Ti-Jean and His Brothers Summary

In Ti-Jean and His Brothers, Ti-Jean, Mi-Jean and Gros Jean are three
impoverished Caribbean young men who live on a cold mountain with their
deeply religious mother. Often, the boys don’t have enough to eat. Gros Jean is
strong but not very smart, and Mi-Jean is smart but always has his head in the
clouds. As a result, neither boy has what it takes to provide for the family.
Meanwhile, Ti-Jean, the youngest, doesn’t make much of an effort; he sits around
all day doing nothing. While their mother laments the family’s poverty and lack of
food, she believes that God will eventually provide for them.
One evening, the family hears a strange noise outside the hut. It is the Bolom, the
ghost of an aborted fetus and a messenger of the Devil. He tells the family that
the Devil wishes to pose a challenge to the three brothers. Longing to feel human
emotion, the Devil wants one of the brothers to make him angry. The Devil
promises to grant the boy that is able to do so wealth and property. But, if the
Devil succeeds in making one of the three boys angry, the Devil will eat him.
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Gros Jean, being the oldest, is the first to leave home to take on the Devil’s
challenge. Before he leaves, his mother reminds him to trust in God, who has
created all things. Gros Jean insists that he already knows this. As he walks
through the forest on his way to meet the Devil, Gros Jean comes across Frog and
exclaims at how God could make such ugly creatures. Soon after, Gros Jean meets
the Old Man, and asks him what the quickest path to success is. The Old Man tells
Gros Jean that the only things that matters is money, and that the fastest way to
acquire that is to go and work for the Devil. So the Old Man gives Gros Jean
directions to a plantation that the Devil owns. After two days working on the
plantation, Gros Jean has received neither a minute of rest nor a cent of pay.
Frustrated, he stops counting sugar cane for a moment to take a smoke break.
The Devil, disguised as the Planter, comes up to him and asks why he is taking a
break when lunch hour is over. Gros Jean explains that he is tired, and the Planter
encourages him to rest, while passive aggressively implying that Gros Jean should
be working—after all, the more Gros Jean works, the more the Planter earns. The
Planter continually addresses Gros Jean by the wrong name, and eventually this
upsets Gros Jean so much that he blows up at the planter. In losing his temper, he
loses the challenge to the Devil.
Being the second-oldest, Mi-Jean is the brother who has to go and face the Devil
next. Leaving home, Mi-Jean also comes across Frog in the forest and, like his
older brother, insults the animal. Mi-Jean also meets the Old Man, who
recognizes him. The Old Man tells Mi-Jean that everyone knows about him
because of his intellectual prowess. As Mi-Jean soaks up the praise, the Devil goes
behind a bush and removes his Old Man’s mask and replaces it with the Planter’s.
The Planter asks Mi-Jean if he has caught the goat the Planter asked him to catch,
and Mi-Jean responds that he has. But the goat is loose again, and Mi-Jean must
recapture it. As he does so, the Planter begins to explain to Mi-Jean the best way
to tie down a captured goat. Mi-Jean becomes frustrated at the Planter for this
explanation. Sensing a way to provoke Mi-Jean, the Planter starts a discussion
about how animals and humans have equal intellectual capacity. Mi-Jean, who
prides himself on his intellect, soon loses his temper, and in doing so, loses the
challenge with the Devil.
Finally, it is Ti-Jean’s turn to go and meet the Devil. His mother worries for her
youngest son, who has neither the strength of the oldest nor the intelligence of
the middle son. But Ti-Jean assures her that he has faith, the most powerful tool
of all. As he walks through the forest to meet the Devil, Ti-Jean also encounters
Frog, and stops to talk with him. Frog warns him that the Old Man is, in fact, the
Devil in disguise. So when Ti-Jean encounters the Old Man just moments later, he
is prepared, and doesn’t fall for any of the Old Man’s attempted tricks. In fact, he
tells the Old Man that he knows he is the Devil, causing the Devil to take off his
Old Man’s mask. Ti-Jean is afraid to look at the real face of the Devil, and so the
Devil disguises himself as the Planter. He tasks Ti-Jean with capturing the same
goat that his brothers were tasked with capturing. Ti-Jean not only captures, but
also castrates the goat so it won’t escape again. Slightly frustrated, the Planter
tries to keep his cool and asks Ti-Jean to count all of the sugar cane on the
plantation. Instead of doing this, Ti-Jean orders the plantation workers to burn
everything down. Later that night, Ti-Jean meets up with the Devil again, who is
drunk. Ti-Jean also pretends to be drunk, and the Devil confesses to him that he
misses being an angel. When Ti-Jean tells the Devil that he burned down the
plantation, the Devil loses his temper, and Ti-Jean wins the challenge. At first, the
Devil doesn’t want to honor his side of the bargain, but the Bolom helps Ti-Jean
convince the Devil to play fair. The Devil grants the Bolom life, and God honors Ti-
Jean by giving him a place on the moon.

PROLOGUE

On the night of the new moon, Frog begins to tell a story: When the moon is full,
he says, it’s possible to see on its surface not a man, but a boy, burdened by a
bundle of sticks on his back and accompanied by a small dog. This is Ti-Jean, “the
hunter,” whom God rewarded with a place on the moon because Ti-Jean beat the
Devil. In life, Ti-Jean had a mother and two older brothers: Gros Jean, whose arm
“was hard as iron,” but who wasn’t the smartest knife in the drawer; and Mi-Jean,
not as strong as Gros Jean but much smarter, whose head was buried in his
books.
Walcott’s choice to narrate the play from the point of view of a frog is a nod to
traditional fables, many of which incorporate the points of view of animals.
Additionally, the three brothers also embody traditional fabular archetypes—Gros
Jean is the strong but dumb warrior, while Mi-Jean is the smart but impractical
dreamer. These characterizations set readers up to understand how these traits
will work both for and against the brothers throughout the play.

