Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘The Piano Lesson,’ a family heirloom becomes a point of contention when one sibling wants to sell it while the other is entirely against it. Boy Willie wants to use the money by selling the piano to buy the land that his father had worked his entire life on but never owned. For him, it is the way to the future. For Berniece, however, the piano is a connection to the past, something that their father gave his life for. Moreover, it is the bridge between them and their ancestors, so she wants the piano to stay within the family. However, the history of the instrument is marred in blood and pain, and this is where the Ghost of the Yellow Dog comes into the picture. SPOILERS AHEAD
The Ghost of the Yellow Dog Connects to a Traumatic Event for the Charles Family
When Doaker Charles tells the story of the piano, he reveals that it didn’t belong to their family initially. Members of the Charles family were enslaved by the Sutter family, to whom the piano belonged. Sutter had bought it from another white man for his wife. In return, he traded a woman and her child but kept the husband, Willie Boy, because he was too useful to give away so easily. While Sutter’s wife was happy with the piano, she missed the enslaved woman and the child. Because Sutter couldn’t get them back, he devised a different way to give his wife what she wanted. He made Willie Boy carve the pictures of his son and wife on the piano so Mrs. Sutter’s wish of having them in front of her could be fulfilled. Willie Boy did more than he was asked. Not only did he carve his wife and son’s likeness, but he carved out the entire history of his family. Still, the piano remained with the Sutter family.
Years later, Boy Charles became obsessed with the idea of getting the piano out of the hands of the Sutter family. With his family’s history carved into it, he believed that the piano should belong to the Charles family. As long as it was in the possession of the Sutter family, Boy Charles and his family could never truly be free. So, one night, he and his brothers broke into the Sutter household and took away the piano. While his brothers left, Boy Charles stayed behind as he thought that his sudden disappearance would make people suspicious. He thought that going about business as usual would throw the Sutters off his scent. But he was wrong.
It is unclear how Sutter found out about it, but the blame directly went to Boy Charles. Sutter and his group burned down Boy Charles’ house. However, he escaped and decided to take the Yellow Dog train. He had no idea that Sutter and his men had planned to stop and burn the train. Thus, Boy Charles and three other black men died inside the boxcar that they’d used as a hiding place and where they were burned alive by Sutter and his men. The traumatic nature of their deaths led people to come up with stories about them when unexplainable deaths started to happen. This led to the rise of the legend of the Ghost of the Yellow Dog.
The Circumstances of Suttle’s Death are Wrapped in Mystery
The Ghost of the Yellow Dog was mentioned sometime after Boy Charles’ murder on the train. One of the men believed to have been involved in the burning of the car fell into the well and died. No one could figure out how he could fall into the well by himself, but there was no evidence of someone pushing him into it. This led people to believe that the ghosts of the men on the train killed him. Since then, several other people also died the same way, and eventually, James Sutter also fell to his death in a well.
The story about Sutter’s death is told by Boy Willie, and considering that he doesn’t seem to believe in ghosts and spirits, it feels like he is sharing the story about ghosts for fun. Moreover, Berniece believes in ghosts, and even she believes that James Sutter was not killed by one. In fact, she accuses her own brother of murder, but he denies it. While Sutter’s death is mentioned repeatedly, the real circumstances surrounding his death never actually come to light, which leaves a lot of space for speculation. Berniece’s theory about Boy Willie killing Sutter makes sense, considering that he wanted to own the land that Sutter had been sitting on all this while. Boy Willie’s enthusiasm to buy that land no matter what also fuels that theory. However, there is no proof of it. Moreover, the theory of a ghost killing Sutter gains more footing as the ghost in the Charles household becomes more prominent.
Shortly after Boy Willie’s arrival, Berniece sees Sutter’s ghost. Then, it appears to her daughter until, eventually, it tries to kill Boy Willie, and Berniece has to call upon her ancestors to get rid of him for good. Considering that the film leans into the idea of ghosts and spirits, the theory of the ghost of Boy Charles and the three men coming to avenge their horrible deaths makes more sense than it did initially. With all this in mind, it is fair to say that the ghosts were behind Sutter’s death, and it didn’t have anything to do with Boy Willie or any other human intervention.
Read More: The Piano Lesson: Is The Netflix Movie Based on a True Story?
