Previous
Gros Jean
The play’s antagonist, the Devil has two disguises: the Planter and the Old Man, also called Papa Bois. According to the Bolom, one of the Devil’s assistants, the Devil longs to feel a human emotion but is unable to. This is why he challenges Gros Jean, Mi-Jean, and Ti-Jean to a challenge—he wants to see if anyone can provoke anger in him. The Devil easily beats Gros Jean and Mi-Jean at the challenge, by taking advantage their big egos to make them angry. But humble, faithful, and rebellious Ti-Jean proves impossible for the Devil to beat, as Ti-Jean refuses to play by the Devil’s unfair rules. When disguised as the Planter, the Devil is a white man who owns a sugar cane and cotton plantation, where he employs many black Caribbean workers for low wages and subjects them to difficult working conditions. When Gros Jean goes to work for the Planter, he complains about having received no rest or pay for two days straight, which speaks to the brutal conditions colonized peoples worked under during colonial rule. Walcott’s choice to make the Planter one of the Devil’s disguises suggests that he believes the systems that the Planter represents—colonialism and capitalism—are evil. Papa Bois, on the other hand, in Caribbean folklore is usually depicted as a benevolent spirit of the forest, but in this play Walcott chooses to link him with the Devil. Perhaps because of the positive qualities generally attributed to Papa Bois in Caribbean cultures, both Gros Jean and Mi-Jean blindly trust the Old Man, while Ti-Jean, thanks to a tip from Frog, recognizes him as the Devil. Ultimately, the Devil, disguised as the Planter, loses the challenge to Ti-Jean when Ti-Jean tells him that he has destroyed all of his property. Through his characterization of the Devil, Walcott highlights the evils of materialism and, by contrast, the importance of humility and faith.
Devil / Planter/ Old Man Quotes in Ti-Jean and His Brothers
The Ti-Jean and His Brothers quotes below are all either spoken by Devil / Planter/ Old Man or refer to Devil / Planter/ Old Man . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1 Quotes
“What counts in this world is money and power.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“Remember what the old son of a leaf-gathering beggar said? He said that working for the Devil was the shortest way to success. Well, I walked up through the bush then I come onto a large field. Estate-like, you know. Sugar, tobacco, and a hell of a big white house where they say the Devil lives. Ay-ay. So two next black fellers bring me up to him. Big white man, his hand cold as an axe blade and his mind twice as sharp.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“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.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2 Quotes
“A man is no better than an animal. The one with two legs makes more noise and that make him believe he can think.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“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...”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3 Quotes
“You are hardly a man, a stalk, bending in the wind with no will of its own, never proven your self, in battle or wisdom […]”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Ti-Jean and His Brothers LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Devil / Planter/ Old Man Character Timeline in Ti-Jean and His Brothers
The timeline below shows where the character Devil / Planter/ Old Man appears in Ti-Jean and His Brothers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
...“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...
(full context)
...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...
(full context)
...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,...
(full context)
...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...
(full context)
...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!”
(full context)
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...
(full context)
Act 1
An Old Man limps onto the forest path, lifting his robe to scratch his hairy hoof. Gros Jean...
(full context)
...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...
(full context)
...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:...
(full context)
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,...
(full context)
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...
(full context)
Gros Jean is quick to correct the Planter, telling him that he himself is “no common man”—according to Gros Jean, just because he...
(full context)
Frustrated that the Planter has mistaken his name again, Gros Jean stands up to correct him. The Planter tells...
(full context)
Act 2
...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...
(full context)
The Old Man asks Mi-Jean about the book he has in his hands. Mi-Jean, who has noticed that...
(full context)
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...
(full context)
Stepping out from behind the bushes, the Planter asks Mi-Jean if he has finished the work he gave him: to catch a wild...
(full context)
Suddenly, the goat the Planter has asked Mi-Jean to catch breaks loose again, and the Planter tells Mi-Jean to hurry...
(full context)
The Planter acknowledges Mi-Jean, explaining himself by saying, “I’ve seen dumber men, not you, fail at this...
(full context)
...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...
(full context)
As he prepares to eat Mi-Jean, the Planter says, “Descendant of the ape, how eloquent you have become! How assured in logic! How...
(full context)
Act 3
...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...
(full context)
The Old Man asks Ti-Jean whether his parents are alive, and Ti-Jean responds that he thinks nothing dies....
(full context)
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...
(full context)
The Devil assigns Ti-Jean the same task as his brothers: he is to catch and tie up...
(full context)
The Devil, a bit vexed that Ti-Jean has “fixed” his goat, struggles to control his temper. Sensing...
(full context)
As soon as the Devil has gone, Ti-Jean says to himself, “Count all of the canes, what a waste of...
(full context)
Later that night, the Devil appears, drunk and singing. He laments, “I drink, and I drink, and I feel nothing....
(full context)
As the Devil wallows in his misery, he sees Ti-Jean coming and puts on his Planter’s mask. Ti-Jean...
(full context)
Exhausted, the Devil wants to go home, and as he is leaving, Ti-Jean throws his arms around him,...
(full context)
As he reminisces, the Devil sees the plantation burning in the distance, and asks Ti-Jean what the fire is. Ti-Jean...
(full context)
The Devil commands miniature devils to surround Ti-Jean, and tells them to seize him when Ti-Jean comments...
(full context)
