Aunt Ester tells Citizen to visit Jilson Grant in preparation for his trip to the City of Bones. She says that Jilson Grant has to give him a piece of iron before he makes the journey. But Citizen doesn’t find him. Whether or not Jilson Grant is even a real person remains unclear in the play—it’s possible that Aunt Ester simply wanted Citizen to feel slightly underprepared for the experience, perhaps to put him on his guard and infuse the entire process with a slight sense of fear. In the end, Solly gives him a chain link from his days of enslavement, which he says brings good luck.
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Jilson Grant Character Timeline in Gem of the Ocean
The timeline below shows where the character Jilson Grant appears in Gem of the Ocean. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 5
...downstairs and prepares to leave, Aunt Ester instructs him to look for a man named Jilson Grant , who is supposed to give him something that he should put in a handkerchief...
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Act 2, Scene 1
Citizen enters and proudly announces that he found two pennies. He didn’t, however, find Jilson Grant . Aunt Ester tells Black Mary to bring out a large quilt, upon which there...
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Act 2, Scene 2
...She also gives him the two pennies he found, saying he’s going to need them. Jilson Grant was supposed to give him a piece of iron, but Citizen will have to make...
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