Ti-Jean and His Brothers

Act 3, Pages 53-62

1st And 2nd Level
1st Level
Plot
In this portion of the play, it is dawn, and Ti-Jean starts on his journey to beat the Devil. Before
Ti-Jean leaves the house, he asks for his mother’s strength, knowledge and blessings. The mother
then tells him to make his instinct his shield, conscience be his cause, and plain sense be his
sword. Mi-Jean then proceeds into the forest, and compliments each one of the animals who are
in the Greek chorus of the play. The Frog is told that he has his own way of beauty, the Cricket
his told that his music is that of a castanet, and the Firefly is told that he looks like a star at night.
Ti-Jean then greets the old man, who he believes is the Devil. He raises his skirt and sees the
Devil’s tail and so he confirms his theory. He then asks the old man to revel himself, and the
Devil showcases his identity to Ti-Jean. Ti-Jean then is told by the Devil to do some tasks, one of
which is to tie up the goat. Ti-Jean then castrates the goat, and the Devil gets slightly annoyed.
Ti-Jean then is told to go to the field to count every leaf on the stalks of all the sugar canes in the
vicinity. However, Ti-Jean tells all of the people working hard in the fields that he is the new
foreman, and that they have to burn the field, and the field burned all night.
Setting
This part of the play takes place at dawn, in the forest. We know this because on page 53,
Walcott writes “Dawn. The forest.”, in the very first stage direction of the act. By making the
time of day dawn, Walcott tells the audience that it is the beginning of something new, as it is
usually interpreted like this in literature. Walcott also sets the mood as very agitated and slightly
bustling. He does this on the very first stage direction of the act, where the creatures are huddled
near the old man and two crosses are marked ‘Gros Jean’ and ‘Mi-Jean’. By having two crosses,
Walcott makes the audience feel disturbed, and by having many creatures surround the old man,
Walcott makes the mood as slightly busy.
Characters
Old man/Devil: In this portion of the play, the devil is very overconfident and excited. We know
this because on page 53, the Devil says “Well, that’s two good meals finished with a calm
temper, and if all goes mortally, one more is to come.”. Based on this line, it is very likely that
the devil feels that it was too easy to defeat the first two brothers, and that the third one, (who is
the youngest) will be the easiest meal. By making the devil say this, Walcott intents to inform the
audience that the devil is very cocky and arrogant.
Ti-Jean: In this portion of the play, we learn that Ti-Jean is patient and respectful towards his
mother. We know this because on page 54, Ti-Jean asks his mother for her strength and
blessings, unlike Gros-Jean and Mi-Jean, who were in a hurry to leave the house and defeat the
devil. By this we can learn that Ti-Jean is very considerate towards his mother’s feelings and
respects her very much, and that he takes his time while completing the tasks that he is assigned.
This tells us how patient Ti-Jean is. We also learn that Ti-Jean has a very high level of
intelligence. We know this because on page 61, Ti-Jean manages to keep the goat tied up and
quiet by castrating it. Another example is on page 62, where he tells all the people working hard
in the fields to burn the sugar cane plantation. Based on these events, we discover that Ti-Jean is
very brilliant, and that he has a lot of logical and common sense, unlike his other two brothers.
We also learn that Ti-Jean is very respectful to nature, and the people surrounding him. We know
this because on page 53, Ti-Jean compliments each one of the animals, and then on page 62, after
saying “Hey all you niggers sweating there in the fields!”, he takes his word back and says “Hey
all you people working hard in the fields!”. This gives us an insight of how polite and humble Ti-
Jean’s personality is.
Mother: In this portion of the play, Ti-Jean’s mother feels very miserable and anxious. We
know this because on page 53, she tells Ti-Jean that he is her last son, and that if he dies, then
she will be all alone. She also says that Ti-Jean is very young and is hardly a man. By making
her say this, Walcott informs us that the mother is very anxious and afraid to what will happen to
Ti-Jean. However, this changes on page 54, where Ti-Jean’s mother feels less apprehensive. We
know this because on page 54, the mother says that none of her two sons asked her for her
strength, and they thought little of her knowledge, but now the last of her sons is knelling down
at her feet, asking for her blessings. Based on what the mother said, this tells us that Ti-Jean’s
mother has a sense of hope in Ti-Jean, because he is asking his mother for advice. By doing so,
Walcott also gives the audience an insight of the healthy and loving relationship that exists
between Ti-Jean and his mother.
Context
“Nigger”
On page 62, Ti-Jean calls all of the people that are working in the plantation as “niggers”. By
making Ti-Jean say this, Walcott makes a historical reference to slavery and colonialism, where
the white plantation owners called all of the black people, or dark-skinned people as “niggers”.
This also makes a refence to all of the racism that black people have faced, from the late 20th
century till date. It is very likely that Walcott intended to educate the audience about racism, and
the effects that racism has on society and the people that it is targeted towards.

