The Emperor Jones: What's Inside in Context

The Emperor
Jones
Study Guide by Course Hero
the emperor of an unnamed island nation, similar to Haiti.

What's Inside
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1 d In Context
d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1
a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3

Expressionism
h Characters ................................................................................................... 5
Expressionism is an artistic style in which the artist does not
k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 7 depict objective reality. Rather, through fantasy and distortion,
the artist portrays the emotions and responses that events
c Scene Summaries .................................................................................. 12 arouse within people. This style, as it relates to the theater,
was introduced by Swedish playwright August Strindberg
g Quotes ......................................................................................................... 21
(1849–1912), who combined psychology and naturalism
l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 24 (philosophy asserting that all beings and events are natural and
therefore knowable through science) to create expressionist
m Themes ....................................................................................................... 25 drama. Writers of this style of drama aim to reveal the inner
reality of characters by deeply probing the subconscious,
internalizing their actions, and revealing what goes on in their
psyche. This effect is often achieved through the use of
j Book Basics soliloquy and interior monologue. O'Neill employs monologue in
the scenes in which Jones is in the jungle to show the
AUTHOR confused state of Jones's mind.
Eugene O'Neill
In his production of The Emperor Jones, O'Neill followed
FIRST PERFORMED Strindberg's example for dramatizing Jones's inner conflict,
1920 using symbol, allegory, and dreams. Like Strindberg, O'Neill
sought to move drama away from the "banality of the surfaces"
GENRE that realism represented, and instead probe the character's
Drama, Tragedy psyche to bring to the surface the inner reality, the beliefs and
emotions that lie deep in the character's soul.
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR
The Emperor Jones is told from the perspective of an O'Neill's use of symbols is pervasive in The Emperor Jones. He
unreliable narrator, Brutus Jones. All but two scenes are single uses tom-toms (drums) to depict Jones's emotion and to
character monologues. The first and last scenes frame the convey the character's mental state; the distortion of the
story, with the final scene taking place after Jones's death. sound of the tom-toms and the instruments' increasing volume
represent Jones's increasing heartbeat and fear. Additionally,
ABOUT THE TITLE
the scenes get darker and darker in their portrayal of Jones's
The Emperor Jones is the story of Brutus Jones, who becomes
The Emperor Jones Study Guide In Context 2
confusion. Jones himself is symbolic of a black man asking for 1933–45), that the United States withdrew from Haiti.
his freedom. His first name, Brutus, represents the brutality
Jones has faced and inflicts on others. The silver bullet is a O' Neill became interested in Haitian history just before the
dominant symbol in the play—itself originally called the The United States's occupation. In 1919 he heard a story about a
Silver Bullet—that represents Jones's pride and the lie he tells Haitian president who claimed that a lead bullet could not kill
the natives to gain power, similar to the lies white men tell to him; only a silver bullet could cause his death. The story
capture and then enslave Africans. Other elements taken from provided the spark for O'Neill's play The Emperor Jones. O'Neill
Strindberg are the apparitions of Jones's guilty past that read the history of Haiti and researched the uses of the long,
surround him in the forest, as Jones confronts both literal and narrow drums called tom-toms that the natives played with
figurative demons, and the use of elaborate scenes with their hands, which O'Neill asserts form the core of the play. He
costumes and masks. claims that the idea of the jungle setting and the distorted
drum sound came from his own experiences visiting the
jungles of Honduras in 1909. There he contracted malaria, an
U.S. Occupation of Haiti often fatal infection that is transmitted to humans by

mosquitoes. During his bout with the disease, he claimed to
hear drumming as the blood pumped in his ears. O'Neill's first
The Emperor Jones takes place "on an island in the West
performance of The Emperor Jones came together in 1920,
Indies as not yet self-determined by White Marines." Eugene
just as the news of the occupation of Haiti by U.S. Marines
O'Neill never names the island in the play; however, O'Neill
made headlines.
revealed that the United States' occupation of Haiti had a
significant influence on his writing of the play.
The United States occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. President African Americans in the Early
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924; served, 1913–21) ordered the
U.S. military to seize and take control of Haiti after the 20th Century
assassination of the Haitian president, purportedly to maintain
economic and military stability, in accordance with the Monroe The Emperor Jones is the tragic story of Brutus Jones, a
Doctrine (1823), which prevented European governments from former Pullman (railroad passenger car) porter who becomes
controlling nations in the Western Hemisphere. Much of emperor of an island in the West Indies. Through visions,
Europe was already involved in World War I (1914–18), a O'Neill traces Jones's journey from slavery to his position with
conflict resulting from factors including the rise of imperialism the Pullman Company, his arrest for murder, and his work on a
(the formation of empires) and the colonization of islands and chain gang. Many of these experiences were common to black
other territories, issues that are depicted in The Emperor men of Brutus Jones's time.
Jones. The United States's stated concern was that Germany
might succeed in taking over Haiti during the war. Plus, for Following the American Civil War (1861–65) between the Union
many years the United States had an interest in the island (North) and the Confederacy (slave-owning states in the
nation as a potential military base because of its proximity to South), freed African Americans were often forced to work in
Florida. Haitians, on the other hand, believed that the United conditions now understood as neoslavery. This form of slavery
States chose to occupy Haiti to protect the U.S. government's was characterized by work for below-living wages, tenant
financial interests. farming or sharecropping, or convict leasing. In the latter

instance, black men were convicted of charges from vagrancy
In 1917, the U.S. Marine Corps, a military service within but to selling crops after dark. While Brutus Jones was convicted
separate from the U.S. Navy, supervised an election intended of a real charge, murder, many of his cohorts on the chain gang
to force the adoption of new legislation permitting foreigners would likely have been there on false charges.
to buy land in Haiti. Haitians rejected the new constitution, and
the country attempted to draft a new, anti-American African Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
constitution. However, the United States forced the president faced many obstacles that made it difficult to succeed. Booker
at the time to dissolve the legislature. It was not until 1934, T. Washington (1856–1915), an African American educator,
under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945; served, writer, and orator, urged blacks not to gain equal rights but,
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The Emperor Jones Study Guide Author Biography 3
instead, to try to improve their economic conditions. However, hotels. Still, the work was degrading. Porters were called boy
Jim Crow laws (c. 1877–c. 1968) in the South intended to keep or George (after their employer) by passengers, a throwback
the races segregated made it difficult for black people to find to slavery when slave owners would not call their workers by
jobs. Although people challenged the constitutionality of the their given names.
laws, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896), upheld the laws on the basis that they were "separate O'Neill's The Emperor Jones is significant to the history of
but equal." Jim Crow laws remained in effect until the mid-20th American theater in that it was the first play performed by a
century when the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. white theater company that employed an African American
Ferguson with the case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), actor, Charles S. Gilpin (1878–1930), in a leading role.
ending school segregation. Additionally, African Americans in Traditionally, black characters were played on stage by white
the South were terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a white actors who wore dark paint on their faces. These plays were
supremacist organization that formed in the late 1860s and called minstrel shows and relied heavily on racist stereotypes
saw a resurgence in the 1960s in response to the Civil Rights for entertainment. Even though O'Neill was a white playwright
Act of 1964, which formally ended all legal discrimination based and included many black stereotypes in his production, some in
on a person's skin color, race, and religious beliefs. the African American community gave high praise to the
performance of The Emperor Jones. In contrast, as early as the
Aside from the obstacles instituted by Jim Crow laws and fear 1930s, the play and its film version have been condemned as
of white supremacists, many early 20th-century businesses did racist.
not want to hire African Americans. According to the 1900 U.S.
Census, the majority of African American men living in the
South worked as farmers, performed unskilled labor, or worked
a Author Biography
in service jobs. One service job that was available to African
American males, particularly those who were previously
enslaved, was as a Pullman porter, Jones's job before the time
of the play. For that reason, Pullman was the largest employer Early Life
of black men.
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was born in New York City on
After slavery was abolished in 1865, George Pullman (1831–97) October 16, 1888. He was the third son of Mary Ellen (Ella)
sought to hire former enslaved black males to work as porters Quinlan O'Neill (1857–1922) and James O'Neill (1849–1920).
on his luxury overnight train cars. Pullman specifically wanted The couple's second son, Edmund, contracted measles from
to hire African American men, preferably those who had Jamie, the O'Neills' first son. Edmund died in 1885 at age two.
previously worked as servants, because they would be At Eugene's birth, three years later, Ella was given morphine
subservient toward the middle- and upper-class passengers and developed an addiction that she did not overcome until
and work long hours for very low pay. Additionally, Pullman 1914.
believed that having "darker" black males on the trains would
make white passengers feel more comfortable because the Both Ella's and James's families immigrated from Ireland. Born
porters would go easily unseen. to a shopkeeping family in New Haven, Connecticut, Ella was
educated at Catholic schools in Cleveland, Ohio, where her
The first Pullman porter began to work for the company family had settled. Ella also studied piano. James O'Neill, from
around 1867, two years after slavery ended. The job of the an impoverished Irish family, was virtually uneducated though
porter was to haul luggage, clean the sleeping berths, and handsome, resourceful, and gifted. He began acting in 1866. In
generally serve the passengers. Thus, Jones had a steady job 1885 he purchased the rights to British actor and theater
but not one where he was empowered. An African American manager Charles Fechter's (1824–79) dramatic adaptation of
male who worked as a Pullman porter earned a higher status The Count of Monte Cristo (1844–46) by French author
within their community because they were considered well Alexandre Dumas (1802–70). The purchase provided a
traveled and got to serve many important white men. sometimes lucrative career for James, who, by 1912, had
Physically, the work was easier than field labor, and the perks traveled across the country, performing the lead role over
included the possibility of advancing to porter jobs in fine 6,000 times. Although James became a well-known American

The Emperor Jones Study Guide Author Biography 4
actor, Eugene saw his father as a jaded sellout for choosing Greenwich Village. In the following four years, the group
the tried-and-true melodrama over the more challenging roles produced all of O'Neill's one-act plays. In 1920 his first full-
of which James was capable. However, the older O'Neill, length play, Beyond the Horizon, was produced on Broadway.
having suffered dire hardship and poverty in his childhood, was From 1913 to 1943, Eugene O'Neill completed 50 plays. Many
determined that that state of affairs would not be repeated. were made into films starring major screen personalities.
In the early years of the family's itinerant life in the theater,