Ti-Jean’s mother, whose husband passed away, was very poor, too old and weak
to protect her home and provide for her family. Still, she has great faith in God.
The four of them lived in a wood and thatch little house on the top of a mountain
where it was always raining and very cold. What’s worse, the Devil himself used
to live on that very mountaintop. As Frog speaks, the Devil appears before him,
saying, in French, “Give me a child for dinner! […] One, two, three little children!”
Ti-Jean and his family were terrified of the Devil—he had skin “powdery as
leprosy” and a dead expression.
Walcott’s description of the Devil’s face as “powdery” may be a subtle reference
to whiteness—indeed, over the course of the play, Walcott associates the Devil
with whiteness in several ways. Additionally, Ti-Jean’s mother’s faith in God, in
spite of her difficult circumstances, is Walcott’s first mention of faith in the play,
setting the precedent for belief in God to become an important theme.

With his nose in his books, Mi-Jean is useless for fishing, and Gros Jean simply
doesn’t have the brains. Unable to find any food for themselves, Ti-Jean’s family
starves while, in Mother’s words, “the planter is eating from plates painted
golden, forks with silver tongues, the brown flesh of birds, and the white flesh of
fish.” While Gros Jean and Mi-Jean have made sincere, if futile, efforts at finding
food, Ti-Jean admits in French that he hasn’t done anything that day.
The mother in this passage references the economic inequality that black people
experienced under colonialism. The contrast between the Planter’s abundant
meal and the family’s starvation highlights this inequality. What’s more, here,
Walcott characterizes Ti-Jean as a young boy, without much to offer, while Mi-
Jean and Gros Jean are only slightly more useful in that they make an effort.

Suddenly, Bolom appears outside the family’s door. They hear the sound of a
child’s cry, and Mother fears it is one of the Devil’s “angels.” Distraught, she tells
her son that she prayed all day for God to help them, and instead she is sent devil
spawn. To protect their home, Gros Jean and Mi-Jean say, “Let two of our fingers
form one crucifix!” Ti-Jean, on the other hand, silently steps outside. Their mother
demands of Bolom: “Spirit that is outside, with the voice of a child, crying out in
the rain, what do you want from the poor?”
Here, Gros Jean and Mi-Jean’s action—joining their fingers to form a crucifix to
protect their home—contrasts with their previous statements that indicate a lack
of belief in God. Ti-Jean demonstrates more courage than his brothers by leaving
the house to confront the Bolom. This suggests that he may have deeper faith
than his brothers—he has the confidence to go outside perhaps because he
believes in God’s protection.

Bolom asks the boys’ mother to send her oldest son outside, for the boys “must
die in that order.” And he asks that Ti-Jean go back into the house. Ti-Jean does,
but inside, a strange light shines through and the family sees Bolom within their
home. They try to catch him, but can’t. The mother tells Bolom that she has done
him no harm, but Bolom replies, “A woman did me harm, called herself mother,
the fear of her hatred, a cord round my throat!” To this, the mother responds that
perhaps it is better never have been born into such poverty and misery. Still, she
wishes to comfort Bolom, and offers to hug him. Bolom recoils, saying he will
never live until her sons die. Bolom hears the Devil’s voice from outside. He says
in French, “Do what I commanded you!”
Here, the Bolom reveals that he has been aborted, and, because of this, works
with the Devil in order to one day be born into the world. By demonstrating the
pain of an aborted fetus, Walcott may be making a comment about the morality
of abortion, which could tie into the Christian moral beliefs he strongly
incorporates throughout the play. Walcott suggests that the mother who aborted
her baby denied the Bolom the right to life, and, in doing so, created a monster.

So the Bolom enters the house and delivers his message: “The Devil my master,
who owns half the world, […] has done all that is evil,” he says, listing the many
evils, such as war, disease, and corruption, that the Devil has invented. Still, the
Bolom says, the Devil isn’t satisfied—he can’t enjoy the vices he has created, and
he longs to be human. So he has sent a challenge to Ti-Jean and his brothers: any
human who can make the Devil angry will “never more know hunger, but
fulfillment, wealth, [and] peace.” But, any human who accepts the challenge but
whom the Devil is able to provoke to anger will be eaten alive. Outside, the
family hears the Devil singing in French: “Give the Devil a child for dinner, one,
two, three little children!”
By saying that the Devil “owns half the world,” the Bolom subtly links the Devil to
capitalism by implying that the world is the Devil’s property. The fact that the
Devil is unhappy even with so much wealth and power implies that ownership and
material wealth aren’t the secrets to happiness; rather, the ability to feel and
create human bonds are what guarantee joy and success in the world of the play.

Ti-Jean and His Brothers: Act 1

Early morning the next day, Gros Jean rises early and packs up a bundle. His
mother is sorry to see him go, but he feels it is time for him to go out and find
work. Gros Jean thinks his arm is too strong just to be splitting trees; he has an
arm of iron. His mother is quick to correct him, saying, “The arm which digs a
grave is the strongest arm of all.” She has parting advice for her eldest son: it is
important that when he leaves, he “praise God who make all things” and “ask
direction” of the birds and insects. She warns Gros Jean that the Devil can disguise
himself as anyone or anything. Gros Jean says he already knows that.
In this passage, Walcott furthers his characterization of Gros Jean as prideful.
Because he is strong, he thinks he is too good for the work he currently does,
which is splitting logs. It is clear that his ego is responsible for at least part of his
motivation for leaving home—he wants to prove that he is capable of greater
things. His pride also shines through when he dismisses his mother’s advice. This
suggests that he thinks he is above listening to his mother, and that he doesn’t
value having faith in God.

