The Piano Tuner (Daniel Mason)
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In Daniel MasonÆs The Piano Tuner, the author takes us on the journey of mild-mannered piano tuner Edgar Drake, commissioned by British officials to go to Burma to tune a rare piano that has political interest in hostile Burma. Belonging to an eccentric Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll, Drake becomes involved in CarrollÆs political plan to make peace between the British and the Shan. He and Carroll also bond over their mutual love of music. Though married, Drake becomes enchanted by Burma and its culture and customs. Near the end of the novel, a reference from HomerÆs Odyssey is discovered, ôany of them who ate the honey-sweet fruit of lotus / was unwilling to take any message back, or to go / away, but they wanted to stay there with the lotus-eating / people, feeding on lotus, and forget the way homeö (Mason 310). Mason uses setting, imagery, and foreshadowing to depict Edgar DrakeÆs escape from real world London to the world of fantasy in Burma.The use of setting is very important to demonstrating the differences between cultures of the British and the Burmese. The setting is used not just to show the distinctions but to show the beauty and allure of Burma. It is the beauty of Burma that lures Drake and what makes it difficult for him to want to leave a place he finds to be idyllic. Mason achieves this by providing many descriptions of the setting, from Burmese street theater to the Shan leaders who are more colorful than the imagina
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present the best of European civilization? No one was ever harmed by Bachö (Mason 146). Drake is also lured into the fantasy world of Burma because of CarrollÆs zealous desire to make peace through music and medicine.
Music is another major image in The Piano Tuner. From the piano representing a contrast of cultures to the belief that music can create peace are appealing images that intrigue Drake and lure him further into Burmese culture and its customs. Drake remembers the old tuner he apprenticed with telling him, ôin every piano a song lies, hiddenö (Mason 284). Like the song hidden in a piano, the beauty and culture of Burma have lay hidden from Drake until this journey. Once engaged in it, music lulls him along as a both a driving force for peace and as a lure that fills him with hope that ultimate peace can be achieved even under colonialism. Ultimately, Drake will become an insubordinate in his desire to liberate the Burmese from what he finds the absurdity of British rule.
Foreshadowing is used throughout the novel. For the lure into BurmaÆs fantasy world for Drake presents him not only with conflicting emotions about staying or leaving but also conflicting emotions revolving around loyalty, nationalism, and pat
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1521
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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