The Green Pastures: A Fable: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Green Pastures: A Fable" is a theatrical exploration of key biblical figures presented through the lens of an elderly black preacher's interpretation, showcasing a unique blend of humor and moral reflection. The central character, God, is portrayed as an approachable figure who engages in human-like activities and displays both power and fallibility, emphasizing a journey toward mercy through suffering. Gabriel, His second-in-command, provides a practical counterbalance to God's idealism, while Moses emerges as a reluctant hero tasked with leading the Hebrew people to freedom. Other significant characters include Noah, who embodies endurance and familial responsibility, and the tyrannical Pharaoh, representing oppressive authority. The play also features figures like Cain and his descendants, illustrating a narrative of moral decline and the consequences of human actions. Through diverse characters, the fable conveys themes of faith, redemption, and the complexity of divine intervention, encouraging audiences to reflect on the nature of God, humanity, and the interplay between them.
The Green Pastures: A Fable: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Marc Connelly
First published: 1929
Genre: Play
Locale: Lower Louisiana and Heaven
Plot: Mythic
Time: The 1920's, biblical times
God, who is seen through the eyes of an elderly black preacher as the tallest and biggest of the angels. Dressed in evening clothes and speaking in a rich, bass voice in black dialect (which all the characters use), He participates in human activities such as attending fish fries and working in His office. He also makes human mistakes; for example, when in need of some “firmament” to season his boiled custard, He creates too much and wets the cherubs' wings, so He must pass a miracle to get rid of the excess “firmament.” He creates Earth to drain off the excess and then creates Adam to farm and enjoy the earth. As an elderly minister's simple view of an Old Testament God, He interacts with the angels and hu-mankind as a God of power, love, and wrath until, at the end of the play, He realizes that He must also be a God of mercy gained through suffering and must send Jesus to earth.
Gabriel, the second-in-command angel and God's principal assistant. He is young, big, beardless, and elaborately winged. He is the one to whom God talks about His frustrations, especially with humankind's sinfulness. Gabriel keeps his trumpet ready to blow whenever God commands. His practicality offsets the idealism and passion of God.
Moses, a shepherd and fugitive from Egypt, living in a cave in the mountains to escape prosecution for killing a man in Egypt. He is about forty years old but ages into an old man two scenes later. He dresses inconspicuously and stutters slightly until God cures this problem. After seeing a burning bush that is not consumed, Moses is told by God that it is a magic trick and that God will teach him to perform such tricks for Pharaoh as a means of coercing Pharaoh into freeing the Hebrew people. Moses requests that his brother Aaron be allowed to go with him; God agrees. They “trick” Pharaoh with plagues until he releases the Hebrews, whom Moses leads to the Promised Land. There he turns them over to Joshua, then dies and goes to Heaven.
Noah, a preacher, a basically good man to whom God appears, first as a fellow preacher, then revealing Himself to be God. Noah first appears in the dress of a preacher, then as a steamboat captain. He rules his family but obeys God, building an ark and taking aboard his family, two animals of each species, and one keg of liquor. When he brings the ark to a successful landing, he is forgiven by both God and his family for getting drunk.
Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, wearing a crown and garments like those worn by a high officer in a black lodge ritual. He is vindictive and hates the Hebrews, retaining magicians and wizards to devise means of pestering and intimidating them.
King of Babylon, the equivalent in Babylon to Pharaoh in Egypt, wearing a diamond tiara and an ermine cloak over evening clothes. Like Pharaoh, the king is a tyrant, enslaving the Jews and buying whatever favors he desires, including bribing the Hebrew High Priest to ask God's forgiveness for killing a Hebrew prophet.
Cain, a husky young black man, a field laborer who is discovered to have killed his brother. He takes God's advice to leave the country and find someone to marry and raise a family with, but his choice displeases God.
Cain's girl, who is wickedly pretty and flashily dressed. She is as large as Cain and lives in Nod Parrish. She flirts with Cain, declares herself to be Cain's girl, and takes him home with her.
