Duras

The piano lesson is very stressed. The child doesn't seem to want to be taking piano lessons. He refuses to tell the teacher what moderato cantabile means. He refuses to play the song. The teacher seems irritated that he won't play. His mother repeatedly comments on his stubborness. The lesson seems to almost paralell the woman's scream and then the loudness of the crowd. At first the child won't play. By the time the crowd's noise has peaked he is playing the song perfectly (although the screaming is drowning out the song). The way Duras writes adds drama to the scene. She infuses the actions going on outside into the piano lesson. "A motorboat was framed in the open window. The child, facing his score, hardly moved- only his mother noticed it- as the motor boat passed through his blood." The motorboat outside is tied into the lesson. Then Duras goes back to the the lesson. "Are you sure for the last time now, are you sure you don't know what it means?" I think the murder happens while the piano is being played because it adds drama to the scene. Think about when someone dies in a television show or in a movie- sad, dramatic music is usually played in the background. The boy playing the piano adds drama to the scene.

A peice of music that was supposed to be played moderatly and harmoniously, like in this case, should have been calming. Instead we get the exact opposite feel from this lesson. The characters are stressed and angry with the child. He won't answer the teacher as to what moderato cantible means even though he should know this. He won't play the song for her. At the same time a woman was murdered at a cafe and the screams can be heard within the lesson room. The novel begins with quite a stressful and sad scene.