Analyzing The Preacher Man
What is a monologue? A monologue is part of a drama where a single character speaks alone, often to express their thoughts or to address another character directly.
The Piano Lesson by August Wilson is set in Pittsburg in the 1930’s and focuses on the conflicts of the Charles family. August Wilson connects the past through the piano in his Pulitzer Prize winning play to teach the audience a valuable lesson. The lesson that ones history must be understood before a person can move into the future. There are many characters in the play, but in this essay I will be analyzing Avery, the preacher man. Avery is an aspiring preacher who is also very fond of Berniece.
In the first scene of the play, Avery’s monologue tells the story of a dream he has had that changed his life. The dream that has called on him to become a preacher for the Lord. Avery’s monologue shows he is superstitious, in the sense that the audience will see how Avery will change his life completely based on one dream he has had. Not only is this superstitious but it will also show Avery’s religious faith and belief he has in the Lord. The audience can see that Avery is a very religious Christian person and is smart enough to see the metaphors the characters in his dream represent.
Avery’s dream is abundant with metaphors throughout the entire story. The three hobos representing the three wise men leading the way to Jesus, the Sheep People representing people that need to be saved in the world, the wolves representing the evil that exist all around us, and him becoming the Shepard to tend to his flock beside Jesus. His monologue also shows that he is very ambitious and dedicated to the journey he has succumbed to, the journey to build his church, The Good Shepard Church of Christ.
Avery has a few ambitions, one is to marry Berniece, and the other is to open his church. Both ambitions have an obstacle that he will need to overcome if he wants to accomplish them. It will be hard for Avery to open his own church mainly due to the money he will need to start it. As for marrying Berniece, it will be hard since she still mourns her deceased husband, Crawley. Even with these obstacles it seems that Avery is still optimistic about reaching his goals.
Optimism is Avery’s greatest strength and it shows. Avery seems to be humble, motivated, and very polite. Avery’s humility shows in the first scene when he is offered as many watermelons as he wants from Boy Willie, but he only wants one since that is all he can eat. His motivation is apparent when he speaks about his appointment with the bank for a loan to build a church. It is also apparent when they talk about him holding services at his home already, even without an actual church. His overall politeness can be seen every time he speaks in the play and it seems he is better with words than the others.
Overall Avery seems to be the most trustworthy character in the play. A few characters in the play may think Avery is a fraud. This impression may be due to the clothes he wears, or details in his dream, or maybe just out of jealousy. In my opinion there are no flaws yet to be scene from Avery’s character or demeanor. Avery seems to be a responsible, genuine, and an overall good person in the first scene of the play, I guess only the next scenes will tell the true tale.