Jamie, 10 years older than Eugene, was left in boarding school.
Ella and the infant Eugene traveled with James, whose
Major Awards
success came at a high price for the family. Because of Ella's
O'Neill's work was recognized with Pulitzer Prizes in 1920 for
addiction, a nurse was hired to tend baby Eugene and to help
Beyond the Horizon, 1922 for Anna Christie, 1928 for Strange
the distracted mother. For his part, James shouldered his
Interlude, and 1957 for Long Day's Journey into Night.
responsibility to his family and his work but also enjoyed
alcoholic binges. Because the family lacked a stable home He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1936, the only American
environment, Eugene came to address the themes of playwright ever to be so honored. Other major recognitions
rootlessness, lack of religious faith, guilt, and anger in many of included the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy
his future plays. of Arts and Letters in 1922, as well as an Outer Critics Circle
Award, a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and a Tony, all
for Long Day's Journey into Night, in 1957.
Marriages and Children
Eugene O'Neill secretly married Kathleen Jenkins in 1909, and Death and Legacy
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill Jr. was born in 1910. The young
father visited once after the birth of the baby, and the marriage Eugene O'Neill died on November 27, 1953. He is remembered
ended with a contentious but mutual agreement. O'Neill for the unvarnished realism of his work, most properly defined
allowed himself to be caught with a prostitute so that Kathleen in his rejection of melodrama—the well-balanced play with a
had grounds for divorce. Eugene Jr. died by suicide at 40. happy ending. Instead, what O'Neill's biographers Arthur
(1924–2014) and Barbara (1926–2017) Gelb called "his own
O'Neill married Agnes Boulton in 1918. They had two
view of tragedy's tonic effect" rests in his embrace of a
children—Shane in 1919 and Oona in 1925. Shane, who
godless universe in which American tragedies were cast.
habitually used narcotics and alcohol, committed suicide at age
57. Oona married Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), the film star and The Gelbs trace O'Neill's "devotion to the dramatic form [of
producer, who was the same age as her father. As a result, tragedy]" to as early as his 1913 bout with tuberculosis, a
O'Neill broke off all communication with Oona. bacterial lung disease. After Beyond the Horizon, for which he
won his first Pulitzer Prize, O'Neill identified the central
O'Neill married Carlotta Monterey less than a month after his
dramatic principle of his art: the "tragedy of Man is perhaps the
divorce from Agnes in 1929. Although the initially passionate
only significant thing about him ... What I am after is to get the
and dedicated relationship was troubled by alcoholism, poor
audience to leave [sometimes written "an audience leaving"]
health, and provisional separations, the couple remained
the theater with an exultant feeling from seeing somebody on
together until his death.
the stage facing life, fighting against the eternal odds, not
conquering but perhaps inevitably being conquered. The
individual life is made significant just by the struggle." The
Early and Lasting Success character of Brutus Jones in the play The Emperor Jones is a
strong example of a man who must face life, as he encounters
O'Neill's success came early. He first appeared as a playwright different demons in each scene that represent his sins and his
with a group of writers and actors who started an experimental apparent disregard for the struggles of his enslaved ancestors.
theater in Provincetown, Massachusetts, in 1916. That winter All the while, this character is fighting for his life.
the group formed the Playwrights' Theater in New York's

The Emperor Jones Study Guide Characters 5
O'Neill's work modernized the American theater not only in does not believe him. In the end, Smithers realizes that the
theme but also with innovative production values as well. The natives have, indeed, outsmarted Jones. Then he worries they
Emperor Jones, first performed in 1920, featured an African will be onto him, though he does not let go of his racism toward
American in its leading role. It was the first play to be staged the natives. He expresses his admiration for Brutus Jones,
that employed a black person as a lead. however, at the end of the play for fooling the natives for a
time.
h Characters
Brutus Jones
Brutus Jones is a middle-aged black man. It is unclear whether
he was ever a slave, having been born after or just shortly
before slavery ended. However, he worked as a porter for the
Pullman train company, a company that employed many former
slaves, preferring their subservient manners. There, he listened
to the wealthy, white passengers and learned their ways. He
realized that "small stealin'" got a person in trouble but "big
stealin'" was profitable. He was arrested for killing Jeff, a fellow
employee, in an argument over a card game. He was
sentenced to a chain gang, where he killed a guard with a
shovel. He escaped and stowed away on a ship, which brought
him to the island in the West Indies where the play takes place.
He persuaded the natives that he was godlike and that only a
silver bullet could kill him. As a result, the natives made him
emperor. As emperor, Jones has overtaxed the natives and
squirreled the money away in foreign banks. He knows that
eventually he will be deposed (removed from the throne), and
he has a plan for his escape. Jones is highly intelligent and,
more than once, has gotten the better of those who
underestimate him. However, he often underestimates others'
intelligence. He has come to believe his own lies that he is
immortal. His lies eventually lead to his downfall.
Henry Smithers
Henry Smithers acts as a narrative story device rather than as
a fully realized character. While he considers himself to be
friends with Jones, he is also very racist. It clearly bothers him
that a black man is more powerful than he is. He says that,
when the natives overthrow Jones, it will serve him right.
Smithers is dishonest and cons the natives. He scorns them
more than he scorns Jones. He underestimates the natives
and, even when Lem says that he has caught Jones, Smithers

The Emperor Jones Study Guide Characters 6
Character Map
Henry Smithers
White, racist Englishman;
cockney trader
Allies
Witch doctor Lem

Powerful Congolese man Old, wise native chief
Apparition
Brutus Jones Hunter

Dishonest crook and
murderer; elevates himself
to godliness
Victim
Servant
Jeff Old native woman

Pullman porter Scared black woman
Main Character
Other Major Character
Minor Character

The Emperor Jones Study Guide Plot Summary 7
Full Character List Old native

The old native woman is a black woman
who works for Jones. She tells Smithers
woman
about the uprising.
Character Description
The planter is an apparition of a white
Southern man who purchases Jones in
Brutus Jones is a former Pullman porter
Planter an auction in Scene 5. Tormented,
who becomes emperor of an island in
Brutus Jones Jones shoots the planter with one of his
the West Indies. He is lying to and
last two lead bullets.
stealing from the natives.
The planters are apparitions Jones sees

Henry Smithers is an English sailor and
in Scene 5. They are Southern white
Henry trader who speaks in a thick, Cockney Planters
men who participate in the slave
Smithers accent. He is Jones's friend, but he also
auction.
exhibits hatred and disdain toward him.
The prison guard is an apparition Jones

The auctioneer is an apparition Jones
sees in Scene 4. He is the white guard
sees and shoots in Scene 5. He is a Prison guard
Auctioneer Jones murdered while working on the
white man who sells Jones and other
chain gang.
slaves to white planters.
The prisoners are apparitions that

Jones sees the black men shackled
Jones sees in Scene 4. They are the
together and sitting in rows in Scene 6. Prisoners
workers on the chain gang that Jones
Black men They are captured Africans who are on
once worked on.
a ship to the United States where they
will be sold as slaves.
Jones sees apparitions of male, female,
and infant slaves lined up for sale in a
The Crocodile God is an apparition Slaves
slave auction in Scene 5. The
Crocodile Jones sees in Scene 7. It looks like an
auctioneer sells them to planters.
God actual crocodile, terrifying Jones until
he shoots the silver bullet at it.
The witch doctor appears to Jones as
Witch doctor an apparition in Scene 7. He attempts to
Jeff is an apparition Jones sees and
sacrifice Jones to the Crocodile God.
shoots at in Scene 3. He is the black
Jeff Pullman porter Jones murdered years
before for playing craps with loaded
dice.
k Plot Summary
Lem is a native chief who once tried to
have Jones killed. Ever since then he
Lem has cleverly been making plans to
defeat Jones, and now he is putting his
plans into practice.
Scene 1
The play begins in the throne room of the emperor of an island
The Little Formless Fears are the first
Little in the West Indies. It is late afternoon, and Henry Smithers, a
apparitions Jones sees in the forest in
Formless
Scene 2. They are dark shapes with white Cockney (person from London's East End) trader,
Fears
eyes. catches an old native woman sneaking around the room. The
woman informs Smithers that the natives are planning an
The Negro convicts are apparitions uprising. After she runs off, Brutus Jones, the emperor, enters
Negro
Jones sees in Scene 4. They are
convicts the room. Smithers informs Jones of the uprising, but Jones
prisoners working on a chain gang.
does not seem all too worried. He tells Smithers that the
natives believe that only a silver bullet can kill him. Jones states
that he has saved money and can escape the island. He has a

gun, loaded with lead bullets and one silver one, in case he has dressed, on a ship at sea. The men on the ship wail, and Jones
to commit suicide. A drumbeat starts, sounding like a joins them. He runs into the forest, wailing too.
heartbeat. Smithers warns Jones of ha'nts, meaning evil spirits,
he may encounter. The drum continues to beat as Jones
travels through the forest throughout the next six scenes. Scene 7
Immediately after, Jones runs onstage to the foot of a gigantic
Scene 2 tree by a river. It is almost dawn. There is a rough stone altar,
and Jones kneels by it, very frightened. A witch doctor appears
Jones has entered the forest. He cannot find his way and is and begins to dance. He points to the river, and Jones senses
hungry. He cannot find the food he had hidden, and he crawls that he is being offered for sacrifice. Jones begs for mercy as
around overturning the many white stones looking for his food. a huge crocodile head materializes. Jones shoots the
Suddenly, the Little Formless Fears (insect larvae with Crocodile God with his last bullet, the silver bullet. The
sparkling eyes) materialize. Jones shoots at them, using the drumbeat increases as Jones lies on the ground.
first of his lead bullets.
Scene 8
Scene 3
Back where the forest meets the plain, Smithers and Lem, a
At moonrise, Jones is in the forest. He sees a vision of Jeff, the native man, are looking for Jones. Smithers tells Lem that the
black man he killed years before. He panics and shoots at him, natives wasted their time, beating their drums and casting
using a second bullet. spells. Lem insists that his soldiers caught Jones, but Smithers
does not believe him. Lem says they shot him with silver
bullets, which they made by melting down money. Soldiers
Scene 4 come in, bearing Jones's body.
The moon is high when the audience next sees Jones. He sees
an apparition of a chain gang on which he once worked and
the white prison guard he killed. The prison guard motions for
Jones to take his place on the chain gang, and he obeys. He
tries to kill the guard, using the third bullet.
Scene 5
It is later, during the early morning hours of darkness. Jones
appears in a clearing. He is in a panic. He sees apparitions of
slaves, planters, and an auctioneer. The auctioneer tells Jones
to stand on the tree stump, the auction block. Then he sells
Jones to a Southern planter. Jones, terrified and enraged,
shoots both men, using two more bullets.
Scene 6
When Jones next appears, only his silver bullet remains in his
gun. He sees apparitions of two rows of black men, similarly

