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Act 1, Scene 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Gem of the Ocean, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Meaning of Freedom
Economic Exploitation
The Value of Community
History and Trauma
The Power of Belief
Summary
Analysis
Black Mary and Eli sit in the kitchen talking about Citizen. Eli wants to know how he got into the house, since Aunt Ester hasn’t answered the door herself in 25 years—she also hasn’t left the house in decades. He suspects that Citizen came through the open window upstairs, since there’s some missing paint on the sill. Although he’s glad to have some help with the wall, he doesn’t trust Citizen and tells Black Mary to be careful around him.
Eli is somebody who helps the people in his community, which is why he’s guarded about Citizen’s presence in the house: he wants to protect the people he cares about from anyone who might do them harm, and since he doesn’t know Citizen yet, he sees it as his duty to warn people like Black Mary to be careful around the newcomer.
Themes
Solly enters and says there’s a riot happening at the mill. The police tried to force the striking laborers to go back to work, but the crowd retaliated. At least one person has been seriously trampled by a police horse, but the workers refuse to give up. Solly gives Black Mary a newspaper and asks her to read it aloud. She reads Garret Brown’s obituary, which notes that his parents were enslaved when they had him in 1862. He lived his life in poverty but had many close friends and family members—all of whom will miss him and mourn his “unfinished life.”
Solly grew up in slavery, which is why he doesn’t know how to read. His illiteracy is a good example of how white oppressors actively ensured that Black people would be at a disadvantage in the United States, where literacy is often a necessary skill for upward mobility. Thankfully, though, Solly has people like Black Mary who can help him get the information he needs, underscoring the importance of communal support.
Themes
Solly will be leaving shortly for Alabama. He just bought some new shoes, but he unfortunately will have to make the journey alone. Citizen comes inside to take a break from building the wall, and Solly introduces himself, explaining that his real name is Alfred. Everyone called him Uncle Alfred in the time of slavery, but he had to change his name after running away from his enslavers. He chose the name Two Kings, after the biblical figures David and Solomon, but most people just call him Solly. As for Citizen’s name, Solly points out that it’s quite the burden, since it’s “hard to be a citizen,” which is something people often have to fight to become.
Solly’s reason for choosing the name “Two Kings” is never made totally clear, but it’s significant that he chose to model himself after both King David and King Solomon. David is perhaps most famous for his battle against Goliath, in which he slayed a giant. Solomon, on the other hand, is considered to be one of the wisest figures in the Bible. Solly thus fashions himself as both a brave warrior and a clever man. The mere fact that he chose his own name suggests that he seized control of his personal liberty, leaving behind his past as an enslaved person—and yet, Solly will later complicate the notion that it's ever possible to fully embrace freedom when so much oppression still exists in the United States.
Themes
Solly always carries a walking stick, which he can use to protect himself. Citizen, for his part, has a knife, but Solly says he should get a stick instead. Solly has never killed anyone, largely because he doesn’t have a knife. He has beat many people and has come close to killing them, but he’s never actually taken a life. Carrying a stick instead of a knife has therefore saved him from doing something he might regret.
Solly’s advice to Citizen subtly acknowledges the high possibility of violence that Black men living in the United States face on a daily basis. He has used his walking stick as a means of self-protection in more than just one way: it has protected him from others, but it has also protected him from letting himself get carried away in a moment of self-defense. He implies that it’s unfortunately necessary for Black people living in such racist circumstances to carry some kind of protection, but he still tries to lower the possibility that he might kill another person—an indication that he’s very moral.
Themes
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Because he wants someone to accompany him on his journey to Alabama, Solly tells Citizen to get a walking stick (a “bone breaker”) and invites him on the trek. But Citizen just came north from Alabama and fears that he won’t be able to escape again if he goes back. Instead, he needs to find a job in the North. Solly, for his part, says that Black Americans like to think they’re free. In fact, freedom is the only thing his own father ever talked about, but he never even got to experience it. Solly is technically free, but he doesn’t really know what that means. Eli chimes in and notes that freedom is simply “what you make it.”
Solly calls into question what it means to be “free” in a country where racism and oppression are still so prevalent. The implication here is that freedom means a lot more than simply not living in slavery. And yet, Solly points out that many people take their own freedom for granted without actually interrogating what it means and—more importantly—whether or not they truly have freedom.
Themes
Solly wholeheartedly agrees that freedom is “what you make it.” The only thing freedom means right now, he says, is that Black people have their own land but none of the resources to farm it. People obsess over getting freedom, but it’s not always as rewarding as they assume it will be.