When Gros Jean leaves the house, he soon comes across Frog and some other
creatures. In fact, Frog is in his way, so Gros Jean kicks him, saying “Get out of my
way, you slimy bastard! How God could make such things?”
Here, Gros Jean’s dismissal of Frog clearly demonstrates that, contrary to what he
told his mother, he does not already understand the importance of appreciating
all God’s creatures, nor does he understand the value in asking for their
assistance. This shows his lack of faith.
An Old Man limps onto the forest path, lifting his robe to scratch his hairy hoof.
Gros Jean asks the older man what’s wrong with his foot. But the Old Man
responds, “The flesh of the earth is rotting. Worms.” Gros Jean asks him what the
“quickest way” is to “what counts in this world.” The Old Man promptly responds
that the only things that count in the world are money and power. Gros Jean tells
the Old Man that he has an arm of iron but is missing money—and the Old Man
says he can’t advise someone without money. This angers Gros Jean, who picks
up his axe and threatens to kill the Old Man. “With your arm of iron, the first
thing you kill is wisdom?” He says.
In this passage, Gros Jean shows his blind ambition. He himself doesn’t have a
clear idea of what “counts” in the world, an inner compass that points him in the
direction of what success means to him. Rather, he is concerned with worldly
success that will be recognized by others, which again speaks to Gros Jean’s
inflated ego. The Old Man easily exploits Gros Jean’s lack of inner values by
convincing him to adopt a capitalist value system. What’s more, Gros Jean’s
threat to kill the Old Man again reflects his lack of respect for God’s creations.
Finally, the Old Man resolves to help Gros Jean. He tells him that coming through
the forest, he passed “some poor souls going to work for the white planter,” who
will “work you like the devil”—but that, it seems, is exactly what Gros Jean wants
with his iron arm and his impatience. As parting advice, the Old Man tells Gros
Jean, “Remember an iron army may rust, flesh is deciduous.” Gros Jean heads
toward the plantation, warning the Old Man, “Next time don’t be so selfish.” As
he walks away, the Old Man sings, “Who is the man who can speak to the strong?
Where is the fool who can talk to the wise? Men who are dead now have learnt
this long, Bitter is wisdom that fails when it tries.”
Here, the Old Man takes advantage of Gros Jean’s impatience and desire to prove
himself by sending him to work on the plantation. This moment in the play speaks
to the way in which people’s willingness to accept a capitalist value system—in
which money and hard work are the most valuable things—leads them to willingly
participate in situations that are exploitative. A boss that will “work you like the
devil” does not sound appealing at all, and yet, because Gros Jean is obsessed
with proving his strength, he is attracted to this type of environment.
Meanwhile, Gros Jean, now in another part of the forest, reflects on the two days
he’s spent working “for this damn white man.” After leaving the Old Man, he
“walked up through the bush” until he arrived at a large, “estate-like” field,
complete with “a big white house where they say the Devil lives.” Disguised as the
Planter, the Devil reminded Gros Jean of the deal they have: “the one who show
the first sign of anger will be eaten.” Since he arrived, Gros Jean hasn’t rested
nearly at all. The first day, the Planter tasked him with counting all the leaves of
cane in the field, standing up. This took until four in the morning. Then, the
Planter asked him to catch 70 fireflies, but Gros Jean could only see stars. Finally,
he’s decided to give his arm a break because he has a cramp.
In this moment, Walcott details the poor working conditions that exist on the
plantation. Gros Jean’s lack of rest and of pay during his time as a plantation
worker speak to the unfair working conditions that black Caribbean people faced
when they were either enslaved on plantations or had no choice but to work
there for low wages. By comparing the Devil to a white plantation owner, Walcott
emphasizes the evil that whiteness and capitalism represent in a Caribbean
context. What’s more, the tasks that the Planter asks Gros Jean to carry out—like
counting fireflies—are totally meaningless. This suggests that he isn’t asking Gros
Jean to work to be productive; rather, the Planter seeks to manipulate and exploit
him out of cruelty.