2nd Level
Main Topic/Central Message
The main event that occurs in this portion of the play is the way in which Ti-Jean manages to
deal with the tasks that the Devil assigns him. For example, in-between pages 61 and 62, Ti-Jean
keeps the goat tied up and quiet by castrating him. Then, the Devil gets slightly annoyed that Ti-
Jean castrated his goat. Then he tells Ti-Jean to count every leaf of the blades of all the
sugarcanes in the field. However, Ti-Jean doesn’t do this. Instead, Ti-Jean tells all of the
plantation workers that he is the new foreman, and that he commands them to burn all of the
plantation. The workers, then agree, and the plantation burns all night long.
Author’s Purpose
Walcott’s intention in this portion of the play was keep the audience engaged throughout the
performance through the use of comedic relief, as well as give the audience hope that Ti-Jean
will win the challenge against the Devil. Walcott does this by making the character of Ti-Jean
castrate the Devil’s goat on page 61, resulting in the Devil being annoyed. Another example is on
page 62, where Ti-Jean commands the workers in the plantation to burn the field. This creates
comedic relief for the audience, and it also keeps the audience engaged.
Point of View
Walcott focuses this act on the character of Ti-Jean, which gives the audience a perspective of
how Ti-Jean perceives the world around him. For example, on page 55, Ti-Jean compliments the
animals, resulting in the audience knowing that Ti-Jean respects nature. Another example is on
page 54, where Ti-Jean asks for his mother’s strength, resulting in the audience knowing that Ti-
Jean is very kind and considerate towards his mother’s feelings. By doing so, Walcott utilizes Ti-
Jean’s point of view to educate the audience about Ti-Jean’s personality, rather than making the
narrators directly tell the audience. This helps in making the audience understand Ti-Jean’s
character much more in depth.
Story Structure
In the storyline of the drama, we have almost reached the climax, but we are still in the rising
action. This is because there is still conflict and tension that has yet to be resolved, such as Ti-
Jean burning the Devil’s plantation, along with the other workers that are working on the field.
By making Ti-Jean do this, Walcott not only makes the audience very excited and anxious about
the Devil’s reaction to this, but he also brings the play to the transitioning stage from the rising
action to the climax. It is very likely that Walcott will no longer develop conflict and tension
after this stage.
Text Features and Literary Devices
1. “Instinct be your shield, It is wiser than reason” (Page 54)
This is an example of personification because it is giving a non-living thing (instinct),
human attributes (being wise). What the mother says when she says this is that Ti-Jean
should use his common sense to protect himself from the dangers that lie in the forest.

2. “My mother always told me, my spirits were too merry” (page 58)
This is an example of personification because it is giving a non-living thing (Ti-Jean’s
spirit), human attributes (being merry). What Ti-Jean means when he says this is that his
mother believed that his personality was always filled with joy.
3. “This is like looking at the blinding gaze of god” (page 59)
This is an example of a simile because it is a direct comparison between two objects (the
Devil and the blinding gaze of god) using the word ‘like’. What Ti-Jean means when he
says this is that the Devil’s face is not horrendous for him to see, because it is bright and
glorifying like god. This is meant to anger the Devil, as the devil doesn’t want to be
similar to god.

4. “Then made it a eunuch” (page 61)

This is an example of a metaphor because it is a direct comparison between two objects
(the goat and the eunuch) without using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. What this means is that
Ti-Jean castrated the goat by removing its testicles, and now it is no different than a
eunuch”.

5. “My brothers are dead but they live in the memory of my mother” (page 57)
This is an example of personification because it is giving a non-living thing (Ti-Jean’s
mother’s memory), human attributes (to live). What Ti-Jean means when he says this is
that his mother will never forget Gros Jean and Mi-Jean, even though they are dead.