The Emperor Jonesis a play written by Eugene O'Neill in 1920. The main character, Brutus Jones, is an African-American man who formerly worked as a Pullman porter on the railroads. After killing another African-American man in a dice game, he flees to a West Indian island and establishes himself as emperor with the help of a Cockney man named Henry Smithers. Jones learns that his subjects are going to rebel, and he tries to...
The Emperor Jones is a play written by Eugene O'Neill in 1920. The main character, Brutus Jones, is an African-American man who formerly worked as a Pullman porter on the railroads. After killing another African-American man in a dice game, he flees to a West Indian island and establishes himself as emperor with the help of a Cockney man named Henry Smithers. Jones learns that his subjects are going to rebel, and he tries to escape through the jungle with a silver bullet as a charm that he thinks will protect him.
In the jungle, Jones hears the beats of drums and comes upon a phantom of Jeff, the man he killed in the dice game. Scared, Jones shoots the ghost-like figure, who disappears. Jones then comes upon a chain gang, which he is forced to join. He shoots at the head of the gang, who also disappears. Repenting of the murders he committed, Jones then encounters a slave auction from the 1850s. When he is put on the auction block, he fires at the auctioneer and planter, who similarly dissolve. Jones also finds the hold of a slave ship, and then he encounters a Congo witch doctor who urges him to sacrifice himself. A crocodile appears, inching towards Jones. When Lem, the leader of the rebels, finds Jones the next morning, he shoots him with a silver bullet (which he believes is the only thing that will kill Jones) and believes this is what killed him, but Smithers believes Jones has died of fright.