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The Piano Tuner (Daniel Mason)

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 imagination can conjure. In his description of his street theater experience, we see that Drake is lured deeper into the heart of Burma by its setting, ôSince the first evening of my arrival, when sleepless with excitement, I took to the streets to explore and found myself at the edge of a yokthe pwe, a puppet drama, I have fallen in love with the artö (Mason 133).

Everything about the setting in Burma seems to appeal to Drake. His fascination is meant to show the theme that when we encount...

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The Piano Tuner (Daniel Mason). (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 11:48, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1710952.html