Plot Diagram
Climax
7
Falling Action
6
Rising Action
5 8
4
9
3
Resolution
2
1
Introduction
Introduction Climax
1. The old native woman tells Smithers about an uprising. 7. Jones shoots at the Crocodile God with the silver bullet.
Rising Action Falling Action
2. Smithers and Jones discuss the uprising, and Jones 8. Lem says that the natives shot Jones with a silver bullet.
escapes.
3. Jones shoots his first bullet at the Little Formless Fears.

Resolution
4. Jones shoots at an apparition of Jeff, the black man he
killed.
9. Soldiers bring out Jones's body.
5. Jones shoots at an apparition of the white prison guard.
6. Jones shoots at apparitions of the auctioneer and planter.

Timeline of Events
Years earlier
Jones works as a Pullman porter.
Years earlier
Jones kills Jeff over a game of craps.
Years earlier
Jones is sentenced to a chain gang.
Years earlier
Jones kills a white prison guard.
2 years earlier
Jones arrives on a West Indies island as a stowaway.
Immediately afterward
Smithers hires Jones to help him cheat the island

natives.
Short time later
Lem tries to have Jones killed.
Immediately afterward
Jones convinces the natives that only a silver bullet can

kill him.
Right afterward
The natives make Jones emperor of the island.
Sometime later
Smithers warns Jones of an uprising.
3:30 p.m.
Jones leaves the palace to escape the uprising.
Nightfall

Jones shoots at the Little Formless Fears in the forest.
9:00 p.m.
Jones shoots at an apparition of Jeff.
11:00 p.m.
Jones shoots at the apparition of the prison guard.
1:00 a.m.
Jones shoots apparitions of a slave auctioneer and a

white southern planter.
3:00 a.m.
Jones envisions himself on a slave ship.
5:00 a.m.
The witch doctor tells Jones that he must be sacrificed

as retribution for his sins.
Soon afterward
Jones shoots the silver bullet at the Crocodile God.
Moment later
The natives kill Jones with a silver bullet.
Right afterward
Soldiers bring Jones's body out of the forest for Lem and
Smithers to see.

The Emperor Jones Study Guide Scene Summaries 12
Smithers asks Jones if he has any money saved, and Jones

c Scene Summaries divulges that he does have money in a foreign bank that only
he can access. He explains to Smithers that he did not become
emperor for the glory and gives "de low-flung, bush niggers"
Scene 1 the "big circus show" that they want. In return, the natives pay
the taxes he levies upon them. Jones also says that he winks
at Smithers's crooked trading, even as he makes the laws to
prevent it. With a knowing grin, Smithers remarks that Jones
Summary will soon learn that he has taxed the natives dry and points out
that Jones breaks his own laws. Amused, Jones says that the
The play opens in the late afternoon on an island in the West
laws do not apply to the emperor, and he explains that there
Indies. Henry Smithers, a white trader, catches an old black
are two kinds of stealing, little and big. While people go to jail
woman sneaking through the emperor Brutus Jones's throne
for little stealing, "For de big stealin' dey makes you Emperor."
room. He interrogates her and threatens her, and the terrified
Jones credits this knowledge to conversations he heard
old native woman insists that she is not stealing from him.
between rich white men when he worked as a Pullman porter.
Cowering, she explains that all the natives have left, having run
up into the hills. Surprised at first, Smithers surmises that there Smithers says Jones was lucky to get the natives on his side
has been an uprising and says with malice that it serves the and mentions the silver bullet. While Jones does not think it
emperor right for "puttin' on airs." He then says that he hopes was all because of luck, he agrees that the story he told the
to see the natives shoot Jones. The woman says that Jones is natives about the silver bullet was lucky. Lem, a native, once
asleep. Smithers says Jones is cunning enough to realize what hired a man to shoot Jones. The assassin misfired and Jones
is happening when he wakes up. He releases the woman, and shot him dead. He asks Smithers to tell the rest of the story,
she runs away. and Smithers goes on to recount that Jones convinced the
natives that only silver bullets could kill him, a kind of bullet the
Brutus Jones enters, a middle-aged African American man
natives will never be able to get. Jones recalls that the natives
dressed in elaborate regalia, including a uniform, hat, shoes,
praised him as if he were "a miracle out o' de Bible," and they
and spurs. He is angry and carries a revolver. Smithers, who
have submitted to him ever since. He says he even had a silver
looks "half-afraid and half-defiant," asks Jones if he has
bullet made so that, when the time comes, he can kill himself
noticed anything different today. Jones says no, and Smithers
with it. He told the natives he is the only man strong enough "to
sarcastically asks where Jones thinks the members of his
git me." Jones shows Smithers the five lead bullets and one
court and cabinet have gone, to which Jones calmly says they
silver bullet in his revolver's chamber.
are in town. "Ain't you sousin' (drinking) with 'em most
everyday?" he sarcastically says to Smithers. Smithers hides Jones knows his time on the island is limited. Besides, he
his scorn with a wink and says he has to, in his business. Jones wants to go someplace else to spend his money. When he
gives a scornful reply, and Smithers, now angry, remarks that thinks the natives will turn him out, he will make his escape.
Jones was happy enough to work for him when he first came Smithers asks him where he will go, and Jones will not tell him.
to the island. Jones touches his revolver and reminds Smithers Smithers says Jones must be scared of lynching for killing a
who is boss, and Smithers apologizes. white man when he was back in the United States.
Jones moves his hand away from his revolver and accepts Jones recounts his history prior to arriving on the island.
Smithers's apology. He goes on to explain that he is a different However, he phrases everything as possibility. "Maybe," he
person now from who he was when he first came to the island. says, "I goes to jail ... Maybe I gits twenty years." He boasts that
He reminds Smithers that he was once a valuable employee. he "maybe" killed a black man with a razor over a game of
Smithers reminds him that he was not afraid to hire Jones, who craps, a card game. Then, when he was on a chain gang,
was previously in jail, then becomes furious when Jones says "maybe" he killed a white guard by hitting him with a shovel. He
Smithers himself was in jail several times. Jones then takes tells Smithers that if he repeats the stories, he will kill him. This
pride in the fact that it took just two years for him to rise up scares Smithers, who says he has always been Jones's friend.
from a stowaway to the emperor. Recovering, Smithers proves his friendship by warning Jones

of the uprising among the natives. tells him to say hello to the ghosts he sees in the forest.
Jones finds Smithers's news puzzling and supposes the After Jones leaves, Smithers hopes that the natives catch
servants and guards are sneaking in a nap. Mockingly, Jones and give him what he deserves. The curtains close with
Smithers tells Jones to ring his bell and see if any of his Smithers searching the palace for goods he can sell.
subjects come running. Jones rings a red dinner bell several
times, and no one comes. Smithers watches Jones ring the bell
with cruel satisfaction, then mockingly says that Jones's ship is Analysis
sinking "an' the bleedin' rats 'as slung their 'ooks."
This scene and Scene 8 form a frame for a story that is
Jones throws the bell to the floor and admits that he was otherwise purely a monologue delivered by Jones out in the
overconfident in his position. He declares he will resign his woods. Here, the audience learns Jones's story. Before his
position of emperor immediately. He starts walking toward the arrest for killing a man, Jones was a Pullman porter, an
door, but Smithers tells Jones it is no use leaving because the employee of the Pullman train company. Forced to work on a
natives stole all the horses. Jones is alarmed at first, then says chain gang, he killed a white guard and then escaped.
he will walk. He checks the time and decides he has plenty of Eventually, he ended up on the island working for Smithers,
time to get away because there are still three hours until cheating the natives out of money. Two years later, the natives
sundown. Smithers warns Jones that Lem hates him and will made Jones emperor. These details will inform the scenes to
do anything to get him. Scornfully, Jones says that he is not come.
scared of Lem and that he will go through the forest; he knows
his way so well he could go through it with his eyes closed. The words Negro and nigger appear throughout the play.
With contempt he tells Smithers that in the past, he outran Negro was not an offensive term at the time of the play's
bloodhounds. However, if the natives do catch him, he'll shoot production, but the word nigger was. Charles Sidney Gilpin
them with the five lead bullets. Also, he has a silver bullet "to (1878–1930), the black actor who first played Jones on stage,
cheat 'em out o' gittin' me." attempted to substitute other words for it. Thus, when
characters, including black characters, use the word to refer to
The sound of a distant tom-tom begins, and its drumbeat others, it is presumably derogatory. Smithers calls Jones "the
sounds like the normal pulse of a heartbeat. The stage stinkin' nigger," which is insulting. However, Jones refers to the
directions say that the sound will increase gradually natives insultingly as "de low-flung, bush niggers dat's here."
uninterrupted throughout the rest of the play. Jones appears He does not think they have his intelligence or sophistication
disturbed by the sound and asks Smithers what it is. With a and equates those characteristics with blackness; therefore,
mean grin, Smithers says it is a "bleedin' ceremony" for Jones, he has learned from watching white men. He sees himself as
in which the natives are doing a war dance to get up their smarter than the natives and more like whites. He has a degree
courage to take Jones down. Also, they are performing a of loathing for other black people, which will become apparent
religious service to conjure up spells and demons that will help in subsequent parts of the play.
them against Jones's silver bullet.
The theme of racism is, therefore, very prominent in this scene.
Jones is awed and worried but insists he is not afraid. Smithers Smithers sees that the natives have disappeared, and he
maliciously warns of evil spirits in the forest at night. Jones assumes, presumably because of their race, that they are
gathers up his confidence and says he is no chicken like either lazy or stealing. While Smithers is friends or, at least,
Smithers; he does not believe in ghosts and spells. Laughing, friendly with Jones, he also looks down on him. He calls him a
he tells Smithers that before he got into trouble, he was "in "stinkin' nigger" and believes he has become too confident and
good standin'" as a Pullman porter and a member of the Baptist proud. Although he warns Jones of the uprising, he also thinks
Church, and that will protect him. Jones has it coming. He knows Jones is smart. Yet he
attributes his success to cunning, meaning trickery or luck,
Jones notices the time and says he must leave. He finds a
rather than actual intelligence. Smithers is Jones's confidante,
Panama hat with a multicolored band and places it on his head.
yet he is pleased with the idea of an uprising and likely end to
Grinning, he says farewell to Smithers and remarks that one
the emperor's rule. This suggests that Smithers holds
day they will meet again in jail. Smithers wishes him luck and