As Gros Jean is taking a break, the Devil, disguised as the Planter, comes up to him
and says, “Well, how’s it progressing, Joe, tired?” Gros Jean reminds the Planter
that his name is not Joe. Clearly, the Planter is upset that Gros Jean has taken a
break, and reminds him that the lunch hour is over. “Black people have to rest,
too,” Gros Jean reminds his supervisor in response. The Planter responds, “That’s
right, Mac.” Again, Gros Jean corrects him, to which the Planter responds by
telling Gros Jean that he seems annoyed. Gros Jean’s face freezes.
The Planter’s inability to get Gros Jean’s name right reflects his racism. Because all
of the plantation workers are presumably black, the Planter is unable to
distinguish them from one another; to him, they are all interchangeable, low-
wage workers. Gros Jean picks up on this racism when he reminds the Planter that
black people need rest, too. He clearly feels dehumanized by his new boss, which
is starting to annoy him.
As the two men continue talking, the Planter mistakes Gros Jean’s name again
calling him “Gros Chien.” He excuses himself, saying “Can’t tell one face from the
next out here.” When Gros Jean asks the Planter why he himself doesn’t take a
break, the Planter replies, “Other people want what I have, Charley, and other
people have more. Can’t help myself, Joe, it’s some sort of disease, and it spreads
right down to the common man.”
Chien in French means “dog,” and this mistake takes the Planter’s racism to the
next level: in his mind, black people are so dehumanized that he compares them
with dogs. Additionally, by having the Planter describe the influence of capitalism
as a disease, Walcott highlights the extent to which capitalist values create
unhappiness, even in those who seem to be in charge.
Gros Jean is quick to correct the Planter, telling him that he himself is “no
common man”—according to Gros Jean, just because he comes from the
mountain forest, or just because he’s black, doesn’t mean he can’t become like
the Planter. “One day all this could be mine!” he tells his boss. The Planter ignores
this comment, and reminds Gros Jean that he still has to stack, count, and classify
the sugar cane leaves. Grinning tightly, Gros Jean says to the Planter, “Look, I
haven’t let you down yet boss, have I?” The Planter responds, “Sit down, Joe,
relax […]only time is money.” Gros Jean protests, reminding the Planter of
everything he’s done successfully on the plantation with his “iron arm.” The
Planter responds, “Sorry, sorry, Gros Jean, sometimes we people in charge of
industry forget that you people aren’t machines. I mean people like you,
Hubert…”
Gros Jean’s behavior in this passage suggests that he has bought into the classic
“rags to riches” archetypes. He believes, mistakenly, that he will be able to work
his way to the top of the capitalist system and join the owning class. Clearly, he
does not recognize the extent to which the system is rigged against him—through
its racism and colonialism—as he is a poor, Caribbean black man. Indeed, the
people at the top of the system, like the Planter, don’t even recognize Gros Jean’s
humanity, as the Planter clearly reveals when he openly states that he forgets
people like Gros Jean “aren’t machines.”
Frustrated that the Planter has mistaken his name again, Gros Jean stands up to
correct him. The Planter tells Gros Jean to have his smoke, adding, “You don’t
know what it means to work hard, to have to employ hundreds of people […]
You’re worth more to me, Benton, than fifty men. So you should smoke, after
all[…] And such a pleasant disposition, always smiling […] Just like a skull […] But
remember, Mervin, I’d like you to try to finish this…” At this, Gros Jean smashes
his pipe furiously, demanding what a man has to do to have a “goddamned
smoke.” There is an explosion, and, when the smoke clears, the Devil stands with
his Planter’s mask removed, saying in French, “Give the Devil a child for dinner.
One!”
 Ti-Jean and His Brothers: Act 2

