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Act 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Ti-Jean and His Brothers, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Pride vs. Humility
Colonialism and Racism
Capitalism and Dehumanization
The Power of Faith
Summary
Analysis
The next day, Ti-Jean is comforting his mother, who tries to ask her youngest son not to leave. She tells him he is “hardly a man” and has “never proven [himself] in battle or wisdom.” She wants to protect her youngest son, but Ti-Jean comforts her, reminding her that she herself told him “[their] lives are not [theirs] […] that [their] life is God’s own.” As Ti-Jean prepares to leave, his mother says, “The first of my children never asked for my strength, the second of my children thought little of my knowledge, the last of my sons, now, kneels down at my feet, instinct be your shield, it is wiser than reason, conscience be your cause and plain sense your sword.” As he leaves, Ti-Jean says, “Yes, I small. maman, I small, And I never learn from book, but like the small boy, David, I go bring down, bring down Goliath.”
Here, Ti-Jean demonstrates his humility through the way he relates to his mother. While both of his older brothers simply left home without taking time to converse with their mother, Ti-Jean recognizes the value of her wisdom and pauses to hear what she has to say. The wisdom she passes on to her youngest son largely has to do with developing and relying upon a strong faith in God. Ti-Jean’s choice to compare himself to David from the Bible suggests that he does have this strong faith in God, and relies upon religion to navigate and understand the world, just as his mother advises.
Themes
As he heads into the forest, Ti-Jean encounters Frog and greets the animal. Frog assumes Ti-Jean is making fun of him, as Gros Jean and Mi-Jean did, but the youngest brother protests, saying, “Why should I laugh at the frog and his fine bass voice?” Ti-Jean tells Frog that he has his own kind of beauty. He then asks Frog what the fastest way is to the Devil’s estate, and the Frog tells him to beware of the Old Man, who then appears on the forest path.
In this passage, Ti-Jean’s behavior starkly contrasts with that of his brothers—he demonstrates that he truly does have respect for all of God’s creatures by treating Frog with respect. Perhaps as a reward for this respect, Frog gives Ti-Jean the critical information that the Old Man is the Devil. If Gros Jean and Mi-Jean had known this—if they had been respectful to Frog—they might have won the bet.
Themes
The Old Man asks Ti-Jean whether his parents are alive, and Ti-Jean responds that he thinks nothing dies. “My brothers are dead but they live in the memory of my mother,” he shares. The Old Man says, “So you lost two brothers?” To this, Ti-Jean points out that he never said how many brothers he had, and asks to see the Old Man’s foot. But when he sweeps up the Old Man’s skirt, Ti-Jean only sees a regular, human, old foot. But then, a bird swoops down from the sky to untie the bundle of sticks on the Old Man’s back, and the Old Man becomes frustrated. Ti-Jean offers to help him retie the sticks, and takes advantage of the situation to lift the Old Man’s skirt from behind. He sees the Old Man’s forked tail.
In this moment, Ti-Jean believes the Old Man is the Devil and is looking for evidence that this is true. Perhaps because he has sensed that Ti-Jean suspects him, the Old Man doesn’t show him his foot. But the bird, in knocking the sticks off of the Old Man’s back, helps Ti-Jean to see his tail, revealing him to be the Devil. Readers can interpret the bird’s act as divine intervention—because Ti-Jean respects all of God’s creatures, they assist him in winning the challenge.
Themes
Ti-Jean asks the Old Man what the fastest way to the Devil’s estate is, and the Old Man tells him to proceed through the forest until he finds “springs of sulphur, where the damned souls are cooking.” But Ti-Jean accuses him of lying, saying, “If evil exists, let it come forward.” So the Old Man removes his mask, revealing himself to be the Devil. But Ti-Jean says that he can’t bear to look at the Devil this way, because it is like looking “at the blinding gaze of God.” To keep the challenge fair, the Devil replaces his mask as the Old Man.
In this passage, Ti-Jean demonstrates his courage. The Old Man clearly knows that Ti-Jean is onto him, and so he lies about how to find the Devil. Ti-Jean’s insistence that the Devil replace his mask is evidence of his humility. Ti-Jean feels that the Devil, like God, is a figure too great for him, a human being, to look upon. This suggests that he has respect for divine beings’ power.
Themes
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The Devil assigns Ti-Jean the same task as his brothers: he is to catch and tie up a goat. Ti-Jean catches the goat once, and it escapes. Thinking the young boy will get angry, the Devil laughs to himself. But the next time Ti-Jean catches the goat, he returns with something in his hands, which he tells the Devil is goat-seed—he has castrated the goat.
By castrating the Devil’s goat, Ti-Jean makes the crucial choice to ignore the Devil’s rules. Even though he certainly respects the Devil’s power as a divine being, Ti-Jean demonstrates that he does not respect the Devil’s authority to determine the conditions of the challenge. He also demonstrates that he does not respect the Devil’s property—the goat belongs to the Devil, and by castrating it, Ti-Jean defiles the Devil’s property.
Themes
The Devil, a bit vexed that Ti-Jean has “fixed” his goat, struggles to control his temper. Sensing this, Ti-Jean says, “It looks like you vex.” But the Devil contains himself, and gives Ti-Jean the next task: to count each leaf on each sugar cane stalk on the plantation before sunrise. When he has finished telling Ti-Jean what he must do, the Devil says, “Well, what are you waiting for?” To this, Ti-Jean replies, “I got a bit tired chasing the goat. I’m human you know.”
This scene mirrors the scene in which Gros Jean gets into a fight with the Planter over taking a break. Whereas Gros Jean insists upon being recognized for his hard work, Ti-Jean doesn’t care whether the Devil acknowledges that he has worked hard. He is comfortable admitting the limitations that being human places on his productivity—something that also suggests that he does not buy into a capitalist value system.
