The Piano Lesson Race Quotes

Boy Willie says that he realized he had "the power of death" after he killed a cat. Since then, he says, he hasn't been afraid of the "the white man." Boy Willie feels it's necessary to pay back any violence done to him back in kind.

Boy Willie thinks that Berniece too easily accepts the way that black people are pushed down by the white majority. When he says he lives at the "top of life," it means that he feels like he's equal with everyone he meets. Berniece, on the other hand, just calls it like she sees it. Blacks aren't equal in the eyes of society, and she doesn't see any point in pretending that's not true. Notice, though, that she says that Maretha "ain't got to stay there." Boy Willie accuses her of accepting her place too easily, but it seems like Berniece definitely has hope for the future.

What do you think Boy Willie means by "a time of fire?" Is he referring to the racially motivated violence that many black people have to deal with, perhaps? The word fire does remind us of the way the Ghosts of the Yellow Dog all met their end in a flaming box car. Of course, the word "fire" could also be meant to invoke the war that Boy Willie sees himself fighting against racism.