O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones Essay -- O’Neill Emperor Jones Race Black

ONeills The Emperor JonesIn Eugene ONeills The Emperor Jones, Emperor Brutus Jones is an African American male who has risen, from stowa appearance to Emperor (of Haiti) in two years (343). Jones looks down upon his subjects, viewing them as nothing scarce animals, even though they are African upright like himself. As payback, Jones himself goes done a transformation which demilitary personnelizes him and gives him very primal, animal related characteristics. through and through this juxtaposition, ONeill makes his play a critique of the dehumanizing effects people in power have had over the black charge. One of the first characters introduced in the play, the old native char, has been completely demeand by the Emperors reign. When she realizes she cannot escape or reason with the regime, which is represented in her scene through Smithers, she immediately dehumanizes herself. The woman, seeing the uselessness of struggling, gives way to frantic terror, and sinks to the gr ound, embracing his knees supplicatingly (340). The woman is no longer a human being. She is not on an play off playing field with those that have oppressed her. Words like uselessness, frantic, sinks, and supplicatingly, solely serve to show she believes she has no other option but to quit the regime to dehumanize her. The fact that she sinks to the ground, shows that she is tired and has been dehumanized for so long, handle as property for so long, there is no point in hoping for anything different. She just accepts the dehumanization now. Struggling to be viewed as a human being is equated with a useless action. Later in the scene, the woman make headway proves the Emperor has complete control over her. She states, Him sleep (341). The use of the discourse Him is intere... ...anization has been completed. The scene directions of scene seven state, Jones voice is heard from the left come up and falling in the long, despairing wail of the chained slaves (359). He is coordinated with the slaves. His ability to speak along with the slaves has been taken away. They have been dehumanized to a wail, a sound or noise, much in the same way animals are reduced to speaking in noises. Jones does not fight or try to kill these rowers. He realizes this is his history, and how wrong he was to enslave and dehumanize his fellow members of the black race. This realization is shown when he states, Oh Gorry, Ise skeered in dis place Ise skeered. Oh Lawd, pertect dis sinner (359). He is afraid just like all blacks would have been in the slave ships. He no longer is trying to exert power over those members of his own race that are less fortunate than him.