The sun rises the next day on a cross marked “Gros Jean.” Mi-Jean is walking
quickly past the grave when Frog approaches, asking if Mi-Jean is going to join his
brother. After all, according to Frog, Mi-Jean is “a man’s size now.” The Old Man
comes up to Mi-Jean in the forest and greets him by name. Upon seeing him, Mi-
Jean recalls his mother’s parting advice to him that morning when he left the
house: “no one can know what the Devil wears.” When Mi-Jean asks the Old Man
(addressing him as Papa Bois) how he knows his name, he praises Mi-Jean
extensively: “Who in the heights […] has not heard of Mi-Jean the jurist, and the
gift of his tongue, his prowess in argument, Mi-Jean, the avocat, the fisherman,
the litigant?”
Here, Mi-Jean demonstrates himself to be a little bit less prideful than Gros Jean.
While he doesn’t engage Frog in conversation, he doesn’t immediately dismiss
him. In addition, rather than completely ignoring his mother’s advice, Mi-Jean
remembers part of it, which leads him to be rightly suspicious of the Old Man.
However, the Old Man knows that Mi-Jean’s weakness is his pride in his intellect,
and so quickly tries to take advantage of that weakness by praising the middle
brother. In Caribbean folklore, Papa Bois is a benevolent spirit of the forest, which
may be why Mi-Jean seems to trust him.
The Old Man asks Mi-Jean about the book he has in his hands. Mi-Jean, who has
noticed that the Old Man has a hoof, tells him he will look up “man with cow-
foot,” as the book has “every knowledge.” Meanwhile, the Old Man invites Mi-
Jean to have some tobacco, but Mi-Jean refuses, saying, “Apart from wisdom, I
have no vices.”
By identifying wisdom as one of his “vices,” Mi-Jean demonstrates a lot of ego. He
clearly identifies strongly with being intelligent, and prides himself on this ability.
The irony is that Mi-Jean’s pride in his intellect makes it a vice, for it is through
playing to Mi-Jean’s ego that the Old Man is getting to him.
Hearing this, the Old Man asks Mi-Jean if he believes in the Devil. Mi-Jean says he
does—if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to believe in God. But Mi-Jean feels he
knows the Devil is not the Old Man, because the Devil “would never expose his
identity so early.” When he does meet the Devil, though, Mi-Jean has a plan: to
beat him “with silence and a smile.” Mi-Jean proceeds to sing a song about why
the wisest thing a man can do is keep silent. While he does this, at a leisurely
pace, the Old Man goes behind a bush, removes his robe and Old Man mask and
reveals the Devil’s face. He then changes into the clothes and mask of the Planter.
In this moment, Mi-Jean’s declaration that the Old Man can’t be the Devil
demonstrates his arrogance. He assumes, wrongly, that the Devil wouldn’t reveal
himself so early, and because he makes this assumption, he isn’t as on guard with
the Old Man as perhaps he should be—unwittingly, he has revealed his plan to
defeat the Devil to the Devil himself. Like his brother, Mi-Jean’s pride puts him on
the path to losing the challenge with the Devil.
Stepping out from behind the bushes, the Planter asks Mi-Jean if he has finished
the work he gave him: to catch a wild goat. Mi-Jean nods yes, and the Planter
asks, “And the menial work didn’t bore you, a thinker?” Mi-Jean only nods in
response. The Planter continues to try to get Mi-Jean to talk to him, but Mi-Jean
resists.
Here, readers realize that Mi-Jean has recognized the Planter as the Devil—he is
employing his strategy of keeping his mouth shut. It’s possible that Mi-Jean easily
recognized the Devil in the Planter’s disguise due to the Planter’s whiteness, while
Papa Bois (the Old Man), whom Mi-Jean does not suspect, is a fellow black
Caribbean man.
Suddenly, the goat the Planter has asked Mi-Jean to catch breaks loose again, and
the Planter tells Mi-Jean to hurry up and catch it before it gets dark. Annoyed, Mi-
Jean sets off. While Mi-Jean is scurrying around trying to capture the goat, the
Planter gives him a detailed, flowery explanation of the best kind of knot to use to
tie the goat down. Hearing this, Mi-Jean feels angry inside, and he finally breaks
his silence to tell the Planter that he knows what he’s doing.
Again, Mi-Jean’s pride becomes evident in this passage. He cannot stand having
something explained to him—even something he is, apparently, doing badly—
because he prides himself on being intelligent. His desire to defend his
intelligence leads him to abandon his strategy of silence, and, consequently, his
ego begins to get in the way of his defeating the Devil.
The Planter acknowledges Mi-Jean, explaining himself by saying, “I’ve seen
dumber men, not you, fail at this knot you know, it’s just a matter of know-how,
not really knowledge but plain skill.” Once Mi-Jean has run off after the goat
again, the Planter, frustrated, rants about how he has no way to get Mi-Jean
angry. Then Mi-Jean comes back, saying, “That goat certainly making a plethora of
cacophony.” The Planter replies that the goat is only an animal, to which Mi-Jean
replies, “Men are […] animals too, but at least they have souls” But the Planter
believes “a man is no better than an animal,” and says so. For him, “the one with
two legs makes more noise and that makes him believe he can think.”
Although the Planter fears he will never get through to Mi-Jean, in fact, he already
has an in. Mi-Jean continues to ignore his previous commitment to stay silent. The
fancy words he uses to describe the goat suggest that he may still be trying to
prove to the Planter that he is intelligent. The Planter may have picked up on this
insecurity when he insists that men are equal to animals—his comment about
men only believing they can think seems particularly targeted at Mi-Jean, whose
entire identity is based around being a thinker.
Mi-Jean thinks this is ridiculous, and almost catches himself, saying, “You can’t get
me into no argument!” But quickly after, he adds, “All I say is that man is divine!”
In response, the Planter asks Mi-Jean if he thinks he is more intelligent than a
goat. Again, Mi-Jean insists that he won’t get into an argument, but the Planter
says he’d like to hear what Mi-Jean has to say. So Mi-Jean stands and prepares to
“lecture” on why men are superior to animals. As he speaks, though, the goat
continues bleating, which comes to annoy Mi-Jean. The Planter declares that
since the goat is his, if Mi-Jean gets upset at the goat, “who represents [his] view,
then [he] is vexed with [the Planter], and the contract must be fulfilled.”
Here, Mi-Jean struggles to control himself, aware that he can’t get into an
argument with the Planter, whom he knows is the Devil. Unfortunately, Mi-Jean’s
need to prove mankind’s—and therefore, his own—intellectual merit proves
more urgent to him than protecting his own life. He becomes upset at the goat,
presumably for interrupting his lecture, which is a sign of Mi-Jean’s ego. He feels
entitled to speak uninterruptedly, based on the merit of his ideas.
As he prepares to eat Mi-Jean, the Planter says, “Descendant of the ape, how
eloquent you have become! How assured in logic! How marvelous in invention!
And yet, poor shaking monkey, the animal in you is still in evidence[…]” The
Planter removes his mask, and the Devil devours Mi-Jean. He says, in French, as
always, “Give the Devil a child for dinner. One! Two!”

Ti-Jean and His Brothers: Act 3

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

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.
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.

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.
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.

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.
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.
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.

