Pianoby William Saroyan
TextAnalysis
Saroyan,William (1908–1981) was a successful playwright. The eccentric, spirited authorwas born in Fresno, California, where his Armenian parents were fruit farmersand where he worked at odd jobs before gaining fame as a short‐storywriter. He came to playgoers' attention with My Heart's in the Highlandsbut became famous with his much lauded The Time of Your Life, which won the PulitzerPrize, although Saroyan noisily rejected it. His later works included Love'sOld Sweet Song (1940); The Beautiful People; Across the Board onTomorrow Morning and Talking to You; Hello, Out There; GetAway Old Man; and The Cave Dwellers. Wolcott Gibbs called the writer “the mostcompletely undisciplined talent in American letters,” and Brooks Atkinson, in apreface to Saroyan's published plays, noted, “When he writes out of generalrelish, usually in isolated scenes, [he] is at his best and made a definitecontribution to the mood of these times, [but] when he permits himself todiscuss ideas he can write some of the worst nonsense that ever clattered outof a typewriter.”
Asin most of his stories, William Saroyan presents, in Piano, a casualepisode of the common life. The narrative, descriptive and dialogical sequencesform together a perfect technique of rendering the content in a captivatingway. The work of non-fiction is characterized by the presence of a covertnarrator, who keeps to a more or less neutral voice and a fixed focalization.Thus, the third-person narrative creates the impression of objectivity in anattempt of seeming more trustworthy for the readers. saroyan piano documentary life
Themain narrative code employed is the documentary one, which reproduces a true-tolife situation, involving the reader in a vital issue. Thus, by reading thestory, one is a spectator of Ben and Emma’s walk and conversations, the youngman’s short performance in a shop, and their genuine regret of the fact that hecannot buy a piano, despite his natural talent of playing. The simplicity ofthe plot centers the reader’s attention to the main themes explored by theauthor, like talent, poverty and hope. These seem to stand for the three stagesof the short story, which present the process of discovering the young man’spersonality through the eyes of Emma. Therefore, at the very beginning, shebecomes aware of his gift of playing the piano, then she realizes his inabilityof accomplishing his dream and buy a piano, and finally, she expresses heroptimism stating that one day he will be able to purchase the object of hispassion.
Thestory follows a straight-line narrative, in which the elements of the plotuncover the events arranged in a chronological order, and significant elementsof flashback. In order to grasp the reader’s attention, the author begins withan unconventional exposition consisting of a dialogue. The two charactersinvolved pass by a store. Ben is attracted by a piano and he asks for Emma’saccord to get in and try a small piano in the corner. From the very beginning,his passion for music becomes obvious: I get excited every time I see apiano. This indirect way of expressing the idea denotes the fact that thissort of feeling is inexplicable to the protagonist himself and his furtherreply confirms it: I don’t know. The small piano in the corner is asymbol of Ben’s modesty, and the hidden, mysterious aspect of his talent ismarked by the place-in the corner. Emma was unaware of this likeness, soshe becomes puzzled, facing an inner conflict: She’d go along for a whilethinking she knew him and then all of a sudden she’d know she didn’t.Therepetition of the question Can you play? emphasizes the girl’s interestin understanding the young man. Ben replies negatively, but his actionscontradict his statement, as shown in the simile his hands go quietly to thewhite and black keys, like a real pianist’s. The adjective quietly,in this context, is meant to point out his fear of being seen using the piano,an idea reinforced by the epithet quiet chords.
Thegirl is amazed by the playing, and she expresses her feelings with the firstchance: I think it’s wonderful, while Ben disregards his ownparticipation, referring only to the instrument: It sounds good, followedby an explanation it has a fine tone, especially for a small piano. Anew character, a clerk, comes into the picture, making a short speech about theproduct. The young man’s first question about the price alludes to his desireof buying it. The price of 249, 50 is evaluated as high even by the clerkhimself, as he immediately adds You can have terms, of course. Theinterlocutor’s way of changing the subject hints at the fact that he doesn’tafford such a luxury, setting thus the conflict of the short story, followed bythe development of the action.