contempt for the fact that Jones, a black man, is in power. In later on, like Brutus in his tragedy.
Smithers's world, power is reserved for the white man. Jones,
meanwhile, displays his own racist attitude of the time toward Playwright Anton Chekov (1860–1904) famously stated that if a
the natives. He views them the way white people of the time writer hangs a gun on the wall in the first act, it must be fired
viewed black people. later on. Otherwise, it should not be hanging there. In The
Emperor Jones there is evidence of this principle in Jones's
Readers learn that before his arrival on the island, Jones lived statement that he has a gun and six bullets, five lead, one
in the United States, where he would have been subject to Jim silver. The audience knows or, at least, expects that Jones will
Crow laws. Smithers makes a point to tell Jones that he was fire all six of these bullets. Otherwise, O'Neill would not have
lucky that Smithers hired him; in the United States, an mentioned not only the gun but also the number of bullets.
opportunities like the one Smithers offered Jones would have Indeed, in the next six scenes, Jones will fire all six bullets.
been few and far between. The reader learns that Jones
worked as a Pullman porter, carrying the luggage of and Eugene O'Neill was influenced to write this play by the United
serving white passengers. Therefore, it is interesting that his States's actual occupation of Haiti, a major news event at the
life of inferiority in the United States has become one of time. The theme of occupation and oppression is prominent in
superiority on the island in his position as ruler over the black the story and, in particular, in this scene. While Jones is
natives. Jones boasts to Smithers about the tricks he learned portrayed as a black man, he also represents the occupying
from the rich white men while eavesdropping on their forces in the country. He believes himself to be more intelligent
conversations on the railroad. What he has learned about than and superior to the superstitious natives. Like the United
superiority comes from the white man, and he effectively States in Haiti and occupying forces in other countries, Jones's
replicates this power structure upon people of his race, motivations are entirely selfish. He pretends to be a benevolent
inflicting fear and violence among them. god who rescues the natives from themselves. In truth,
however, he knows he is cheating them, overtaxing them, and
The play was originally titled The Silver Bullet, and that bullet is storing away large amounts of money. He states that he has
a dominant symbol in the play. It is first mentioned in this scene passed laws that do not apply to him or to his friends. He
with the implication that it will appear later. The silver bullet is knows he is stealing. Big stealing, he says, makes you emperor.
part of the theme of immortality and humanity. Jones has told
the natives that he is all but immortal and that only a silver Furthermore, on the theme of occupation and oppression,
bullet can kill him, an object he does not believe the natives can O'Neill describes the setting of the play as an island in the
possess. Since ancient times, silver has been used in myths West Indies, "as yet not self-determined by White Marines,"
and stories to kill fearsome supernatural beings. In 19th- referring to those occupying Haiti. While O'Neill was writing the
century literature, the silver bullet is widely used to kill such play, a series of articles titled "Self-Determining Haiti"
monsters as werewolves, evil witches, and satanic beings. appeared in newspapers. Self-determination means "free
Thus with his story, Jones has made himself appear as choice of one's own acts without external compulsion" or
something menacingly supernatural to instill fear in his people "determination by the people of a territorial unit of their own
to ensure their loyalty. Jones also makes it known that he has a future political status." Therefore, O'Neill was being parodic
silver bullet in his own revolver reserved to kill himself in case and sarcastic in saying that white Marines could self-determine
someone tries to get him. Making others believe that only he an island for the people there. In the play, O'Neill analogized
has the power to end his own life suggests that his greatest Jones to those white Marines who occupied Haiti. Like the
fear may be of powerlessness. This emotion could come from United States, Jones made laws that may not have been in the
the oppression Jones had experienced in the United States. interest of the island's occupants and did not apply to him. He
also taxed them and stole their money.
Jones's first name is Brutus, the same name as a historical
politician (c. 85–42 BCE) featured as a character in William The drums begin in this first scene and will continue
Shakespeare's (1564–1616) play Julius Caesar (1599). In the throughout the play. Sounding like a pulse beat, they symbolize
play, Brutus is convinced to murder Caesar because he is a Jones's past and his crimes closing in on him. With the beating
dictator who believes himself to be a god. In this play, Brutus of the drum, Jones leaves his white palace and his position as
Jones is like Caesar in his godliness, but, as readers will see emperor. This is the first sign that Jones is descending from

godliness and regaining his humanity, which will be shown in all

the succeeding scenes.
Analysis
In the first scene, Jones described how he persuaded the
natives that he was godlike and immortal. In this scene, after
Scene 2 only a short time, Jones is feeling his own mortality. His feet
hurt. He is hungry. He is turned around, and now he cannot find
his way. He keeps making mistakes that he recognizes as
Summary imprudent blunders.
Jones begins his journey at the entry to the forest. He is Still, Jones's scorn for the native people is clear in this scene.
dressed as he was when the audience last saw him. It is not yet He calls them "bush niggers" and cannot believe that they may
dark but will be soon. Jones looks around for a landmark and have hidden his food. He has underestimated them. They know
then, believing he has found it, throws himself on the ground, these woods better than he does. His underestimation of the
tired. It is very hot, and Jones wipes sweat from his face. He natives is evidence of hubris on Jones's part, pride that will turn
says that his job as emperor is too soft, that it did not prepare out to be his undoing.
him for such a long hike in the hot sun. Laughing, he remarks
The drum continues in this scene and beats faster. It will
that the worst is yet to come. Jones peers out at the dark
continue and intensify in every scene in the play. Eugene
forest in awe and admits that Smithers was right. He takes off
O'Neill used the drum to great effect in the play. In a 1924
his shoes, noting that his feet are not blistered.
interview, O'Neill stated that he had read about religious feasts
The tom-tom is still beating rhythmically. Jones comments that in the Congo in which the drum is used. It starts as a normal
it is "bush niggers" and that the drumbeats are getting louder. pulse beat and intensifies "until the heartbeat of every one
He is growing uneasy, and he wonders if they are after him. present corresponds to the frenzied beat of the drum." O'Neill
Jones tries to ease his mind by convincing himself that the wanted to see if that would work on an audience in a theater.
natives are still miles behind him. Hastily, he puts his shoes Thus, the audience experiences Jones's rapidly beating heart
back on and plans to eat. He turns over the white stone he as the natives close in on him.
believes he hid his food under; however, the food is not there.
In addition to the tom-tom, O'Neill uses lighting to great effect.
There are many more white stones than he believed. Hastily, he
In each scene, Jones will be less and less able to see around
scrambles from white stone to white stone and still does not
him. Rather, he will be forced to look inside himself.
find food. He does not understand how he cannot find it when
he followed the path in broad daylight.
The drum begins to beat faster. Jones lights a match to see Scene 3
better, then says, "Nigger, is you gone crazy mad? Is you
lightin' matches to show dem whar you is?" He cautions himself
to use his head. Summary
Suddenly, the Little Formless Fears materialize. They are black
It is 9:00 and the moon has just risen. Its beams filter through
with glittering eyes. Jones looks up at the trees and asks,
the trees, casting an eerie, muted glow on the forest floor. The
"Woods, is you tryin' to put somethin' ovah on me?" The Little
beat of the tom-tom is slightly louder and faster than it was in
Formless Fears laugh mockingly and swirl up from the ground
Scene 2. Also, a strange clicking sound is audible.
toward Jones. Jones, terrified, yells, grabs his revolver, and
shoots, using the first of his five lead bullets. They scurry away. The audience can see a figure appear; it is the apparition of
After some moments, Jones regains his confidence and Jeff, the middle-aged black man Jones killed years ago. He is
reasons that the beings were probably just wild pigs. He wearing a Pullman porter's uniform and is crouching on the
realizes he may have given away his location with the gunshot. ground, rolling a pair of dice. He shakes the dice, tosses them,
He has to move on. Bravely, he dives into the forest. and picks them up. He repeats these steps over and over
again, mechanically.

