Cultural Parallels in Roosters and the Piano Lesson

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Cultural Parallels in Roosters and The Piano Lesson The meaning of culture, heritage and tradition all have one thing in common, and that is the correlation to family. Every family has different ways of developing a cultural belief system whether it’s based on the faith and values of religion, traditions, rituals, or nothing at all. One member of the family could perhaps have different beliefs while another member of the family relates to something entirely different. Regardless, family resembles one another in specific ways, which is the relationship that exists between each family member. The connection they share is the certain history they have with the same relatives. The presence of family dynamics, the beliefs of magic realism, and language can be manifested in both Milcha Sanchez-Scott’s Roosters and August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. Milcha Sanchez-Scott’s Roosters is about a broken Mexican American family trying to come together in celebration of a father’s return from prison. The father, Gallo, is a “macho” type of man and appears to be intense and driven, yet his attitude is consumed elsewhere and not present to his family. He is eager to get back into his original passion of cockfighting instead of regarding his wife, Juana, and two children, Hector and Angela. Conflict arises when his son Hector refuses to get along with his father, especially when Hector has something Gallo wants, which is the prize-winning rooster. The story of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, features an African American family that explores events in the past of how the old carved piano was stolen by Berniece and Boy Willie’s father from their family’s slave owner, Sutter. This certain piano held their family legacy when their great-grandmother and grandpa were slaves and traded in for the piano that Sutter made a deal with. Brother Boy Willie wants to sell the piano for money

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