The Emperor Jones

Scene 7 marks the onset of Jones’s tragic downfall. His illusion of power starts to shatter as he encounters mysterious forces within the forest. Having previously confronted his past wrongdoings in hallucinations, Jones is now thrust into a moment of profound reckoning. This scene symbolizes the culmination of not only his external conflict against the islanders, as represented by the Witch Doctor, but also his internal conflict relating to Guilt, Fear, and the Fractured Psyche. Jones’s journey is, in essence, one of self-examination, and the ensuing revelations in Scene 7 lay bare the hollowness of his once-mighty persona.

Initially drawn to the Witch-Doctor’s ritualistic performance, Jones is compelled to watch and even participate in his dances and chants. Yet, as the ritual’s true nature dawns on him, his fascination morphs into fear, and he pleads for mercy in a desperate bid for redemption. The Witch-Doctor’s summoning of the Crocodile God forces Jones to confront his hubris, and he fires his last bullet at the creature. Metaphorically, the act symbolizes the end of his self-proclaimed godhood. Literally, it poses a direct peril, as it ultimately leaves him defenseless against the islanders.

Despite how Jones’s final hallucinatory reckoning ties into his story arc, the premise of the play’s climactic action relies on a reductive, caricatured portrayal of Indigenous spirituality. First, O’Neill describes the Witch-Doctor’s “charms” as “evil” and includes a mention of how his dance summons “devils.” This description perpetuates harmful stereotypes and misconceptions about Indigenous belief systems, framing them as inherently malevolent or sinister and implicitly contrasting them to “superior” Western religions. In addition, the inclusion of the term “Congo” in his name essentializes Indigenous cultures, contributing to a portrayal that lacks nuance and cultural sensitivity. Moreover, his nearly nude state exoticizes and objectifies Indigenous bodies, while the red paint on his skin hints at a common slur used against Indigenous peoples. Such choices reduce a key character in the play to a perceived notion of “primitiveness” and “wildness,” perpetuating racist beliefs about Indigenous communities.

In Scene 8, Jones’s journey From Subject to Sovereign comes full circle as he meets his downfall through the very myth he crafted. The silver bullet that kills Jones symbolically links his fall from grace to his deceit and exploitation of the islanders. By mentioning that Jones “died in the ’eighth o’ style” (195), Smithers highlights how his death occurred on his own terms and represented the extent of his hubris.

However, despite the poetic justice of this narrative choice, the islanders’ success is ultimately reliant on a supposed predisposition to superstition. In having the Indigenous islanders overturn Jones’s rule by crafting silver bullets of their own, O’Neill introduces a problematic comedic undertone, as seen in Smithers’s incredulous comments: “Silver bullets! Gawd blimey” (195). Smithers draws attention to the irony of the situation, ridiculing the islanders for their superstitious beliefs. The islanders’ acceptance of Jones’s absurd myth perpetuates the harmful stereotype that Indigenous peoples are easily manipulated. In the final scene, as throughout the play, racist assumptions proliferate, reducing Black and Indigenous characters to caricatures and diminishing their agency.