Zeba, a rouged and very flashily dressed prostitute of about eighteen, the great granddaughter of Seth (the son of Adam), and the girlfriend of both Cain the Sixth and Flatfoot. She is flippant with God, lies to Cain the Sixth, and, appearing with Flatfoot to ridicule Noah for building the ark, incites the jealousy of Cain the Sixth. She represents the depths to which humankind has sunk since God created Adam.
Cain the Sixth, a stylishly dressed, egotistical young man with a quick temper who wears a “box” coat and other flashy garments. He is impudent and dangerous. He kills Flatfoot, whom he finds with Zeba. He appears with gamblers at Noah's ark and touts Noah as foolish. He represents the continuance of degradation from the first Cain.
Aaron, a field hand and brother of Moses. He is a little taller than Moses and slightly older. Like Moses, he appears as an old man two scenes later. As a younger man, he helps Moses play God's “tricks” on Pharaoh and lead the Hebrews to the Promised Land. As an old man entering Canaan, he is commissioned by Moses to care for the Ark of the Covenant.
Hezdrel, a Hebrew soldier in the end of Old Testament times. Appearing in part 2 of the play, he is played by the same actor who played Adam in part 1. Hezdrel is shown standing in the same position that Adam held when first discovered. He is engaged in battle with the Hebrews against the forces of Herod. Hezdrel tells God, who appears to him in the form of a preacher, that he fights unafraid because of his faith in the God of Hosea, a god of mercy. Hezdrel, like Hosea, knows mercy through suffering. This revelation leads to the climax and denouement of the play.
Adam, God's first human creation, a thirty-year-old man of medium height. He is muscular and wears the clothes of a field hand. He talks with God, accepts Eve as a wife, and is drawn to the tree of knowledge, from which God has forbidden him to eat.
Joshua, a scout for the Hebrews, a handsome man about thirty years old. He is assigned by Moses to lead the army into Canaan and to capture the city of Jericho.
Archangel, the principal angel next to Gabriel, older than the other angels, wearing a white beard, darker clothing, and larger wings. He is the head deacon angel, giving Sunday School cards and diplomas to the cherubs and telling the choir what and when to sing.
Noah's wife, an elderly black woman, simply and neatly dressed, representing the good woman: polite, hospitable, and a good wife and mother.
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, sons of Noah, obedient and loyal, whohelpNoahloadandsailtheark.
Zipporah, the wife of Moses, somewhat younger than him, dressed inconspicuously. Like Noah's wife, she demonstrates a good relationship between husband and wife, and her conversation with Moses provides necessary expository information.
Flatfoot, a former drug pusher. He is tall, arrogant, and wicked looking, and he is a lover of Zeba. His killing elicits no remorse from the crowd around Noah's ark.
Prophet, a patriarchal, ragged figure who denounces the sins of the Babylonians and their king and of the Hebrews. Preaching repentance, he is killed on orders of the king.
High Priest, a fat voluptuary dressed in elaborate, brightly colored robes. He arrives at the Babylonian “nightclub” with a prostitute, is denounced by the Prophet, and takes a bribe from the king to “pray” for God's forgiveness for killing a Hebrew prophet.
Mr. Deshee, an elderly country preacher in Louisiana who teaches Bible lessons to Sunday School children in a black church. It is his interpretation of God and the Heaven and earth of the Old Testament that forms the play within the play. He introduces the play and provides exposition.
Eve, Adam's wife, twenty-six years old and very pretty. She is dressed like a country girl in a new, clean gingham dress. She appears primarily to complete Adam and imply the entrance of sin.
Head Magician, the henchman of Pharaoh who carries out Pharaoh's dirty work. He is a very old and villainous man, costumed in a robe covered with cabalistic and zodiacal signs.
Master of Ceremonies, the henchman of the king of Babylon who conducts the king's dirty work and runs a type of “nightclub” in Babylon.