Ti-Jean and His Brothers Themes

Pride vs. Humility

Ti-Jean and His Brothers is a fable set in the Caribbean in which the Devil poses a
challenge to three brothers. The Devil promises to grant wealth and property to
whichever of the brothers is able to make him angry. But the other side of the
deal is that the Devil will eat the brothers whom he is able to make angry. Ti-Jean,
the youngest of the three brothers, is the only one who successfully defeats the
Devil in this challenge. His older brothers, Mi-Jean and Gros Jean, only lose to the
Devil because of their pride—they want to prove that they can succeed at the
impossible tasks the Devil assigns them, whereas Ti-Jean doesn’t care about
proving to himself or others that he is capable of completing such tasks. By
highlighting the difference between Ti-Jean’s humble nature and his brothers’
pride, Walcott emphasizes the importance of humility.
In disguise, the Devil sends Gros Jean to work on a sugar plantation, where the
Devil himself is the owner. Proud of his legendary strength, Gros-Jean wants to
prove that he can endure the plantation’s strenuous working conditions. When
Gros Jean takes a smoke break from his hard work, the Devil, disguised as the
Planter, comes up to Gros Jean and criticizes him for taking a break. Gros Jean,
who doesn’t know that the Planter is the Devil in disguise, wants to earn the
praise of his boss and wants him to acknowledge how much he has already
accomplished, saying, “I do more work than most, right?” Here, Gros Jean makes
it evident that he wishes to be recognized for his hard work and superiority to
others. Prior to this moment, he has continuously bragged about his “arm of
iron,” thinking that his strength will promise him success. But the Planter
continues to hint that Gros Jean isn’t working hard enough, manipulatively telling
Gros Jean to go ahead and have his smoke but then reminding him, “the harder
you work the more” the Planter himself makes—implying that the Planter will
value him more if he works even harder. Ultimately, Gros Jean becomes angry
because the Planter won’t acknowledge how much work he has already done. In
this way, Gros Jean’s pride—his identification with being strong, and with being
able to get his work done—causes him to stay in a frustrating work environment
simply because he wants to prove his superior strength. If Gros Jean weren’t
attached to proving how strong and hardworking he was, he wouldn’t be upset at
the Planter’s implication that he should work more. Therefore, Gros Jean’s pride
leads to his undoing. He gets angry with the Planter—the Devil in disguise—and
so loses the bet, because the Planter’s implication that he should work even
harder wounds his pride.
Mi-Jean is harder for the Devil to beat, but ultimately the Devil is able to take
advantage of Mi-Jean’s pride surrounding his intellect. Mi-Jean resolves not to
speak to the Devil at all in order to protect himself from getting angry. However,
when the Devil begins to talk about his belief that “A man is no better than an
animal,” Mi-Jean gets defensive. Always reading, Mi-Jean thinks of himself as an
intellectual, and it is clear that he is attached to his identity as an intelligent
person. At the Devil’s insistence that man is no more intelligent than animal, Mi-
Jean eventually loses his temper, arguing with the Devil that man is, in fact,
divine. His pride causes him to defend the idea that is the basis of his sense of
self-worth, which ultimately leads him to lose the Devil’s challenge.
Ti-Jean, the youngest of the brothers, is unattached to any particular identity—he
has neither particular strength nor particular intellect, and so he is not burdened
by the desire to prove them. This humility is what allows him to defeat the Devil.
When Ti-Jean leaves home to try and beat the Devil, his mother worries for him.
“Never proven your self / In battle or in wisdom / I have kept you to my breast,”
she tells her youngest son. Here, Ti-Jean’s mother worries that because he has no
specific talents, he will be unable to face the Devil. However, his two older
brothers lost to the Devil precisely because they had “proven” themselves in
battle and wisdom, respectively, and were attached to the idea of beating the
Devil with those skills. The fact that Gros Jean and Mi-Jean had proven
themselves led them to be prideful, which made them vulnerable to the Devil’s
manipulation. The Devil tries to make Ti-Jean angry by assigning him impossible
menial tasks, such as counting all of the sugar leaves on his plantation. Gros Jean’s
inability to perform a similar task makes him angry, as he prides himself on his
strength and wishes to prove his ability to the Devil. However, Ti-Jean has no such
attachment, and instead orders the workers on the plantation to burn it down.
Because Ti-Jean is not preoccupied with proving himself to the Devil or measuring
up to the standards the Devil creates for him, he does not get angry like his
brothers. His lack of response, in turn, angers the Devil—and so Ti-Jean wins the
bet.
Walcott demonstrates the dangers of pride in the play by showing it as what
causes the two older brothers to succumb to the Devil’s manipulation. Gros Jean
and Mi-Jean’s pride leads them to want to prove that they measure up to the
standards and expectations set by the Devil. Their egos are so inflated that they
don’t stop to wonder whether it’s really worth it to try and prove themselves to
the Devil. However, Ti-Jean’s lack of pride allows him to discern that he doesn’t
actually need to prove himself to the Devil, and to see that the whole system the
Devil set up is unfair and needs to be destroyed.
 COLONIALISM AND RACISM