Jones comes on stage. He has lost his Panama hat, he has signal that the humanity that has been buried deep within him
scratches on his face, and there are tears in his uniform. He is starting to surface. However, the fact that he does not see
wonders what time it is and comments on how hot it is. Jones Jeff for several minutes after he first walks on stage indicates
is weary. He says it seems like he has been out in the forest that Jones is still very much caught up in his own world.
forever, but it is only moonrise. It will be a long night for him, he
says. He jokes that there is nothing majestic about him now The drum gets louder when Jones fires the gunshot. Each
that he is tired, hot, and disheveled. However, he comforts bullet fired puts him one step closer to meeting his fate in the
himself with the thought of getting out safely and with his form of the natives who are looking for him.
money intact.
Jones's dialect makes it difficult to understand what he is
Jones stops to listen to the drum and figures that the natives saying at times. When the play was written, the dialect was
are getting closer, and he must keep moving. He notices common, and it was not considered offensive to portray black
another sound and becomes worried. He says it sounds like a speech in this manner. Today, the dialect may make the play
black man shooting craps (a game that involves betting wagers difficult to perform.
on rolling dice). Now Jones is frightened. He walks quickly,

stopping short when he sees Jeff. Jones is happy to see him;
he thought Jeff died from the razor cut Jones gave him. Jones Scene 4
talks to Jeff, but Jeff does not respond. As Jeff continues to
toss the dice mechanically, Jones becomes scared. He asks if
Jeff is a ghost. Jones panics and shoots at him, using a second Summary
lead bullet. The drum gets louder. Jones runs into the
underbrush. It is 11:00. In the forest, the moon is high. There is a road,
walled in on both sides by forest. The stage directions describe
the road as glimmering "ghastly and unreal" in the moonlight
Analysis and that it is "as if the forest had stood aside momentarily to
let the road pass through." However, the forest will close in
This scene shows the first of several flashbacks from Jones's again, obscuring the road.
past. He thought he had escaped his sins by coming to the
island, but now they are coming back to haunt him. Jones stumbles out of the forest from stage right. His uniform
is ragged and torn. He is surprised to see the road and flops
Jones's attire is significant. Although the play takes place in a down, exhausted and panting heavily.
hot climate, Jones is portrayed wearing a great deal of
clothing: a uniform, shoes, and a hat. These items cause him to Angrily, Jones says that he is melting with heat. He flings off
seem more similar to the white oppressors than the natives his coat, saying, "Damn dis heah coat! Like a strait-jacket!"
who live on the island. In this scene, and later ones, Jones Now he is unclothed from the waist up. After he removes his
sheds his clothes and his power. In Scene 3, for example, coat, he says he can breathe. He takes off the spurs so that he
Jones's ripped uniform and missing hat show that he is can move more quickly. After he does this, he says, "Dere! I gits
shedding the regalia of being emperor. He is returning to his rid o' dem frippety Emperor trappin's an' I travels lighter." He
powerless state of mortality. The forest, unfamiliar to him, is hears the tom-tom and says that the drum sounds the same,
defeating him. As emperor, he believed himself to be all- maybe closer. Still, he feels the natives will not catch him if only
powerful, but here, he says that he has lost his majesty. He will he can stand up. He says he is sorry he ever "went in for dis"
continue to become more and more bedraggled as the play and that "Dat Emperor job is sho' hard to shake."
goes on.
He looks at the road suspiciously and wonders how such a
Jones is, at first, happy to see Jeff, which indicates that he is good road came to be there. He hopes he does not see any
sorry to have killed him. Whether Jones is remorseful because more ghosts. With confidence, Jones says that because he is a
he killed Jeff or because he got caught for the man's murder is Baptist, he knows ghosts are not real. He knows he did not see
unclear. At least, however, Jones realizes that he is guilty, a Jeff, and he tells himself that what he thought he saw was in

his own head. He sees things because he is hungry and sick. tells himself that the Baptists taught him that there are no such
Jones says that he needs to rest. Looking up at the moon, he things as ghosts, and he says a prayer when he first sees the
says that the night is halfway through. Then, once he reaches apparition of the chain gang and guard. His reference to the
the coast in the morning, he says that he will be safe. Baptist Church in this scene indicates that he has offended the
Church with his hubris like ancient Greeks offended gods with
A gang of prisoners now enters the stage dressed in striped theirs. Thus, the theme of godliness and humanity is portrayed
suits shackled to balls and chains and carrying shovels and here, as Jones is brought down to human level by his conduct,
picks. A white prison guard carrying a rifle and whip follows which would offend the gods.
them. The guard signals to the prisoners to stop in front of
Jones, who is looking up at the stars. When Jones lowers his Characters in tragedies sometimes have hallucinations, often
head and sees the men, he becomes paralyzed with fear and born of guilt. One such example is the title character in William
says a prayer. It is the chain gang Jones worked on before Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth (1606–7) who sees a bloody
coming to the island. dagger in front of him. The dagger in Macbeth symbolizes
Macbeth's guilt at the crimes he has committed. Here, too,
The prisoners start to work, mechanically. The white guard Jones feels guilty about what he has done, and the apparitions
signals to Jones to start working, and Jones shuffles to his he sees are manifestations of his guilt-muddled mind.
feet. He begins to work as if he had a shovel in his hand and
whispers curses. With anger, the guard approaches Jones and The white prison guard sternly points his whip at Jones and
lashes him with his whip. When he turns away, Jones tries to motions for him to join the chain gang. Notice how Jones's first
attack him with a shovel but realizes he has none. He begs the instinct is to submit to the guard's request. Jones even utters
other convicts to give him a shovel. They do not. the words, "Yes, suh! I'se comin'!" Jones, in an instant, is
brought back to a position of subservience at the hands of the
Terrified, Jones screams, "I kills you, you white debil, if it's de white man, suggesting that he cannot escape from the
last thing I evah does!" He shoots the guard in the back with his experience of being oppressed—the effects of oppression are
revolver. The walls of the forest close in, covering the convicts. deep in his soul. Here, history repeats itself for Jones as he fills
with anger and attempts to kill the guard, first with the shovel,
Jones dives into the underbrush, and the tom-tom beats more
then with the gunshot. "Ghost or debil, I kill you agin!" he cries.
quickly and more loudly.
By coming to the island and becoming emperor, Jones thought
he was escaping his sins, but the apparition, which forces
Analysis Jones to relive his past, shows him that it was foolish for him to
think he could escape his wrongdoings.
Although The Emperor Jones is considered an expressionist

In this scene, Jones's clothes continue to rebel against him,
play, it also has many elements of tragedy, similar to plays by
and he acknowledges it, stating that he needs to get rid of his
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) or by ancient Greeks.
"Emperor trappin's" to make himself lighter so that he can
move more freely. The shedding of his coat leaves him naked
One such example is that Jones's hubris proves to be his
from the waist up. He is consciously removing his power and
downfall. The ancient Greeks defined hubris as "the display of
stripping down to his humanity.
pride and ambition so great that it offends the gods." In Greek
tragedy, characters were often punished for such presumption.
About being emperor, Jones feels like the "job is sho' hard to
In O'Neill's play, Jones, as emperor, acted presumptuous and
shake." His comment indicates that Jones is beginning to
full of pride. Now he is paying the price for underestimating the
realize that he cannot escape the things he has done in the
natives, and they are attempting to cast spells upon him,
past. Forfeiting his palace and shedding his regalia will not stop
possibly using their island religion.
the natives from trying to capture and kill him. Like he faced
the apparition of Jeff, the man he killed years before, in Scene
Additionally, readers learned in Scene 1 that Jones abandoned
4 he will have to face the natives for his exploitation and
his own religion, the Baptist Church, which preaches against
oppression of them.
murder and other sins Jones has committed. Now he wants
help from his religion, but it is not there for him. In Scene 4 he

temper get the better of him, he shoots the auctioneer and the
Scene 5 planter who buys him. This shows how damaged Jones is and,
by extension, how damaged all black men have been by
slavery. His awful conduct, his oppression and exploitation of
Summary the natives is, if not justified, certainly explained by his past
feeling of powerlessness and oppression. Jones has acted like
It is now 1:00 in the morning. Brutus Jones appears in a a white man, exploiting and oppressing the natives. Therefore,
clearing where there are several trees and a stump that looks he is now experiencing what it was like for his ancestors to be
like an auction block. Jones's clothes are in tatters, as are his exploited and oppressed.
shoes. He cautiously sits on the stump and begins rocking
back and forth with his face in his hands. It is unlikely that Jones remembers the enslavement of
Africans in the United States. Slavery ended with the
In a panic, Jones moans miserably. Then he falls to his knees ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in
and prays pleadingly to Jesus, "Lawd Jesus, heah my prayer! 1865. Since Jones is middle-aged, he would either never have
I'se a po' sinner, a po' sinner!" He continues, saying he knows it been a slave or only been one as a small child. The play
was wrong to kill Jeff and even the guard, and it was wrong to indicates that slavery can still be part of the collective
steal all he could grab from the natives on the island. Now unconscious of people, and certainly black people, in the
terrified, he begs Jesus to keep the natives away from him and United States. Collective unconscious was a term coined by
to stop the drum in his ears. He sits on the stump again, feeling psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875–1961) to refer to a part of the
a bit more confident, and he vows never to be afraid of real unconscious brain common to all people. Thus, Jones is shown
men after what he has been through with ghostly visions. tormented by slavery, even if he was not ever a slave. He was
still a Pullman porter, and thus, he dealt with former slaves and
He removes his shoes, which only hurt him now. He mourns,
a company that required slavish manners. Moreover, he was
"You was real, A-one patin' leather ... Look at you now.
subjected to the neoslavery of the chain gang, a way in which
Emperor, you'se gittin' mighty low!" He stares at the shoes,
black people were forced to work after slavery's end.
sadly.
In Scene 5, as in previous scenes, Jones does not immediately
Apparitions of mid-19th-century slaves, southern planters, and
notice what is going on around him. The apparitions have either
an auctioneer enter on stage as the tom-tom continues to
been onstage already or entered the stage when Jones was
beat. Jones, still looking at his shoes, is brought to attention by
not looking, and he has not seen them until it was too late.
a hand on his shoulder. He looks up and sees the auctioneer
Here, for example, Jones sees only the auctioneer when he
motioning for him to mount the stump, the auction block.
takes him by the shoulder and tells him to stand on the auction
Silently, the auctioneer extolls Jones's virtues as a slave. Jones
block. He feels remorse only after he gets caught and only
is terrified as he realizes what is happening. He says, "What
because he is in trouble.
you all doin', white folks?" He screams at the auctioneer and a
planter, who has just bought him. He says, "I shows you I'se a Jones's removal of his shoes, as with his other articles of
free nigger, damn yo' souls!" Jones shoots both men, using two clothing, shows that he is no longer an emperor. He has been
more lead bullets. brought down. However, he still has his regrets. He prays to
Jesus, depicting the theme of godliness and humanity. At one
The walls of the forest fold in, and Jones, crying with fear, runs
point, Jones saw himself as a god in patent leather shoes. Now
away. The sound of the tom-tom becomes louder and the
he is just a man brought down by the heat, the unfamiliar
beats are quicker.
forest, and the illusions of his mind. Thus, he must pray to
Jesus, whom he has forgotten.
Analysis
The theme of racial injustice is central in this scene, as a white
man sells Jones at a slave auction. Jones cannot stand it.
Despite just having repented for murder and for letting his