While freedom might be what people make of it, they must also have access to certain resources that enable them to capitalize on their liberty. Vague ideas about freedom don’t mean anything if Black Americans have no way of actually using that freedom—a point that Solly highlights by suggesting that freedom is like having farmland but not having access to any of the tools or resources needed to actually benefit from that land.
Themes
Caesar knocks on the door. When Eli answers it, he reminds Caesar that this is a peaceful house. Rushing inside, Caesar complains about the striking workers at the mill, saying that they’re rioting and vandalizing the mill itself. The city authorities have put him in charge of getting things under control. If the laborers don’t go back to work the next day, he says, there’s going to be a major problem.
Caesar’s negative comments about the strike at the mill stand in stark contrast to what Solly was just saying about freedom. Whereas Solly thinks the country needs to empower Black Americans by giving them legitimate opportunities so that they can make use of their newfound freedom, Caesar helps the country’s racist power structures take advantage of the Black community by enforcing exploitative labor policies.
Themes
Caesar sees Citizen and assumes that he’s yet another person who has come to Aunt Ester to have his “soul washed.” He peppers Citizen with questions, saying that he doesn’t want to catch him stealing or misbehaving—if he does, he’ll promptly put him in jail. According to Caesar, Citizen should find himself a good job and stay out of trouble. In fact, he should go down to the mill and tell them that Caesar sent him. If he doesn’t find a way to support himself, Caesar is confident he’ll end up in jail. At the same time, he claims to like Citizen, saying that he just wants to give the young man some good advice.
It's obvious that Caesar doesn’t trust Citizen, seeing him as a restless young man who will surely cause trouble. Of course, it’s true that Citizen has already caused trouble by stealing the bucket of nails from the mill, but Caesar doesn’t know that. As such, his assumption is somewhat unfair, since it’s based on nothing but assumptions—assumptions made simply because Citizen is a young Black man. Caesar therefore perpetuates racist ideas even though he himself is Black, suggesting that he has internalized the bigotry that is so deeply ingrained in the country.
Themes
Caesar gives Citizen a quarter. He believes that most young Black men don’t think wisely about money. It’s important to be entrepreneurial, but most people waste their money on foolish things. And yet, Caesar thinks a quarter can lead to great things. A man can buy shoe polish with a quarter and then make $25 shining shoes. From there, $25 can buy even more opportunity. Citizen, however, is skeptical. He gives Caesar the quarter back and says he doesn’t want his charity. When Citizen goes back outside to work on the wall, Caesar tells Eli and Black Mary to keep an eye on him.
Caesar believes that hard work and diligence lead to success. However, there’s very little evidence to support this theory, at least for Black people living in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. In fact, Citizen has already tried to make an honest living by working at the mill, and he has seen that such attempts are futile: the system is rigged to exploit young Black workers who have no other ways of supporting themselves. Caesar’s belief in entrepreneurship is therefore misguided and unrealistic.
Themes
Falling into conversation with Solly, Caesar expresses his frustration about the strike happening at the mill. He argues that the country relies on places like the mill to produce tin. If the mill doesn’t function, everything will grind to a halt and—as a result—nobody will be able to find jobs for themselves. It angers Caesar that his fellow Black Americans can’t see how important it is to keep a sense of order when it comes to such things. He even blames Abraham Lincoln for ending slavery, saying that some people were better off in enslavement, since they don’t know how to make use of good opportunities.
Caesar doesn’t care about standing in solidarity with his community members. To the contrary, he has sided with the institutions that continue to take advantage of Black people living and working in the Hill District. His unsympathetic views most likely stem from his belief that hard work actually pays off in the United States—something that isn’t necessarily true for Black people, since employers like the mill take advantage of the lack of opportunity for Black Americans and make it impossible to succeed. What’s more, his belief that some people were better off in enslavement really emphasizes the fact that he has internalized the country’s racism.
Themes
Solly doesn’t say anything in response to Caesar’s rant about industry, opportunity, and slavery. Instead, he decides to leave. But Caesar stops him before he’s out the door and tells him to stop carrying around his walking stick. He has told him before that the stick counts as a weapon, but Solly won’t listen. Both Abraham Lincoln and General Grant carried walking sticks, he points out. Cursing the law, he stomps out of the house.
Caesar is so obsessed with upholding the law that he wants to take away Solly’s walking stick, which Solly has carried around for years. When he tells Solly to stop using the stick, it becomes quite clear just how petty he is—so petty, it seems, that he wants to control and police even the smallest details.
