Text Analysis of the Short Story Piano by William Saroyan

Text analysis of the short story Piano by William Saroyan Piano by William Saroyan Text Analysis Saroyan, William (1908–1981) was a successful playwright. The eccentric, spirited author was born in Fresno, California, where his Armenian parents were fruit farmers and where he worked at odd jobs before gaining fame as a short†story writer. He came to playgoers attention with My Hearts in the Highlands but became famous with his much lauded The Time of Your Life , which won the Pulitzer Prize, although Saroyan noisily rejected it. His later works included Loves Old Sweet Song (1940); The Beautiful People; Across the Board on Tomorrow Morning and Talking to You ; Hello, Out There; Get Away Old†¦show more content†¦The girl is amazed by the playing, and she expresses her feelings with the first chance: I think it’s wonderful, while Ben disregards his own participation, referring only to the instrument: It sounds good, followed by an explanation it has a fine tone, especially for a small piano. A new character, a cle rk, comes into the picture, making a short speech about the product. The young man’s first question about the price alludes to his desire of buying it. The price of 249, 50 is evaluated as high even by the clerk himself, as he immediately adds You can have terms, of course. The interlocutor’s way of changing the subject hints at the fact that he doesn’t afford such a luxury, setting thus the conflict of the short story, followed by the development of the action. Ben’s strong desire of playing some more becomes more intensified, as it is visible even 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’d like to hear you play some more. This comment is meant to diminish the self-criticism emphasizing the idea of a great inborn talent. The sentence he fooled around fifteen or twenty seconds and then found something like a melody and stayed with it two minutes is highly significant. First and foremost, by