One of the most interesting, yet very briefly discussed, differences between the inhabitants born on Toussaint and those whose ancestry traces far back on New Half-Way Tree is the concept of a higher power, the god-figure. The humans have Granny-Nanny while the douens have Father Bois.

In many respects, this difference can be attributed to the realities from which each species originates. The douen live in a massive tree that provides them with food, shelter, and water. If the tree did not take on some level of godhood, it would be confusing. The humans, contrastingly, are in a technological world, where Granny Nanny is literally inside your head, inescapably from birth. The Eshu in some respects reminded me of angels. They are the mouth pieces for Granny-Nanny, who is somewhat incapable of directly speaking to the humans (i.e. the eshu are Alan Rickman in Dogma).

There is something deeper than this, though. When the humans are sent to New Half-Way Tree, they are very clearly severed from the Granny-Nanny network, yet they still invoke Granny Nanny much the same people in our world today invoke God in times of mild frustration, taking the name as an oath. Granny does, however, manage to break through the dimensional barrier (again, godlike omnipresence) and implant herself in Tubman, sowing the seeds for a somewhat perverted messianic story. The fact that Tubman is a child of incest, and thus of only one parental bloodline, also feeds into this.

The douens, on the other hand, see Father Bois as a benevolent figure who simply nurtures and loves. Chichibud says to Tan-Tan when he finds her under her dead father, "Papa Bois see what really happen in that room, Tan-Tan. He ain't judging you" (172). When he takes her to the home tree, the incarnation of Papa Bois, Chichibud tells Tan-Tan to come in peace and go in friendship (179). When the douen feel forced to cut down Father Bois, the tree reincarnates with unbelievable speed, creating a strong sense of the a messianic creature, but different from Tubman. Where Tubman is a bridge, the tree seems to be what is waiting on the other side of the bridge, the incarnation of the return to paradise when creatures are redeemed from The Fall.

Yet when Father Bois interacts with the mythic Tan-Tan and Antonio and creates the original Half-Way Tree, there is something vengeful in him at that moment as well. It seems that there is something inherent to the humans that prevents them from experiencing unconditional benevolence and love from any deity.

In many ways, this dichotomy parallels the versions of God in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The humans are associated with the vengeful, powerful God of the Old Testament, whereas the douen are a far more peaceful people in and of themselves, and thus can better accept and comprehend the loving, forgiving God of the New Testament. Taking things away from the Christian Bible, the douen also seem to have developed more f a oneness with nature, whereas the humans fight it, and thus incite conflict from the forces that surround and govern them. It seems that once again man's inherent hierarchical tendencies and the violence that springs from these tendencies will be his downfall and stumbling block, no matter where he goes or how low he is dragged down.