Though she refuses to play the piano herself or to teach Maretha its history because of the sorrowful memories it evokes, she senses that it occupies an important place in the family’s identity and won’t part with it. However, she can be fiery and emotional when the moment calls for it: for example, she resolutely refuses to sell the family piano when her brother, Boy Willie, asks. Berniece is a strong-willed woman, portrayed as levelheaded, serious, and single-mindedly focused on providing for Maretha and herself.
Berniece cleans house for a steel mill bigshot in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. A widow, Berniece has been in mourning for her late husband, Crawley, for three years. She is 35 years old and has an 11-year-old daughter, Maretha. Berniece, one of the protagonists, is Doaker’s niece and lives with him in Pittsburgh, having moved there from Mississippi a few years ago.