Themes
Once Solly leaves, Eli joins Citizen outside to work on the wall, leaving Caesar alone with his sister. He criticizes Black Mary for being so close and kind to Solly, suggesting that it’s a disgrace because he makes his living picking up dog poop. Caesar wishes Black Mary would come back to work for him, but she refuses. She deeply respects Aunt Ester and doesn’t want to leave her. Plus, she doesn’t approve of the way Caesar takes advantage of people by doing things like selling “magic bread” and overcharging for rent. But Caesar is unashamed, explaining that he tells people his bread will make them twice as full, which is why he charges more for it. His advertising, he claims, gives people the hope and strength to make their bread last longer, so he’s really helping them.
Caesar most likely sells his “magic bread” in his boarding house. When he claims that he’s actually helping people by lying about how filling his bread is, it’s easy to see how good he is at rationalizing his greediness. He’s obviously not helping people by overcharging for bread that isn’t as hearty or full of sustenance as he advertises, but he’s somehow able to convince himself that he’s doing everyone a favor by making it easier for them to ration their portions. His ability to deceive himself in this way is also most likely how he justifies over-policing his own community.
Themes
Black Mary used to help Caesar with his business ventures, selling hoecakes with him. He misses the way they used to stick together as a family, but she left because he killed a young boy for stealing. Caesar thinks he was justified—after all, what the boy did was against the law. And the law, he believes, counts more than anything in life. People think that the law exists to “serve them,” but Caesar thinks it’s the other way around: people serve the law.
Caesar spells out the fact that he prioritizes the law over everything else. He has devoted himself to the idea of order, believing that everything would crumble if people didn’t “serve” the law. This, it seems, is how he justifies turning his back on his own community, clearly thinking he’s doing something noble by caring more about unfair fair laws than the people who suffer as a result of those laws.
Themes
There was a time when Caesar didn’t mind breaking the law himself. He had to make do with what he had in life, but his options weren’t great. Slavery was over and he was technically free to do whatever he wanted, so he went to places where Black people were hungry, and he started selling hoecakes and beans. Business was good until a police officer chased him away because he wasn’t licensed to sell food. When he finally got licensed, his customers started complaining. They wanted bigger portions or higher quality food, so he stopped cooking and decided to open a boarding house.
Caesar’s backstory sheds light on how he became so obsessed with upholding the law. Surprisingly enough, it turns out that he himself used to break the law, but he only seemed to do so in small ways that were necessary for his own survival. After all, selling hoecakes without a license isn’t all that immoral, even if it’s not technically allowed. His entrepreneurial struggle builds on what Solly pointed out earlier in the play about the lack of opportunity in the United States for Black people—although Caesar was a free man, he had to fight incredibly hard (and even break the law a little bit) to make any money.
Themes
To open a boarding house, Caesar needed land and a building. But the bank wouldn’t lend him money unless he had collateral to borrow against. So he opened a gambling operation in the back of a barbershop and started selling whiskey. Running this establishment forced him to shoot some customers, which landed him in jail. When a few of his fellow inmates tried to run away, he caught them, figuring that they were just making everyone else’s life harder, since the other prisoners would have to work extra hard in their absence.
It's noteworthy that Caesar glosses over the fact that he shot several people while running his gambling business. The casual way that this detail surfaces in his story suggests that he doesn’t feel much remorse—he was just trying to get ahead and stay financially afloat, so he doesn’t care that he did something immoral. And yet, he has now become strict about enforcing the law, subjecting people to harsh punishment for committing petty crimes in the name of survival. What’s more, his willingness to work against his fellow prisoners suggests that he thinks only of himself. He doesn’t value community, and his hypocritical lack of remorse about committing crimes himself suggests that he doesn’t actually care about the law, either—he only cares about himself.
Themes
Caesar also stopped a riot in the prison because he didn’t think it would benefit him. In doing so, he attracted the attention of the mayor, who put him in charge of the Third Ward in Pittsburgh, giving him a gun, a badge, and the power to deal with small disturbances in the community. He then took his new gun and badge back to the bank and asked if he could use those for collateral. He managed to buy a house from a white man who grossly overcharged him and then skipped town, since the white community wanted to kill him for selling property to a Black man. Because of his success, he says, other Black people resent him—including Black Mary, which upsets him because family is deeply important to him.
Caesar’s story about his past reveals that he rose to his position of power by betraying the people around him. He worked against his fellow prisoners simply for his own benefit, and it worked: the mayor singled him out as somebody to put in a powerful role. And once he attained that small amount of power, everything became easier in his life, as it suddenly became possible for him to purchase property. The implication, then, is that opportunity leads to more opportunity. However, the problem is that opportunity is seemingly only available to selfish people willing to work against their community in ways that perpetuate racist hierarchies.
Themes
