Toni Morrison: A Teaching and Learning Resource Collection

"Tar Baby" (1981): Overview and Links

Tar Baby (1981) marks a significant departure for Toni Morrison. To begin with, the novel was Morrison's first novel published in the present moment -- the late 1970s -- and it is the first of Morrison's novel to look at the Black-white divide and the deep prevalence of anti-Black racism among both the white establishment and even within some segments of the Black community. Tar Baby also features a group of characters following life paths that look quite different from those of Song of Solomon, Sula, or The Bluest Eye. To begin with, Jadine is a New York-based fashion model considering moving permanently to Paris. Jadine's success in the mainstream fashion industry as a Black woman is seen as somewhat unremarkable in Morrison's novel, though in point of fact it was not: historically the mainstream fashion industry was intensely white (it took eighty years for a Black model to be featured on the cover of Vogue; Beverly Johnson first appeared there in August, 1974). Her widely recognized beauty puts her in a very different path than Morrison's Pecola Breedlove in The Bluest Eye, and suggests a changing range of opportunities for educated African American people. 

Sydney and Ondine are an elderly couple who have for many years worked for Valerian and Margaret Street, a white couple so wealthy that, upon retirement, they could buy their own private Caribbean island, the ficional Isle des Chevaliers, and move there with their servants. Significant sections of the narrative detail the back stories of the Streets, who have a troubled relationship with their only child, Michael; as the story begins, they are anticipating his return from the U.S. for the Christmas holidays. Michael studies anthropology and works closely with Native American communities; it is unclear whether he will actually return or not. 

The one character in the novel who perhaps does resemble some of Morrison's other early lead characters might be Son, Jadine's love interest. Son arrives on the island by stowing away on a boat owned by the Streets after jumping ship in the harbor of a nearby island (presumably Dominique). Son comes from a fictional all-Black town in Florida called Eloe, which he had to leave when he was involved in the death of a woman. As a jazz musician with a troubled past, Son has some similarities with characters from novels like Jazz; he also resembles the character Booker Stearborn from Morrison's God Help the Child. 

Tar Baby is also Morrison's first and only novel to be set, for a significant chunk of its plot, outside of the U.S. The island featured in the novel is described as being close to the island of Dominique (also fictional, though "Dominique" can be an alternative name for the real-life island of Dominica). Within the novel, the locals describe a mythical history where the "horsemen" in the island's name ("Chevaliers") were a group of blind slaves had escaped centuries earlier; the locals say their descendents continue to roam free in the otherwise unpopulated hillside. In addition to Black-white race relations, Tar Baby explores how American tourists exploit low-paid Afro-Caribbean workers, and generally have a colonialist orientation to the Caribbean. 

The novel's title, "Tar Baby," is an allusion to an African American folk story that is well-summarized here. In effect, the story involves a doll created by Br'er Fox to entrap Br'er Rabbit. The doll is covered in sticky tar; when the rabbit touches it, it becomes stuck. In mid-20th century usage, the phrase "tar baby" was also a euphemism for an African American person, sometimes derogatory. Morrison herself alluded to this usage of the phrase in her novel Sula, with a light-skinned boarder in Eva Peace's house ironically dubbed "Tar Baby." 

In Morrison's novel, the title may be an allusion to Son's character -- a Black man with strong connections to a historically Black community in the south -- and the powerful pull he exerts on the more mainstream-oriented Jadine. However, the phrase only appears late in the novel, in the midst of a fight the couple has over their long-term status and identity. In the end, the title of the novel has a somewhat ambiguous relationship to the novel's characters and plot. 

 

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