In Ti-Jean and His Brothers, Derek Walcott tells a fable about three young men
challenged to defeat the Devil. The Devil makes a bet with the three brothers:
they are to try to make him angry. If they succeed, the Devil will grant them
wealth and property. If they fail, the Devil will eat them. The play is set in an
unspecified place in the Caribbean, and Ti-Jean and his brothers seem to be of
black, Caribbean descent. Throughout the play, Walcott characterizes the Devil as
a racist (presumably white) colonizer, and the brothers as the victims of his racist
oppression. In this way, he emphasizes the evils of colonialism and highlights the
danger that living under and accepting these systems poses to colonized and
formerly colonized peoples.
One of the Devil’s disguises is as the Planter, the owner of a large cotton and
sugar cane plantation in the Caribbean, where colonial slave owners were
notorious for their violence and brutality. When Ti-Jean’s brother Gros Jean goes
to work for the Planter, the Planter mistreats him in ways that have both racist
and colonial undertones. Gros Jean describes the plantation where he works,
saying that it is “estate-like […] sugar, tobacco, and a hell of a big white house
where they say the Devil lives.” Here, Walcott paints the stereotypical image of a
slavery plantation. Sugar and tobacco were the most common goods to be farmed
at slave plantations, and the allusion to the “big white house” or master’s house
implies that the Devil is a slave master—and that Gros Jean is a slave rather than
an employee. Gros Jean decides to take a smoke break, and the Devil, unhappy
that Gros Jean is not being productive, manipulatively tries to get him to continue
working. During this conversation, the Devil confuses Gros Jean’s name several
times, calling him Charley, Hubert, and, most notably “Gros Chien.” Consistently
mistaking someone’s name is, at best, a clear sign of disrespect. In this context,
the Devil’s inability to distinguish Gros Jean from the other works is likely also
racist, as all of the workers on the plantation are black. Finally, chien is the French
word for “dog,” and so in calling Gros Jean by this name, the Devil implies that he
does not fully recognize Gros Jean’s humanity. By drawing readers’ attention to
the Devil’s racism, Walcott highlights the evils of the colonial system that allows
white plantation owners to disregard the humanity of their black slaves.
Similarly, when Mi-Jean speaks with the Devil—who at that point is disguised as
the Old Man—the Old Man frustrates Mi-Jean by comparing him to an animal. Mi-
Jean gets into a debate with the Old Man about whether animals and humans are
equal in intellect or not. Mi-Jean passionately defends the superiority of human
beings, while the Old Man suggests that humans and animals are equally lacking
in intellectual capacity. When he notices Mi-Jean is getting upset, the Old Man
says, “Descendant of the ape, how eloquent you have become! How assured in
logic! How marvelous in invention! And yet, poor shaving monkey, the animal in
you is still in evidence…” Here, Walcott’s choice to have the Old Man refer to Mi-
Jean as a monkey is an intentional reference to racist ideologies that compare
black people to apes and suggest that black people have not reached the same
stage of evolution as white people. Like the Planter’s interactions with Gros Jean,
the way that the Old Man treats Mi-Jean has clear echoes of racist stereotypes. By
painting the Devil in his various disguises as a quintessential racist—and making it
clear that, under colonialism, the brothers have no way to escape his degrading
treatment—Walcott indicates that racism and colonialism are every bit as evil as
the Devil himself.
For both Mi-Jean and Gros Jean, the Devil’s racism is what leads to their deaths:
Mi-Jean becomes upset that the Old Man implies that he is equal to an ape, and,
in getting angry, loses the bet with the Devil. Similarly, Gros Jean becomes upset
with the Planter for various reasons, one of which is the fact that the Planter’s
racism prevents him from remembering Gros Jean’s name. Through the brothers’
fates, Walcott casts racism and colonialism as systems that literally endanger the
lives of black Caribbean peoples. By drawing readers’ attention to the Devil’s
racism, and by positioning the Devil as a colonizer in the Caribbean, Walcott
emphasizes the evils of racism and colonialism.
 Capitalism and Dehumanization

