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Symbols
Given the racial tensions at work in the play, the color white—describing both people and objects—is a symbol of power. The white people that Jones encounters, including both the living (Smithers) and the unreal (the auctioneer and the prison guard), have very real power in the play because of the color of their skin, while Jones is considered less powerful because he's black. In this way, Jones's decoration of the throne room in his palace is a very conscious choice. By painting the walls stark white, Jones attempts to take on some of the power that the play suggests is inherent to whiteness, and he loses his power once he vacates his palace. Unlike white people, whose power is embedded in their skin, Jones's power came from outside sources that he couldn't take with him in his flight.
The Color White Quotes in The Emperor Jones
The The Emperor Jones quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Color White. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Scene 1
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Talk polite, white man! Talk polite, you heah me! I'm boss heah now, is you fergettin'?
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No use'n you rakin' up ole times. What I was den is one thing. What I is now 's another.
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For de little stealin' dey gits you in jail soon or late. For de big stealin' dey makes you Emperor and puts in de Hall o' Fame when you croaks. If dey's one thing I learns in ten years on de Pullman ca's listenin' to de white quality talk, it's dat same fact. And when I gits a chance to use it I winds up Emperor in two years.
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Think dese ign'rent bush niggers dat ain't got brains enuff to know deir own names even can catch Brutus Jones? Huh, I s'pects not! Not on yo' life! Why, man, de white men went after me wid bloodhounds where I come from an' I jes' laughs at 'em. It's a shame to fool dese black trash around heah, dey're so easy.
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Does you think I'd slink out de back door like a common nigger? I'se Emperor yit, ain't I? And de Emperor Jones leaves de way he comes, and dat black trash don't dare stop him—not yit, leastways.
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Scene 2
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How come all dese white stones come heah when I only remembers one? Nigger, is you crazy mad? Is you lightin' matches to show dem whar you is? Fo' Lawd's sake, use yo' haid.
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Get the entire The Emperor Jones LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Color White Symbol Timeline in The Emperor Jones
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Color White appears in The Emperor Jones. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Scene 1
The play opens onto the emperor's throne room. The walls and floor are white, and a wooden throne with red and orange pillows sits in the middle of the...
(full context)
...big stealing gets a person crowned emperor. He shares that he learned this listening to white passengers on the trains, and now that he's had the chance to steal big, he's...
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...thinks that Jones is a liar. Quickly, Smithers brings up Jones's lies that he killed white men in the states. Jones angrily asks why those are lies, and Smithers insists that...
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...enough to know their own names, let alone catch Brutus Jones. He says that the white men chased him with bloodhounds in the states, and he just laughed—and it will be...
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Scene 2
...When he finishes putting on his boots, he scans the ground, looking for a particular white stone. He spots it and crawls to it, thrilled by the prospect of food—but there's...
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...look around. The tempo of the tom-tom increases as Jones, bewildered, wonders where all the white stones came from, since he only remembers one. With a gasp, Jones flings the match...
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Scene 4
...coast and be safe by morning, a silent, chained procession of black convicts enters. A white prison guard with a whip and a rifle supervises them. When the guard signals, the...
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...gun in a sudden rage. He yells that he'll kill the guard, calling him a "white devil," and shoots the guard in the back. As he fires, the forest closes in...
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...stares at his shoes, a silent crowd enters the clearing. The crowd is comprised of white people dressed in clothing from the 1850s, and all look well-off. Young Southern belles chat...
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...his face changes slowly from terror to realization, and with a stutter, he asks the "white folks" why they're looking at him and what they're doing. Becoming suddenly angry, Jones bellows,...
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