Throughout C.E. Morgan’s novel All the Living, protagonist Aloma details her life as she comes to live with her boyfriend Orren on his family’s farm. When Aloma choses to live with Orren, she attaches herself to him because she is isolated and has nowhere else to go. However, her attachment to Orren creates tension around her dreams of being a successful pianist, and this tension initially strains her relationship with Orren.
Ever since Aloma began excelling at the piano classes at her mission school, she dreams of a future in which she studies music. As Aloma declares to Orren, “Someday I’m gonna be a great piano player and we’re gonna get out of here” (23). Regardless of the fact that “she wanted nothing more than to study piano in some faraway place” (15), Aloma’s lack of connections and experiences hinder her from leaving. As Morgan writes, “She had nowhere else to go and no way to get there” (15). Aloma accepts a job as a staff pianist following graduation, and moves to Orren’s farm after his family dies.
When Aloma moves in with Orren, she becomes dependent on him and her musical dreams become strained. The piano at the house is decrepit and unusable, and Orren himself is uninterested in Aloma’s piano skills and dreams. As Morgan writes, “She opened the cover and pressed a white bone key. There was no sound, just a sponging broken depression. She pushed down the neighboring keys and the pitches yawed out, one string buzzed hideously. She stepped away suddenly and looked around herself as if seeing the room, the house, for the first time” (28). Aloma feels disconnected to Orren and his home, and Orren disregards Aloma’s musical talent and her desire to play the piano. For example, Orren often comments on Aloma’s disappearance when she plays the piano at the church. Orren’s aloofness distances him from Aloma, and he doesn’t comprehend the importance of the piano in her life, which causes tension in their relationship.
Toward the novel’s end, however, Orren and Aloma are able to better communicate, and Aloma articulates the importance of the piano in her life. Aloma states, “I think I have enough money saved now to rent a piano and I might could teach lessons up at the house. I’ll make us some money that way” (192) and she finally comments on the state of the piano at the new house. Morgan writes, “Aloma gazed helplessly around her at the house, which did not speak to her of a home and maybe never would. Its wall of untold faces, the buckling piano, the memories which were not her own. Her eyes settled on Orren. Let’s get rid of this piano, she said. It’s done” (195). Because Orren comes to understand the significance of the piano in Aloma’s life through their newfound communication, Aloma and Orren are able to work out their differences, and their relationship is strengthened.
I appreciated your analysis of the piano in the context of the relationship between Orren and Aloma. Additionally, I believe the piano offers insights into Aloma as a person and her mental state throughout the book and her life. Aloma never had other people, but she did have ambitions beyond her station in life. As she states, “she had wanted to possess something…and it was sheer luck that she happened to be good at the one thing she wanted” (36). The piano shows us her desire for more in life, a desire that she fears will never be filled no matter how hard she tries. Additionally, I think the broken piano in the house is just one part of the new life that Orren gives her that doesn’t live up to expectations. She “did not have time to think about the piano or its lack” (37) or anything else she wanted because she felt she needed to line up her wants with Orren’s. However, throughout the novel she becomes less and less tolerant of Orren and chooses instead to pursue her piano playing at the church. This helps her regain some agency in her life as she experiences the “fearsome control of herself at the keyboard” (78). So her piano playing is not only a cause of tension in the relationship, but also a tool that the author uses to show us Aloma’s growth through the novel.
ReplyDeleteIn All the Living, the piano certainly represents the dynamic of Aloma and Orren’s relationship. To expand on the piano’s significance, we can also view it through the lens of Aloma and Bell’s relationship. When Bell Johnson employs Aloma as the new piano player at church, she finally finds a refuge in the largely unfamiliar town. Bell offers to Aloma that she “can play here as much as [she needs] to,” and Aloma responds, “That’s about the best news I’ve had in a while” (73). Already on the first day meeting Aloma, Bell has provided more sanctuary and familiarity to Aloma than Orren has for the month they have been living together. Therefore, Aloma begins to translate her love for the piano to an imagined love for Bell. As Aloma continues to practice “four times a week” at the church, she realizes “Orren [does] not know this part of her” (99). Bell becomes more acquainted with Aloma, specifically by showing interest in her piano playing. Aloma does not receive the same attention at home from Orren; again, Aloma disassociates her opportunity to play piano with a new opportunity for love in Bell. Ironically, the piano is the strongest source of identification for Aloma and her dreams, yet it also proves as the reason why she begins to misidentify with being Orren’s partner. Only as Orren recognizes more of Aloma’s desire to play piano will she begin to correctly associate different feelings and emotions with the piano.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the piano is important throughout the novel. Aloma uses her playing to try and fill the void of loneliness inside of her. Aloma has been alone since she was a child and lost her parents. She has come to accept this saying “the empty space was fine as it was and no more hurtful than being born with four fingers” (104). Despite this acceptance she doesn’t want to feel like she has this empty space inside of her. When she first discovered the piano she “choked with the desire for it” (14). She finally found something that she was good and uses it to fill the void of human interaction inside of her. Once she moves out to the farm with Orren she feels distant from him and alone. This is why she turns to the piano. She feels better once she has to ability to go to the church and play every day. After Orren and Aloma get married she feels hopeful that they will be happy together and she will no longer feel so alone. This idea is seen when Aloma says “let’s get rid of this piano, she said. It’s done” (195). She hopes that she will no longer need Piano to fill the void inside of her and she will finally have a meaningful connection with Orren.
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