rest." In some sense, he knows he is defeated. He has not

Scene 6 accepted it yet, but he would rather be caught than have to
struggle any longer and deal with more apparitions. If he truly
believed that he would make it out of the forest and that the
Summary time was near, he would continue.
The scene takes place at 3:00 in the morning in a clearing in The journey through the woods has simultaneously made him
the forest. The trees twist together, and their limbs form walls, more human (in the sense of not being godlike) and stripped
enclosing the clearing in darkness. There is very little light away his humanity. He is immediately one with the slaves on
coming through the branches. The audience can hear the the ship—the men in the apparition—wailing with them and
sound of Brutus Jones crawling and moaning as he moving with them.
approaches the scene.
The image of the slave ship is not from Jones's experience.
Jones is in distress because now he only has the silver bullet Like the events of the slave auction in Scene 5, this experience
left in his revolver. He wonders how he will scare away the exists from Jones's consciousness. As a black man, the
apparitions. He says he has to lie down to rest. He does not experience of his ancestors marks him, and he instinctively
care if the natives catch him. knows what to do. This fact scares him more than anything
else. Having been the emperor, he cannot be this powerless,
Jones moves forward, and his figure becomes apparent. His and this causes him to run away.
pants have torn away, leaving him dressed in little more than a
breechcloth (loincloth). He is exhausted and throws himself Here, as in the previous scene, Jones sees visions of what his
face down on the ground. ancestors experienced. Recently, he has acted like a white
oppressor and is now being forced to live through that
Two rows of black men appear on stage, seated facing each experience himself.
other with their backs toward the forest. They wear loincloths
too and begin to sway with the motion of a ship at sea. They The tom-tom is beating louder and faster than it ever has. In
are murmuring low to the rhythm of the tom-tom and wail in this way, O'Neill puts the audience into Jones's head. They feel
despair. his panic as their own pulses quicken to match the drumbeat.
The shared experience of the audience's feeling Jones's
Jones looks up and sees the apparitions, and at first, he emotion is the essence of expressionism in the play.
shakes with terror. However, soon Jones is murmuring and
wailing along with them as if he knows what to say and do. The
light fades, as do the voices of the other men, until only Jones's Scene 7
voice is audible. At this point he is seated like the men were.
The scene becomes dark, and the audience can hear Jones
scramble away, his voice becoming distant. The tom-tom beats
more loudly and quickly, "with a more insistent, triumphant
Summary
pulsation."
Now it is 5:00 in the morning, and the scene, still dark, is set at
the foot of a gigantic tree by a river. There is a rough stone
altar next to the tree. Jones can be heard offstage, still wailing
Analysis and murmuring to the rhythm of the tom-tom. Then he enters
quietly. His expression is "fixed and stony," and his eyes seem
Jones is keenly aware of his vulnerability and mortality in this
like those of someone in a trance. He scans his surroundings,
scene. He is down to his last bullet, the silver bullet, which he
bewildered, and then kneels before the altar. He begins to
knows he has to keep on hand for an emergency. He has no
become himself again and wonders where he is. He recognizes
clothing to protect him, none of the accoutrements of being
the tree and knows he has been there before. Terror sinks in,
emperor. He is terrified.
and Jones says he is "skeered in dis place," and he prays to
Jones says, "I don't care if dem niggers does cotch me. I gotta Jesus to protect him. He crawls away from the altar and hides

his face and cries hysterically with fright. dat black is white, den I yells it out louder." He has pretended
to believe what the natives believe in order to have power over
A Congo witch doctor appears wearing only a loincloth made them. However, his greed and the murders he has committed
of fur. His body is covered in red paint, and an antelope horn is do not comport with their beliefs either. Now, having failed to
on each side of his head. He carries a rattle made from a bone find mercy in Christianity, Jones hopes that this other religion
and a wand that has cockatoo feathers tied to the end. He will show him mercy. He is entirely at the mercy of this god and
comes closer to the altar and begins to dance and chant in the island people. He attempts to participate in the ceremony
front of Jones. The sound of the tom-tom becomes deafening by chanting along. However, it is too late.
as the witch doctor moves to its rhythm. Transfixed and in awe,
all Jones can do is sit paralyzed and watch. Considering Jones's experiences in the forest up until this
point, the reader may recognize that the story the witch doctor
The witch doctor's dance becomes a story of someone trying tells is one of Jones's own experiences on his journey. Jones is
to placate a god demanding sacrifice. He flees as if being transfixed and connects to the spirit and meaning of the story
chased by devils, then hides, and then runs away again. His because it is his own. The witch doctor's story comes to a
movements become wilder and wilder, and his chanting head when he relates to Jones the idea of sacrifice. Since this
becomes louder and louder. Jones joins in the incantation and story is Jones's own, at this point, the reader and Jones both
beats the time with his hands and sways to and fro. The spirit know that he will surely perish. In the end, there will be no
of the dance has entered his body, and he is becoming one mercy; Jones will pay the price for his hubris, his mistake of
with it. placing himself at the same level as the gods.
At this point the god demands sacrifice in return for salvation. All Jones can do is bow his head and pray when the witch
With his wand, the witch doctor motions to the tree, to the doctor orders sacrifice. Here, in the face of the gods, Jones
river, the altar, and then to Jones, to which Jones understands has lost his godliness. Also he is powerless against the witch
that he must offer himself. He begs, "Mercy, Oh Lawd! Mercy! doctor's instructions and obediently crawls toward the
Mercy on dis po' sinner!" Crocodile God, all the while begging God for mercy. His fear
and his pleading show that he is humbled and aware now of his
In a flash, the witch doctor is standing at the river bank and
mortality.
calls up a god that emerges from the water as a huge
crocodile head. It fixes its eyes on Jones; its stare hypnotizes The silver bullet symbolizes Jones's power and immortality.
him. The witch doctor flicks his wand at Jones, and he starts Without it, he is more than vulnerable; he is completely
crawling on his belly toward the beast, moaning for God to helpless. When Jones fires the last bullet, he realizes what he
have mercy on him. is doing. He knows that he cannot survive without it. After he
fires it, he does not attempt to run off, as in previous scenes.
The Crocodile God starts after Jones, and he squirms toward
Rather, he lies down and accepts his fate.
it, still begging for mercy. Then he remembers the one bullet he
has left, the silver bullet. He fires. The Crocodile God sinks
back under the water, and the witch doctor disappears. Jones
lies on the ground, whimpering, as the drumbeat increases. Scene 8
Analysis Summary
Everything has come to a head in this scene. Far from being At dawn, back where the forest meets the plain, Lem, a native
godlike, Jones is at the mercy of the island gods he previously man, a squad of soldiers, and Smithers enter. Lem is described
scorned. He begins the scene by praying to Jesus, but when as an "ape-faced old savage" in a loincloth with a revolver and
the witch doctor appears, he joins in his ceremony. cartridge belt around his waist. The soldiers wear loincloths
and palm leaves on their heads and carry rifles. The tom-tom
At the beginning of the play, Jones said he still believed in the seems close; its beats are loud and continuous. One of the
Baptist Church, but that if he "finds out dem niggers believers soldiers leans to the ground and peers around and then points

The Emperor Jones Study Guide Quotes 21
to where Brutus Jones went into the forest. Lem and the natives, on the other hand, act very differently
from Smithers. O'Neill describes Lem as primitive, almost like
Smithers says the natives wasted their time, beating their an animal, which makes it easier for Smithers to underestimate
drums and casting spells. Jones is way ahead of them and has him based on his race. Jones, through his own self-loathing,
probably gotten through the forest by now. also underestimates the black natives. Smithers and Jones
both believe that the natives are stupid simply because they
"We cotch him," Lem says. Smithers does not believe him. He
are not familiar with the white man's ways. However, Lem and
says Jones is a better man than any of them, even though he
the natives beat Jones at his own game. In this final scene,
hates the sight of Jones. Lem repeats that they caught Jones.
they find and kill him. Even though they believe his lie about
Smithers dismisses Lem and the soldiers as "Blarsted fat only being able to be killed by a silver bullet, they manage to
'eads"; then he thinks about it. Jones might have gotten lost find a way around this problem and defeat him.
and turned in a circle in the woods, though the natives might
There are two possible interpretations of Jones's visions within
think it is their "silly spells" and their drums that caused it.
the forest. First is that the natives, using voodoo spells, caused
Lem silences Smithers, and they listen to several repeated rifle Jones to have visions and see apparitions. If true, that would
shots coming from the forest. Then they hear exuberant mean that the natives worked hard and figured out exactly
cheers. The tom-tom abruptly goes silent. With a satisfied grin, what Jones's vulnerabilities were, showing their intelligence.
Lem repeats that they caught him. "Him dead," he says. This is undoubtedly what the natives think happened. However,
it is equally possible that Jones's visions were the result of
Smithers asks Lem how he knows it is Jones they killed. Lem hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and a guilty conscience.
explains that they knew lead bullets would not work on Jones
because "he got urn strong charm." He goes on to say that When Smithers realizes that the natives have defeated Jones,
they melted down silver money to make bullets since the lead he is terrified. Previously, he had not thought the natives were
ones would not work. formidable opponents. Now he realizes that they are cunning.
Moreover, with Jones gone, Smithers has no ally. He is
Smithers is still dubious, but just then soldiers come out of the defeated. Smithers expresses his grudging admiration for
woods, bearing Jones's dead body. Smithers looks at them and Jones with the last line of the play, however, as he appreciates
speaks, "in a tone of frightened awe." Then grinning, Smithers Jones deceiving the natives for a while.
says that, for all his airs, Jones is dead, but he did die in his
own style. O'Neill wrote The Emperor Jones in response to his feelings
about the United States's occupation of Haiti. Jones, thus,
represents the occupying forces, even though he is black. He
Analysis acts as O'Neill and others saw the United States acting,
passing unfair laws and stealing from the people they are
Racism is evident in Smithers's reaction to Jones and the oppressing. By having the natives realize what Jones is about
natives. Even though they are friends, Smithers says he hates and defeat him, O'Neill says that, eventually, the Haitians will
the sight of Jones. Jones's death does not sadden him. also rise up and defeat the United States.
Smithers does like Jones better than he likes the natives, and
he respects Jones, if grudgingly. When Smithers says to Lem
that Jones is better than the natives are, he is saying that g Quotes
Jones is "whiter" than the natives. Jones acts like a white man,
having learned from white men; he does not act in a way
Smithers perceives to be black. Therefore, even though "The action ... takes place on an
Smithers does not like Jones so much because he is black and
has power, Smithers can relate to and understand Jones island ... as yet not self-determined
better than he can to the natives. This is because when it by White Marines."
comes to the natives, Jones acts "white" with his mistreatment
and oppression of them.

