The Emperor Jones

“There’s somethin’ funny goin’ on. I smelled it in the air first thing I got up this mornin’. You blacks are up to some devilment. This palace of ’is is like a bleedin’ tomb.”

Smithers, a symbol of colonialism and white supremacy, views the islanders as inherently untrustworthy and prone to “devilment.” This reflects the dehumanization and discrimination that colonial subjects faced as they represented potential threats in the eyes of the colonizers. It encapsulates the racial tensions and power dynamics that permeate the play and defines Smithers as a character.

“He is a tall, powerfully-built, full-blooded Negro of middle age. His features are typically negroid, yet there is something decidedly distinctive about his face—an underlying strength of will, a hardy, self-reliant confidence in himself that inspires respect. His eyes are alive with a keen, cunning intelligence. In manner he is shrewd, suspicious, evasive.”

Eugene O’Neill’s stage directions for Brutus Jones are laced with racial stereotypes, employing dated, offensive language that reinforces harmful racial categorizations. O’Neill’s description portrays positive traits such as strength of will and self-reliance as unusual for a Black man like Jones, while negative attributes like shrewdness, suspicion, and evasiveness are categorical descriptions of his character.

“JONES. But you ain’t got no kick agin me, Smithers. I’se paid you back all you done for me many times. Ain’t I pertected you and winked at all de crooked tradin’ you been doin’ right out in de broad day? Sho’ I has and me makin’ laws to stop it at de same time! [He chuckles.]

SMITHERS [Grinning]. But, meanin’ no ’arm, you been grabbin’ right and left yourself, ain’t yer? Look at the taxes you’ve put on ’em! Blimey! You’ve squeezed ’em dry!

JONES [Chuckling]. No, dey ain’t all dry yet. I’se still heah, ain’t I?”

Jones acknowledges that he’s allowed Smithers to engage in “crooked trading,” essentially turning a blind eye to corruption under his rule. This exchange furthers the theme of The Insidious Nature of Power, where those in authority exploit others for personal gain. This conversation highlights how power, self-interest, and moral compromise characterize Jones’s rule.