Emperor Jones

¶ … Emperor Jones Eugene O'Neill's 1920 play The Emperor Jones tells the story of a young African-American man who has killed a man and gone to prison and then winds up a ruler of men. O'Neill was interested in social injustice and many of his plays deal with inequalities in the United States of America. In the 1920s, the Harlem Renaissance in New York had brought African-American artisans widespread attention and respect from literary figures like O'Neill.

In his play, he served to illustrate how the perceptions of the race have shaped their futures and how the people tend to live down to the stereotypes which society imposes on them. After his arrest, Brutus Jones escapes prison and finds himself on an island in the Caribbean. There, he claims power and appoints himself Emperor of the island. Brutus Jones, the escaped convict and new royal, is rebelled against and chased through the forest. Eventually, Jones is murdered when is shot with a silver bullet.

In the story, there are three important themes which present themselves: the conflict between ethics and what is right or wrong, the sociological conflict between black and white in American society and the Caribbean, and the difference between mythologies vs. reality. When Jones arrives on the small island, he takes up the position of the leader of the community. Although he has been the subject of violence and judicial action in the United States, Jones does not carry with him any sense of moral value.

Instead, as soon as he has achieved a position of power in the community, he becomes abusive to those whom have less power than himself. When Jones is on the run, he says to himself: "Is you civilized, or is you like dese ign'rent black niggers heah?" (I.iv.). Their racial similarities no longer matter. Since he is the one in power, he has learned to look down upon them.

The idea then becomes that it is not racial inequality that determines which group is to be abused and which exalted. Rather, it is power that gives the person the ability to either lead with kindness or with viciousness. Throughout The Emperor Jones, the conflict between black and white people becomes apparent. Jones is the protagonist of the story, but the narrator of the piece is Smithers, a racist white trader who comments at the first and last scenes of the play.

One of the first things that Smithers says is a racially charged comment to a female servant after Brutus has fled the palace. "You blacks are up to some devilment" (I.i.). This statement not only reflects his attitude that all black people should be organized into one, similar group but that there is wickedness and sin in their actions. Further, the statement reflects the stereotypical idea of many white people of the era that black people were naturally evil.

Mythology and realism is the third theme that is discussed in the play. Jones tries to build up his own mythology in the community he leads. Jones tells Smithers that he intentionally promoted this myth because it makes him more formidable. "I got brains and I uses 'em quick. Dat ain't luck" (I.i.). He is finally killed by a gunshot and a silver bullet.

The reason that this material was used in his murder was that there was a widespread belief on the island that only such a weapon could end his life. Of course, in reality Brutus Jones was just a man and any.