— Narrator, Scene 1 island natives' intelligence. He will end up paying for his
mistake.
Here O'Neill describes the setting of the play in a stage

direction, but he also comments on the United States's
occupation of Haiti, which was happening at the time. "Dere's little stealin' ... and dere's
Immediately before the publication of the play, O'Neill read a
big stealin' ... For de big stealin'
series of articles on the occupation of Haiti titled "Self-
Determining Haiti." Self-determination means "free choice dey makes you Emperor."
without external compulsion" or "the determination by the
people of a political area of that area's future." To say that — Brutus Jones, Scene 1
"White Marines" could "self-determine" an island in the West
Indies is an impossibility. O'Neill, thus, meant to say that the
Jones is stating his overarching philosophy, which he learned
white Marines would make the determination themselves, as
from listening to white men when he was a Pullman porter. If a
those occupying Haiti had. If the residents of the island
man steals the way black men steal, little stealing, he will go to
believed they had "self-determined" anything, it was because
jail. However, if a man steals the way white men steal, he'll be
they were brainwashed to believe so. This particular island,
rewarded. In Jones's case, his reward for stealing from the
however, is not occupied by white Marines. It is occupied by a
natives is his position as emperor. He lied to the natives, and
black American named Brutus Jones.
now he is stealing by overtaxing them and squirreling the
money away. Unlike in the United States, he has not been
punished for his wrongdoings. In many ways, O'Neill analogizes
"Serve 'im right! Puttin' on airs, the Jones to the occupying forces in Haiti. They have no
stinkin' nigger!" consequences because they are able to cover their tracks.
— Henry Smithers, Scene 1

"But I makes dat luck, you heah? I
Smithers is referring to Jones, his friend, as a "stinkin' nigger" loads de dice!"
who is "puttin' on airs." Though Smithers and Jones are friends,
the quote demonstrates Smithers's racist views. Even though — Brutus Jones, Scene 1
they are allies and Jones, as emperor, is a figure who should
command respect, Smithers views Jones as beneath him.
In gambling, loaded dice are dice that are made for cheating.
Smithers is saying that Jones deserves to be deposed as
They have been altered in a way so that they land in a
emperor for having the audacity to think he can be. After all, it
preferred position to win the pot. Loaded dice can get a player
is white men who are occupiers, white men who act like Jones.
in serious trouble, as Jones murdered a black man named Jeff
for playing craps with loaded dice. Smithers says that Jones
was lucky to convince the natives that he was immune to
"De low-flung, bush niggers dat's regular lead bullets. Jones resents this remark, believing he
here ... wants de big circus show." was not lucky but smart. He made his luck by looking for
opportunities and taking advantage of them—thus loading his
dice. In cheating the natives, he is able to reap the benefits of
— Brutus Jones, Scene 1
wealth and power and secure a status of godliness. However,
Jones's statement about his dice being loaded in this quote is a
Jones scorns the natives, just as Smithers does. In this way, he hint to the reader that Jones will likely pay for the
is very much like the white people who will not accept him as consequences of his cheating ways.
an equal. He thinks of the natives on the island as mere "bush
niggers." This quote shows that Jones underestimates the


"I'se Emperor yit, ain't I?"
— Brutus Jones, Scene 1 The heat is beginning to get the better of Jones. Meanwhile,
the natives are used to it, giving them the advantage. Jones's
uniform, a symbol of his power and vanity, has become a
Jones tells Smithers not to count him out. His time as emperor
straitjacket, and he begins to shed it, piece by piece. Still, the
is not over, and he will succeed. Jones shows here that he has
forest is getting the better of Jones.
underestimated the natives and overestimated his own ability.
He expects to be able to walk away from his emperorship,
claim his money, and disappear, and he expects to do it with no
help from anyone. This will be his downfall.
"Dere! I gits rid o' dem frippety
Emperor trappin's an' I travels
lighter."
"Nigger, is you gone crazy mad? Is
you lightin' matches to show dem — Brutus Jones, Scene 4
whar you is?"

Jones has started to realize that his uniform and, by extension,
— Brutus Jones, Scene 2 his pretentions at being an emperor are weighing him down. He
must, therefore, shed both. If he wants to defeat the natives, he
must think on their level. The natives are very familiar with the
Jones has barely left the palace gates, and already, things are
forest, and they do not carry extra baggage, either literal or
not going according to plan. At first he blames himself. Since
figurative, as Jones does. Here, he is stating that he will try to
no one else is as smart as he is, he thinks, he can only fail by
challenge them on their own terms.
making stupid mistakes. Already he is making them, lighting
matches and, later, shooting his gun. This quote at least shows
that Jones realizes that the natives possess some intelligence,
in contrast to the way Smithers sees them. It also shows that
"Lawd Jesus, heah my prayer! I'se
Jones realizes that he has to be careful. a po' sinner, a po' sinner!"

"Woods, is you tryin' to put
somethin' ovah on me?" Jones calls upon Jesus to help him. He has previously said that
he doesn't believe in "ha'nts" or spirits, and that the Baptist
— Brutus Jones, Scene 2 Church taught him that. However, Jones has abandoned Jesus
and his Baptist upbringing. With his avarice and the murders he
has committed, Jones has flouted that religion. He has, in the
Jones blames the woods for his plight. This may mean that he
ways of Greek tragedy, offended God. Now he is realizing that
is, by extension, blaming the natives or giving them some credit
his conduct has come back to haunt him. He tries to curry
for the problems he is having. The drums remind him of their
Jesus's favor in his hour of need. However, he is looking for
presence, and he knows they are casting spells. He says he
Jesus's help to bilk others, so it's hardly the essence of true
does not believe in them, but in light of what is happening, it is
Christianity.
hard for him not to believe it.
"You was real, A-one patin' leather

"It's wa'm an' dat's a fac'!"

The Emperor Jones Study Guide Symbols 24
... Look at you now. Emperor, silly spells!"

you'se gittin' mighty low!"
— Henry Smithers, Scene 8

Smithers minimizes the natives' abilities, saying they wasted
their time beating drums and casting spells. His scorn for Lem
Again Jones is shedding parts of his uniform. In this case, it is
and the natives is apparent in this quote. His racist view
his patent leather boots, apparently his pride and joy. This is a
against the natives is even more palpable than that against
difficult thing for Jones to do. By shedding the uniform and his
Jones. Soon, however, Smithers will realize that the natives are
shoes, Jones is brought down from being a god to being a
smarter than he believed. Their tactics, which he dismissed,
man. He does not want to do it, though, for this brings him
actually worked. They may have allowed Jones to rule over
down to the level of the natives, whom he believes to be
them for a time, but they have been biding their time and
beneath him.
waiting. Then, Smithers realizes that they may be waiting to get
rid of him as well, beyond what the play can show.
"Ain't go no bullet left on'y de silver

one."
l Symbols
Jones is down to his last bullet, and the silver one no less,
Silver Bullet
which is reserved for himself. He is well aware of his
vulnerability and, by extension, his immortality. He has almost
given up, knowing he has been defeated and outsmarted by Traditionally in myths and other fiction, supernatural and other
the natives. immortal beings can only be defeated using a weapon forged
from silver. To convince Lem and the island natives that he is
difficult to kill, he uses the silver bullet to affirm his immortality,
"Mercy, Oh Lawd! Mercy! Mercy though he knows it is a lie. Therefore, the silver bullet
represents Jones's power and godliness but also the lies he
on dis po' sinner!" has told to secure his status. However, he seems to have come
to believe the lie, at least partly, as he carries a revolver with a
— Brutus Jones, Scene 7 silver bullet in its chamber to kill himself in an emergency.
In the end, he uses the silver bullet to chase away the

In earlier scenes, Jones has stated that he is a Baptist and Crocodile God, letting go of the last drop of immortality he has
does not believe in ghosts. Now, however, in the face of the left.
Crocodile God, Jones is praying to him. He has gone to the
natives and is worshipping as they do. He realizes that he has
sinned, and he is brought down. He is just a man, a mortal one,
and he will pay for what he has done. Drum
"I tole yer yer'd lose 'im ... beatin' The tom-tom drum begins to beat in Scene 1. Its beat is
yer bloody drum and castin' yer described in this scene as "exactly corresponding to normal
pulse beat" and insistent. Also, it sounds distant. In later

