spirit of the Yellow Dog Ghosts could be coursing through Boy Williand, who has more than enough reasons to want Sutter dead and plenty of ambition to see it through to the end.
Did Boy Willie kill Sutter by pushing him into a well?
Bernice thinks so, but she can’t know for sure
Berniece thinks Boy Willie killed Sutter based on his checkered history. Boy Willie knows all about how Sutter died after falling down a well, but claims he had nothing to do with it, despite a plausible motive. Berniece thinks Boy Willie did it, but there is no hard evidence to support her suspicions. in the film and Boy Willie never confesses this. It is established in the film and play that Boy Willie is willing to break the law to survive, fueled by righteousness over the historical mistreatment of black people in America. It wouldn’t be surprising if Boy Willie killed Sutter in The piano lesson but he is protected from his ghost through his ancient strength at the end of the film.
he did, but it was ambiguous