39 pages • 1 hour read
Eugene O'NeillThe Emperor Jones
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1920A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Scenes 5-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Scene 5 Summary
Scene 5 unfolds in a large circular clearing, at the center of which a tree stump stands. Jones sits on the stump, agitated and fearful. He begins to pray for forgiveness, confessing his past wrongdoings, including killing Jeff and the prison guard. Jones begs for protection from the haunting visions and the incessant tom-tom drumbeat.
As he removes his worn shoes, a group of figures wearing 1850s Southern attire silently enters the clearing. Among them are well-to-do enslavers, an auctioneer, and a crowd of curious onlookers. They congregate around the stump and survey Jones and the enslaved individuals beside him: three men, two women, and a nursing mother with her baby. Jones, noticing these figures, anxiously ascends the stump to distance himself from them.
The white enslavers appraise the enslaved people like commodities, exchanging judgments and witty remarks. At the stump, the auctioneer singles out Jones for his physical strength and good temperament, inciting enthusiastic bidding among the enslavers. Initially petrified, Jones musters the courage to challenge the situation, vehemently proclaiming he is a free man.
Overwhelmed by rage and fear, Jones pulls out his revolver and fires rapidly at both the auctioneer and one of the enslavers. The forest’s walls close in and darkness envelops the scene. The only sounds that persist are Jones’s terrified cries and the intensifying beat of the tom-tom drum.
Scene 6 Summary
Scene 6 takes place in a cleared space within the forest, where interwoven branches and creepers block most of the moonlight. Jones is almost out of bullets, with only the silver bullet left in his revolver. He debates whether to use the bullet if he encounters more apparitions. He struggles in the darkness, feeling his way forward cautiously, until he finds an open space. Exhausted, he decides to lie down and rest, even if it means risking capture.
Gradually, the clearing becomes lighter, revealing two rows of seated Black figures behind Jones. They are wearing only loincloths, and they sit in despondent postures with their backs against the forest walls, as if chained to them. Initially silent and motionless, they begin to sway in unison, mirroring the roll of a ship at sea. A melancholic murmur gradually rises among them, guided by the distant sound of the tom-tom drum. Jones throws himself face down on the ground to avoid seeing the apparitions, trembling with terror as the wailing chorus surrounds him. However, as the chant continues, Jones involuntarily joins in. He then sits upright like the others, swaying as he vocalizes his sorrow and desolation, reaching a peak of anguish. As the light dims and the voices fade, Jones hastily gets to his feet and flees deeper into the forest. His voice diminishes as he moves farther away, while the tom-tom’s beat grows louder and quicker.
Scenes 5-6 Analysis
Scene 5 marks a significant shift in Jones’s character as his arrogance gives way to a profound sense of guilt and fear. Now he constantly scans his surroundings for potential threats and openly acknowledges the two murders he committed, as well as the harm he has inflicted on the islanders: “Lawd Jesus, heah my prayer! I’se a po’ sinner, a po’ sinner! I knows I done wrong, I knows it!” (180). This confession is a pivotal moment in the play, furthering the central theme of Guilt, Fear, and the Fractured Psyche and adding complexity and humanity to Jones’s character. While his characterization still bears traces of limiting tropes, it represents a significant historical advancement in the portrayal of Black characters in American theater, revealing a deeply conflicted and tormented mind and a depth of thought previously reserved only for white characters.
Both hallucinations in these scenes place Jones in the position of an enslaved person, forcing him to confront the larger societal and historical implications of his journey From Subject to Sovereign. In Scene 5, spectral 19th-century enslavers treat Jones as a commodity to be evaluated and purchased. In Scene 6, Jones joins in the wailing chorus in a slave ship. These scenes link enslavers’ dehumanizing treatment of enslaved individuals with Jones’s own exploitation of the island’s Indigenous population a century later, contextualizing Jones’s tyranny within a broader history of colonial oppression. By incorporating elements of this history into the narrative, O’Neill comments on colonialism’s enduring legacy and American imperialism in the early 20th century. He also builds on the theme of The Insidious Nature of Power, portraying it as exploitative and oppressive throughout history, yet so alluring that the subjugated aspire to seize it for themselves, no matter the cost.
The contrasting decisions regarding when and whom Jones chooses to shoot in Scenes 5 and 6 hold significant thematic weight and offer insight into his character development. In Scene 5, despite running out of bullets, Jones fires his revolver twice: first at the spectral auctioneer and then at the enslaver. These two targets represent the oppression and exploitation of enslaved individuals, and Jones’s decision to shoot symbolizes his instinct to resist colonial forces. However, in Scene 6, while surrounded by enslaved Black individuals in what seems to be a ship, he refrains from using his weapon. Jones, who previously felt disconnected from the island’s Indigenous population, now recognizes that he and the spectral figures share a common history. In transporting him to the past, his hallucinations force him to grapple with the weight of his own efforts to oppress and dehumanize the islanders, and for the first time he is able to feel genuine remorse for his actions.
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