The Emperor Jones Study Guide Themes 25
scenes, the beat of the drum becomes faster and louder, at

least to Jones. This makes them more ominous as Jones is Jones's Uniform and Clothing
overpowered by his own guilt. The drums symbolize the
presence of punishment for Jones's past and more recent acts
closing in on him. They also symbolize Jones's inability to At the beginning of the play, Jones's uniform symbolizes his
escape his own primitive instincts and those of the natives he status as emperor, his power, and his vanity. His uniform
has tricked. includes many decorations, suggesting that he is a veteran
when he is not. As Jones journeys through the forest, his
uniform becomes inconvenient, and he even compares its
uncomfortable fit in the heat of the forest to a straitjacket. His
The Forest patent leather boots are regal but uncomfortable and cannot
withstand the long trek through the forest. Still, as Jones sheds
his boots he mourns. The removal and discarding of his shoes
The forest symbolizes Jones's muddled mind and his quest for bring him down from power and godliness; he must now walk
self-realization. It also symbolizes terror and the power of barefoot like the natives, the humans. In the end, he is left
things that man cannot control. Jones enters the forest when wearing only a loincloth, similar to what his ancestors might
there is still sunlight. Night falls, and as the scenes progress, have worn in Africa and the same dress the island men wear.
the forest becomes darker and darker as his mind gets more With the shedding of his clothes, he has let go of his power and
and more muddled. Even after it is the dead of night, the forest fallen from godliness.
continues to get darker and close in on Jones. Finally, Jones
cannot even see the individual trees. They force him to face his
guilt and the people he has wronged or who have wronged him.
Finally, he is brought out of the forest in the light of dawn, m Themes
dead.
Racism
The Name Brutus
The theme of racist attitudes and beliefs toward others runs
throughout The Emperor Jones. The play is the story of a black
Although Jones is generally referred to by his surname, his first
man who occupies an island in the West Indies and oppresses
name is Brutus. In Latin, Brutus means "dull, stupid, course,
the natives in much the same way that white British and
insensitive, and brutish." Therefore, even though Brutus Jones
American people have. This theme presents itself in several
sees himself as sophisticated, with his fancy clothes and his
ways.
stash of money, his name belies this. Moreover, Brutus (based
on the Roman politician and conspirator Marcos Junius Brutus
First, the character of Henry Smithers, the only white character
[c. 85–42 BCE]) was the name of a character in another
in the play, represents the white man's attitude toward black
tragedy, Julius Caesar (1599), by playwright William
people. Smithers is ostensibly Jones's friend, preferring him
Shakespeare. In the play, Brutus kills Roman dictator Julius
over other black people. This is likely because Jones, having
Caesar (c. 100–44 BCE). However, unlike others who planned
learned from white men, acts more like a white person than the
to murder Caesar for selfish reasons, Brutus did so because
natives around him. However, even though they are friends,
Caesar was a leader who believed himself to be a deity, similar
Smithers refers to Jones as "the stinkin' nigger" and says it
to the character in The Emperor Jones. O'Neill's naming the
serves him right when the natives rebel.
protagonist in his play for the historical or Shakespearian
Brutus is appropriate. Whereas Shakespeare's Brutus Before coming to the island, Jones was a Pullman porter,
participates in the assassination of Caesar, Brutus Jones working on Pullman trains and serving white people. In this
causes his own downfall in much the same final way. way, he was able to observe white men and their ways. He

learned that "big stealin'" earns a person success. Jones puts de crooked tradin' you been doin'?" he asks Smithers. Then he
this advice into practice, oppressing the black natives of the chuckles, saying he has made laws against it at the same time.
island. The natives speak in an accent and don't wear the type However, the laws he has set do not apply to Jones or his
of clothes that white men do. In this way Jones represents the friends.
white oppressor, while the natives are the oppressed blacks.
Jones thinks of himself as above them, more like a white man. Additionally, Jones overtaxes the natives, much as occupiers
He refers to the natives as "bush niggers." Jones's attitude overtax the natives of the countries they occupied. Jones
toward the black people on the island shows self-loathing. He squirrels money away in foreign banks and plans to escape
would rather identify with the white oppressors than identify when the natives realize he is conning them.
with black people, whom he considers to be beneath him.

Occupying, overtaxing, and stealing from the natives is one
Both Jones and Smithers underestimate the island people to form of oppression portrayed in The Emperor Jones. The other
their peril. In Scene 1, Smithers assumes the natives are lazy or is slavery. Jones's visions in the forest are portrayals of slavery.
thieves when, in fact, they are coming up with a detailed plan to In one illusion, Jones sees himself sold in a slave auction. In
overthrow Jones. Jones assumes he will easily be able to another, he is in a slave ship, crossing the ocean.
escape the island, not realizing that the natives are smart and
Before he became the oppressor, Jones himself experienced
know the forest. He gloats about having fooled the natives with
oppression as a black man in the United States. Although his
the silver bullet story. However, this has just made Lem angry
age at the time of the play makes it unlikely that he was a
enough to have a personal vendetta against him.
slave, he was oppressed just the same. He worked as a
The visions Jones sees in the forest reflect the treatment Pullman porter, a position that required subservient conduct.
based on race that black men have suffered in the United Pullman porter was one of the few jobs available to black men
States. Jones sees himself sold at a slave auction and a in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, periods during Jones's
captive on a slave ship, horrors that his ancestors faced. In this lifetime. Later, in prison, Jones worked on a chain gang, a form
way, O'Neill shows that slavery is part of the collective of pseudo-slavery in which men were sentenced to hard labor.
unconscious of people, especially black Americans. Future

Thus Jones, the occupier and oppressor, was also once the
generations may suffer from slavery because it is part of their
oppressed. Through the visions he sees in the forest, Jones
ancestral memory.
becomes the oppressed again and, with the audience, fully
experiences what oppression is like whether in Haiti or the
United States.
Occupation and Oppression

Godlike versus Human
Eugene O'Neill stated that his influences for writing The
Emperor Jones included the United States's occupation of
Haiti. O'Neill states that the setting of the play is an island in
Brutus Jones became emperor of the island by convincing the
the West Indies "as yet not self-determined by White Marines."
natives that he was godlike and only a silver bullet could kill
By this he means that the setting is an unoccupied island
him. He is so committed to this falsehood that he even had a
similar to Haiti.
silver bullet made so that if he ever needed to kill himself, he
Brutus Jones, while black, occupies the island in the same way could use it. Jones, however, does not believe his time will
the white Marines occupied Haiti. Jones is there, similar to the come. He has convinced himself that he is invincible and
U.S. occupiers, to grab as much money as he can. In Scene 1, almost as godlike as the natives see him. Having squirreled
he tells Smithers, "You didn't s'pose I was holdin' down dis away funds in a foreign bank, earned through his oppression of
Emperor job for de glory in it?" He goes on to say that he had the natives, he plans to make his escape, use the supplies he
allowed his friends, including Smithers, to steal from the has hidden in the forest, and easily beat a path off the island
natives and break laws. "Ain't I pertected you and winked at all where he can enjoy retirement. However, Jones is far less

godly than he believes.
In Greek tragedies, many heroes are defeated because of their

hubris, which the gods deem offensive. Because Greek heroes
believe their abilities were equal to those of the gods, the gods
punish them for their presumption. Jones casts himself in the
role of a god by claiming that only a silver bullet can kill him. He
also wears regalia—a colorful uniform with brass and gold
accents, patent leather boots, and brass spurs—that puts him
above the people of the island. Throughout the play, the
audience witnesses Jones being brought back down to earth.
First, his uniform rips. Then he loses his hat. Eventually his
shoes become worn out and uncomfortable. Finally, he is
wearing merely a loincloth, the dress of the native men, to face
the island's Crocodile God.
Many of the discomforts he experiences are because of the

humility Jones does not wish to own. He must discard his
shoes because they have become uncomfortable. Plus, his
shoes are likely not made for long treks in the woods. His
clothing, which consists of a decorated coat, is not the type of
dress that keeps a person cool in the heat. He is generally
unable to carry out his plan due to hunger and thirst.
Moreover, he discards his defenses. Jones starts his journey

with six bullets, one silver, in his pistol. However, in the course
of six scenes of the play, Jones uses all five lead bullets, as
very human fears plague him.
The reader also learns that Jones abandoned his Christian

religion, Baptist, when he came to the island. However, he
expects God's protection when he needs saving from the
ghosts in the forest, apparitions that manifest likely because of
charms cast by the natives. He begs, "Lawd, Jesus, heah my
prayer! I'se a po' sinner, a po' sinner!" However, since he has
abandoned his Baptist beliefs, his religion is not there for him
when he needs it.
Thus, the theme of godliness versus humanity is portrayed

here, as Jones is brought down to human level by his conduct.
Eventually, with no god to help him and no godlike trappings,
Jones is vulnerable so that the natives can kill him.
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The Emperor Jones: What's Inside in Context

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The Emperor Jones: What's Inside in Context

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The Emperor

the emperor of an unnamed island nation, similar to Haiti.

a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3

U.S. Occupation of Haiti often fatal infection that is transmitted to humans by

financial interests. farming or sharecropping, or convict leasing. In the latter

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In the early years of the family's itinerant life in the theater,

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Witch doctor Lem

Brutus Jones Hunter

Jeff Old native woman

Other Major Character

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Full Character List Old native

The planters are apparitions Jones sees

The prison guard is an apparition Jones

The prisoners are apparitions that

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Rising Action Falling Action

3. Jones shoots his first bullet at the Little Formless Fears.

6. Jones shoots at apparitions of the auctioneer and planter.

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Jones works as a Pullman porter.

Jones kills Jeff over a game of craps.

Jones is sentenced to a chain gang.

Jones kills a white prison guard.

Jones arrives on a West Indies island as a stowaway.

Smithers hires Jones to help him cheat the island

Short time later

Lem tries to have Jones killed.

Jones convinces the natives that only a silver bullet can

The natives make Jones emperor of the island.

Smithers warns Jones of an uprising.

Jones leaves the palace to escape the uprising.

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Jones shoots at the Little Formless Fears in the forest.

Jones shoots at an apparition of Jeff.

Jones shoots at the apparition of the prison guard.

Jones shoots apparitions of a slave auctioneer and a

Jones envisions himself on a slave ship.

The witch doctor tells Jones that he must be sacrificed

Jones shoots the silver bullet at the Crocodile God.

The natives kill Jones with a silver bullet.

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Smithers asks Jones if he has any money saved, and Jones

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godliness and regaining his humanity, which will be shown in all

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on rolling dice). Now Jones is frightened. He walks quickly,

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Although The Emperor Jones is considered an expressionist

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rest." In some sense, he knows he is defeated. He has not

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Here O'Neill describes the setting of the play in a stage