The Emperor Jones

In these scenes Jones is forced to relive the sins of his past but remains unwilling to recognize the harm he has caused in his journey From Subject to Sovereign—it is the fear of facing the consequences of his actions that drives his inner turmoil, not remorse. When Jones encounters Jeff, for instance, he momentarily finds solace in the man’s familiarity, as if he has forgotten that he murdered him. His refusal to accept wrongdoing acts as a psychological defense mechanism that shields Jones from the weight of guilt. However, it also forces him to instinctively repeat the past, first by shooting at Jeff, then by shooting the prison guard. This compulsive repetition of the past sheds light on The Insidious Nature of Power, which not only shields Jones from his crimes but in some way legitimizes them as necessary and irrevocable.

Jones’s journey into the forest reveals the protagonist’s psychological turmoil, where he must confront not only external dangers but also his own mind. As Jones continues to encounter figures from his past, his fear of capture merges with his shock at the haunting visions. Meanwhile, his initial confidence in his invincibility steadily erodes. In hearing the increasingly louder drumbeat, he exclaims: “Dey’s gittin’ near! Dey’s comin’ fast!” (174). This comment signifies his dawning awareness that his power is slipping away and that the islanders could potentially regain control. His hallucinations only serve to intensify his anxiety, revealing a complex mixture of denial and desperation. To regain his composure, Jones attempts to rationalize what he has seen, dismissing his visions as manifestations of a hunger-induced delirium. However, this attempt ultimately proves futile: “Hunger ’fects yo’ head and yo’ eyes. Any fool know dat. But bless God, I don’t come across no more o’ dem, whatever dey is!” (176). His internal conflict, rooted in fear and denial, adds another layer to the narrative, deepening the exploration of Guilt, Fear, and the Fractured Psyche.

O’Neill employs sound and light to immerse the audience in Jones’s disorienting and terrifying journey. In Scene 3, the play plunges the audience into darkness, mirroring Jones’s own experience in the forest. The clicking sound and the spectral figure of Jeff build anticipation and foreboding before Jones has even entered the scene. In Scene 4, O’Neill uses the stark absence of sound to accentuate the apparitions’ unsettling nature, while the figures’ repetitive, mechanical movements enhance the eerie atmosphere. These calculated techniques express Jones’s psychological torment.

Jones’s descent into hallucinatory terror also carries broader thematic implications as it furthers racist beliefs and stereotypes. In these scenes, a notable motif, The Emperor’s Uniform, emerges. Whereas Jones begins the play in clothes befitting his regal status, in Scene 3, Jones’s Panama hat is conspicuously absent, and his once-brilliant uniform bears the scars of the forest, showing several large rents. By Scene 4, he discards his jacket and spurs, exposing himself. This gradual degradation of his attire mirrors his deteriorating mental state and the unraveling of his emperor persona. As his clothes fall apart, so too does his facade of invincibility, leaving him vulnerable to the dangers of the forest.

Jones’s psychological journey is often framed problematically as a return to a more “primitive” way of being. In confronting his wrongdoings through his visions, Jones rids himself of the symbols of his rule and returns to his prior form. The visual connection O’Neill draws between Jones’s torn clothes and the islanders’ attire is also problematic, as it links the characters of color to a shared “primal” state of humanity, implying they are a step down from a “civilized” state. Jones himself echoes this belief when trying to dismiss the hallucinations: “Is you civilized, or is you like dese ign’rent black n*****s heah?” (176). O’Neill suggests that Jones’s “civilized” nature is fraudulent and superficial, reinforcing the racist assumption that Blackness and indigeneity are inherently linked to a lack of civilization.