In the play Ti-Jean and his Brothers, Derek Walcott tells the story of three
brothers with whom the Devil makes a bet: if the Devil is able to anger any of the
brothers, he will kill him, while any brother that can provoke a response of anger
in the Devil will be granted wealth and property. One of the Devil’s disguises in
the play is the Planter, a wealthy white plantation owner in the Caribbean who
overworks his employees. The Planter embodies a capitalist value system in that
he prioritizes accumulating profit over the wellbeing of his workers. Through his
descriptions of the ways in which Gros Jean and Ti-Jean engage with the Planter,
Walcott highlights how capitalism dehumanizes the working class, and how,
consequentially, the working class can only liberate itself by rejecting capitalist
values. When disguised as the Planter, the Devil reveals many beliefs that speak
to his capitalist value system. By linking capitalism with the Devil, Walcott
suggests that capitalism itself is evil.
When Gros Jean is taking his smoke break, he remembers how the Old Man had
advised him to go and work for the Devil, saying, “Working for the Devil [is] the
shortest way to success.” Here, the Old Man’s advice assumes that Gros Jean has
a very capitalistic view of success: clearly, if success were defined as achieving
wisdom or morality, working for the Devil would not be the quickest way to
achieve it. However, as the Old Man assumes correctly that Gros Jean is seeking
worldly status and possessions—markers of success under capitalism—it is true
that working for the Devil is the quickest way to achieve these things. In his
conversation with Gros Jean, the Devil (disguised as the Planter) apologizes for
trying to get him to continue working when he is tired, saying, “Sometimes we
people in charge of industry forget that you people aren’t machines.” Here,
Walcott references the undervaluing of human workers under capitalism. The
Devil forgets that his workers are not machines because fundamentally, he wishes
they were, and he would rather not account for the limitations that the workers’
humanity places on their productivity. This is a dehumanizing view of his workers,
and in highlighting it, Walcott speaks to the violence that underlies capitalism.
While Gros Jean willingly subjects himself to the Planter’s abusive treatment, Ti-
Jean refuses to fulfill the Planter’s cruel requests that he overwork himself. In
working on the plantation, Gros Jean loses the bet to the Devil, who is disguised
as the Planter. Gros Jean becomes frustrated with the Planter’s implication that
he could be working harder and shouldn’t have taken a break. Because Gros Jean
prides himself on his strength, he wants to prove his worth according to
capitalism’s value system: he wishes to be the most productive worker on the
plantation. As a result of this desire—which is inextricably linked to capitalism—
Gros Jean gets angry when the Planter points out that he doesn’t meet
capitalism’s standards of being a successful worker. Therefore, Gros Jean’s
willingness to let the capitalist value system define him leads to his downfall.
Ti-Jean demonstrates opposite behavior. The Planter tasks him with capturing a
goat that continuously runs away, and Ti-Jean gives up, saying, “I got a bit tired
chasing the goat / I’m human you know.” Here, Ti-Jean, unlike his older brother, is
not ashamed of the limitations that being human places on his productivity. This
suggests that Ti-Jean has not bought into the capitalist value system; unlike Gros
Jean, he doesn’t think that his worth is directly correlated with his productivity.
While Gros Jean attempts to succeed under this system, Ti-Jean defies it. His
refusal to endlessly chase after the goat is only the beginning of his resistance:
when the Planter asks Ti-Jean to count all of the sugar cane leaves on the
plantation, Ti-Jean orders the plantation workers to burn down all of the crops, as
well as the Planter’s house. In destroying the plantation, Ti-Jean destroys the
Planter’s ability to subjugate his workers to cruel treatment. This, in turn, angers
the Devil, and Ti-Jean wins the bet.
Ti-Jean is able to defeat the Devil essentially because he refuses to play by the
Devil’s rules. He recognizes that the system the Devil has set up—that is,
capitalism—is inherently unfair, and therefore rather than subjugating himself to
it, he destroys it. In the process, he liberates not only himself, but all of the other
works who were subject to the Planter’s abuse.
 The Power of Faith
The antagonist of Ti-Jean and His Brothers is the Devil himself, who challenges
three young men to a dangerous bet. Ti-Jean and his two older brothers live in
poverty, and the Devil promises them that whoever among them can cause him
to lose his temper will receive wealth and property. However, if the Devil
succeeds in making one of the brothers angry, he gets to eat him. As the three
brothers navigate this challenging situation, they demonstrate varying
understandings of religion and faith. While Ti-Jean has an understanding of faith
that gives him courage and strength to face the Devil, his two brothers have more
negative understandings of religion that end up limiting them. Through
demonstrating the ways in which Ti-Jean’s faith helps him to beat the Devil,
Walcott stresses the power of steadfast religious belief even in the face of bleak
circumstances.
Gros Jean and Mi-Jean’s faith seems to depend upon external evidence of God
acting in their lives, and therefore their belief in God wavers when this evidence is
missing. However, Ti-Jean has a faith that is deeper than either of his brothers’,
one that doesn’t depend on external evidence of God’s care or love. At the
beginning of the play, Ti-Jean’s family is lamenting their poverty. Ti-Jean’s faithful
mother tells her boys to “Wait, and God will send [them] something.” But neither
Gros Jean nor Mi-Jean is convinced. Gros Jean responds, “God forget where he
put us,” and Mi-Jean says, “God too irresponsible.” In both cases, the brothers
feel that God is not present in their lives—either because he simply forgot to care
for them, or because he is aware but incapable of caring for all of his creations.
What’s important about the both brothers’ insistence that God is not engaged
with their lives is that they assume God’s presence manifests as something
material. In other words, in order to have faith, both Gros Jean and Mi-Jean need
to see external evidence that God is real, present, and benevolent.
Ti-Jean, on the other hand, has a faith stronger than that of his brothers. His belief
in God doesn’t depend on any external circumstances. Rather, he says, “Whatever
God made, we must consider blessed.” This suggests that Ti-Jean is able to accept
the world as it is, without assuming that bleak circumstances are reason to give
up belief in God, or evidence that God does not exist. Ti-Jean’s faith is something
that he learned from his mother, who tries to impart lessons of faith to each of
her sons before they leave. Ti-Jean is the only one who listens. When Gros Jean
leaves home to go and fight the Devil, his mother tells him, “Praise God who make
all things,” and Gros Jean insists that he already knows this. However,
immediately after he leaves, he comes across Frog, one of the talking animals
who dwell in the forest nearby. Frog offers each of the brothers advice as they
depart. Gros Jean says to Frog, “Get out of my way, you slimy bastard! How God
could make such things?” This reflects the fact that, contrary to what he told his
mother, he does not “already know” to praise God and all of the things that he
has made. What’s more, he demonstrates that he thinks himself superior—for
being human, for being a strong man—to other creations that God has made. This
demonstrates again that Gros Jean’s relationship with God is material—he judges
animals for their appearance and is preoccupied with his place in a superficial
hierarchy.
By contrast, Ti-Jean demonstrates that he does appreciate all of God’s creatures.
Because he genuinely values God’s work and maintains his faith, he stops to talk
to Frog and the other creatures instead of insulting or ignoring them, as Mi-Jean
and Gros Jean have done. The creatures tell Ti-Jean to beware of the Old Man
who tricked both of his brothers—and who turns out to be the Devil himself.
Because Ti-Jean knows that the Old Man is really the Devil in disguise, he sees
through his manipulations and is eventually able to defeat the Devil. In this way,
Ti-Jean’s willingness to believe in God and to put the spiritual teachings he has
learned into practice helps to save his life.
Gros Jean and Mi-Jean are concerned with external manifestations of God’s love,
and don’t have faith if they don’t see such evidence. While they are looking for
this evidence, however, they forget to put into practice the spiritual teachings
their mother has passed on to them, which causes them to lose their lives—had
they truly appreciated all of God’s creatures, like Ti-Jean does, it’s likely that the
animals would have warned them, too, about the Devil. However, Ti-Jean is
willing to trust so deeply in God that he doesn’t need material evidence of God’s
work, and therefore is able to put into practice important spiritual teachings. This,
ultimately, enables him to defeat the Devil, demonstrating the power of faith.
The Plantation Symbol Analysis

The sugar cane and cotton plantation that the Planter owns symbolizes colonial
rule in the Caribbean. Sugar cane and cotton were commonly grown on Caribbean
plantations, and the cruelty with which plantation owners treated the people who
worked producing these products was notorious. When Gros Jean goes to work
for the Planter, his choice to work on the plantation represents more broadly
Caribbean and black men’s choice to participate in the colonial system. Ti-Jean,
instead of counting all of the sugar cane on the plantation as the Planter has
asked him to do, demands that the plantation workers burn down all of the crops
and the master’s house. This represents not just the destruction of the singular
plantation, but rather is a cry to dismantle the system of colonialism that
imprisons and mistreats the Caribbean population.