Ben’sstrong desire of playing some more becomes more intensified, as it is visibleeven to the seller, who allows him to try it some more. At this stage,he is still skeptical of the fact that his activity is actually called playing,but he is reassured by the clerk: sounded good to me,go ahead, I’dlike to hear you play some more. This comment is meant to diminish theself-criticism emphasizing the idea of a great inborn talent.
Thesentence he fooled around fifteen or twenty seconds and then found somethinglike a melody and stayed with it two minutes is highly significant. Firstand foremost, by mentioning the seconds, the author underlines the value ofevery moment in front of the piano. The expression he fooled around classifiesBen’s activity as entertaining and spontaneous. Further on, something like amelody highlights his status as an amateur rather than a professional, onewho trusts his instincts. A repeated mentioning of the immediate time: 2minutes is just another way of saying that the time spent in front of the pianoflies too fast for him. The young man’s passion increases substantially, andhis sadness at his approaching depart is felt in the music, which suggests thefact that he plays from the depth of his heart, rendering his feelings throughthe music: before he was through the music became quiet and sorrowful andBen himself became more and more please with the piano.
Benand Emma then go to a little restaurant and order sandwiches and coffee. Thesedetails and the previously mentioned financial situation make the reader thinkthat both persons belong to an average social class of people, the sort ofpeople who have to consider making enough money for a living and postponing therealization of their dreams. Ben explains, by means of flashback, the originsof his passion and its evolution. He touches upon the theme of money. Thesimile he smiled the way he did when e stood over the piano looking down atthe keyboard shows that he likes Emma, that she is another of his passionsand this makes her happy: Emma felt flattered. This fact points out thereciprocity of their relationship. This latter idea is reinforced some timelater by she smiled back at him the way he was smiling at her. One mayconsider that the displaying of these feelings constitutes the climax, thepoint when they seem to see a sort of connection between themselves, when theemotion near a piano finally equalizes with the emotional next to a dare person.
Thetext has an open text structure, only suggesting a possible outcome: somehowor other she knew he’d get a piano some day, and everything else, too. Butthe character cannot be considered trustworthy due to her emotional implicationin the entire affair. In such a way, her desire may generate the prediction andnot the facts.
Benmay be considered a dynamic character, as he changes his concept about hismusical activity, becoming aware of the fact that what he produces really ismusic. He is sensitive, polite in addressing the clerk, and acts like a realgentleman with Emma (asks her before entering the shop, talks about his greatpassion, sees her off to The Emporium). The girl, on the other hand, is also adynamic character, as she changes her perception of Ben, she has new ideas, andthe two become closer due to the sharing of personal information and mutualsupport.
Thetitle of the text has an orientative, providing a general idea on the content.It is a noun which encodes a hobby: playing the piano. The definite article isavoided in order to make the term more general, as the protagonist doesn’tpossess a piano of himself and the specific instrument used in the text is onlyone among many others that he had tried.
Theshort story created a sad atmosphere which is intended to resonate with thereaders. They are expected to feel compassion and appreciation towards theprotagonist, becoming aware of the fact that talented people are, sooner orlater appreciated. The main idea is rendered directly by Ben himself, whostates a general truth: Never having money keeps a man away from lots ofthings he figures he ought to have by rights. This philosophical approachto his own situation illustrates the character’s mature attitude and hispartial resignation, as he accepts his destiny humbly, without complain.However, Emma’s last words induce a positive expectation, arousing the reader’shope for a happy end, for the triumph of justice over fatality: Somehow orother she knew he’d get the piano some day, and anything else, too.
Ifit is to regard the text from the perspective of music being an outerexposition of the inner state, denoting the musician’s feelings, the text bearsa remarkable resemblance to an extract of the novel Ragtime by E.L.Doctorow. The passage when Coalhouse Walker Jr. plays the piano to render histrue feelings towards Sarah, the regret of losing her and the hope forreconciliation. Likewise, Ben’s music also expresses the regret and the hardlyperceptible hope: the disappointment of not having a piano and the hope of evergetting one. The two works have a similar style too, as the dialogical markersare completely missing, simplifying the form to the advantage of the meaning.To sum it up, the two works are indeed works of art, exploring literature in amusical way. Therefore, a form of art which expresses the beauty of another isbound to rejoice success.