Themes
As soon as the Devil has gone, Ti-Jean says to himself, “Count all of the canes, what a waste of time!” Immediately, he calls out to all of the people working on the plantation, saying, “Hey, all you niggers sweating there in the canes! Hey, all you people working hard in the fields! […] I’m the new foreman! Listen to this: The Devil says you must burn everything, now! Burn the cane, burn the cotton!” Ti-Jean repeats himself, saying, “Burn, burn, burn de cane!” The plantation workers repeat after him as a chorus. Frog enters, and shares how the plantation burned all night, until the very last sugar cane existed no longer.
Here, Ti-Jean again demonstrates a complete disregard for the Devil’s authority and property. He doesn’t give the Devil the power to determine what he, Ti-Jean, should do in the challenge. In calling on the plantation workers to destroy the plantation, Ti-Jean is essentially initiating a slave rebellion, one that will upset the systems of racism, capitalism, and colonialism that keep the poor, black Caribbean people working in poor conditions for the Devil.
Themes
Later that night, the Devil appears, drunk and singing. He laments, “I drink, and I drink, and I feel nothing. Oh, I lack the heart to enjoy the brevity of the world!” Frog appears on the path, and the Devil says, “O God, O God, a monster! Jesus, help!” He begins singing again, “When I was the Son of the Morning, When I was the Prince of Light.” But, picking up the mask, he censures himself, saying, “Oh, to hell with that! You lose a job, you lose a job. Ambition.”
In this passage, the Devil reveals his vulnerable side. His disgust at Frog mirrors Gros Jean and Mi-Jean’s reactions to the animal. This suggests that the Devil, too, lacks respect for God’s creatures, and in his lamentation, the Devil implies that he regrets having fallen from God’s graces. This highlights Walcott’s emphasis on the importance of faith.
Themes
As the Devil wallows in his misery, he sees Ti-Jean coming and puts on his Planter’s mask. Ti-Jean is also carrying a bottle. The Devil asks whether he has done everything he had to do, and Ti-Jean says that he cleaned the entire plantation, drank some wine, and had curried goat for dinner. The Devil commends Ti-Jean for completing the tasks his brothers couldn’t, and Ti-Jeans says, “The only way to annoy you is to rank disobedience.”
Here, Ti-Jean’s impertinence towards the Devil underscores the importance of resistance to colonial and capitalist forces, which the Devil’s plantation represents. Ti-Jean’s statement that the only way to annoy the Devil is to disobey also speaks to disobedience as the only way to disrupt colonial and capitalist forces in the Caribbean.
Themes
Exhausted, the Devil wants to go home, and as he is leaving, Ti-Jean throws his arms around him, saying he is drunk and wants to know the way home. The Devil doesn’t believe Ti-Jean has really been drinking, as he doesn’t smell like alcohol. But Ti-Jean insists that drinking is his vice, and the Devil offers him liquid brimstone to drink. Accepting, Ti-Jean says, “I have pity for all power. That’s why I love the old man with the windy beard. He never wastes it.” Reminded of his past, the Devil reflects on God, saying the fact that he could have everything as the son of God is what ruined him.
In this passage, Walcott again emphasizes the power of faith. Ti-Jean admires God because God does not abuse his power. On the other hand, the Devil, over the course of the play, has demonstrated time and time again that he does abuse power through his exploitation of plantation workers and even his choice to challenge the three brothers. The fact that the Devil is nostalgic for his days in God’s favor further highlights the importance and value of a faithful religious life.
Themes
As he reminisces, the Devil sees the plantation burning in the distance, and asks Ti-Jean what the fire is. Ti-Jean tells him that it’s the plantation, and he has set it on fire. The Devil responds and tells Ti-Jean that it’s the only home he has. In response, Ti-Jean tells him that his mother had three sons, and didn’t get vexed. Taking off the Planter’s mask, the Devil says, “What the hell do you think I care about your mother? The poor withered fool who thinks it’s holy to be poor, who scraped her knees to the knuckle praying to an old beard that’s been deaf since noise began?”
In this moment, the Devil tries to undermine Ti-Jean’s mother’s faith in God by implying that because the family lived in poverty, they were not loved by God. This emphasis on the material evidence of God’s love reflects Gros Jean and Mi-Jean’s approach to religion: they, too, believed that God had ignored their family simply because the family was poor.
Themes
The Devil commands miniature devils to surround Ti-Jean, and tells them to seize him when Ti-Jean comments that the Devil isn’t smiling. But Bolom intervenes, begging the Devil to be fair. The Devil shows no signs of listening, and raises his fork to kill Ti-Jean. Then, Ti-Jean’s mother appears, asking the devil to have mercy on his son. Ti-Jean admits he’s “scared as Christ.” As the Bolom tries unsuccessfully to convince the Devil to play fair, the Devil reveals an image of Ti-Jean’s mother dying in their hut. He asks Ti-Jean if he can sing, knowing that his mother is dying. Frog encourages Ti-Jean to sing, and the Devil feels his face wet with tears. The Bolom begs Ti-Jean to ask the Devil for life, and the Devil grants this wish, allowing the Bolom to be born.
The Bolom’s birth at the end of the play is a representation of hope. Ti-Jean has just defeated the Devil—symbolically, he has just defeated capitalist, colonial influences in the Caribbean—and, as a reward, he gives the Bolom a chance to live. This suggests Walcott’s hope that the destruction of these harmful systems will give rise to a hopeful future in the Caribbean, What’s more, Ti-Jean’s generous choice to advocate for the Bolom’s right to live demonstrates Ti-Jean’s own compassion, humility, and faith in the idea that all of God’s creations have the right to live.
Themes
