Toni Morisson

’s “Tar Baby” Essay, Research Paper

It is often said that it is better to follow your heart instead of your mind because it

will never lie to you. However, when you follow your heart you are not always

prepared for what the outcome may be. This is proven in Toni Morisson’s novel

Tar Baby . Tar Baby is Morrison’s fourth novel and it took three and a half years

to write . The story was based on an old African American folk tale about Brer

Rabbit and Tar Baby. This book is said by some to be an excess of what made

Morrison’s other books good but despite the criticism the book still made it to the

best seller’s list.

The story takes place on an isolated island of L’Arbe de la Croix. this was

purposely done by Morrison so that the characters would have no way to escape.

There were no immediate policemen to call and no neighbors to interfere in the

story . The characters were placed in a cage and left to see what would happen.

L’ Arbe de la Croix is the vacation home of Valerian Street a retired candy maker

and his wife Margaret Street. The house is also occupied by a black couple,

Sydney and Odine, who have been the long time servants of the Street’s.

During the time of the story the house is also occupied by Jadine, who is

Sydney’s and Odine’s niece. Jadine was took in by the Streets and they paid for

her to go to school and become a model. Jadine came down from Paris to

contemplate a marriage proposal from a Frenchman and to spend Christmas

with her aunt and uncle. Jadine can be considered the tar baby in this story. She

was taken in by the Street’s and opened up to the world that they lived in. She

got a wonderful education and traveled all over. She had a sense of security and

knew that anything she needed would be given to her by the streets.

The streets get another unexpected guest during Christmas. One night

when Margaret is up in her room she opens her closet and sees a strange black

man sitting there. She becomes hysterical and runs down the stairs in a panic.

Sydney goes upstairs and brings down the intruder everyone in the house is

startled by his appearance and ready to call the police. Everyone except

Valerian. He invites the intruder to sit down for a drink and this makes Margaret

crazy. She runs up to her room and locks herself in her bedroom. We later find

out that the intruder is the same man that we encounter in the beginning of the

novel on the boat. The intruder has many names but asks to be called Son. Son

Green. Son is the cause of a lot of trouble and he brings out the true side of the

characters of this story. After dinner Son is invited to stay for the night in one of

the guest rooms. This makes Sydney angry. He could not understand how

Valerian could be so calm in such a situation but despite his anger Sydney does

what he is told.

The next morning Son come into Jadine’s room, this is their first personal

encounter. Jadine is absolutely repulsed by his looks but she is kind to him and

they start to talk, the conversation takes a turn for the worse. After making an

insulting comment about Jadine he grabs her, presses his body against hers,

and starts to smell her. This makes Jadine feel dirty. She finally breaks loose

from his grasp and runs to tell Valerian. On her way to Valerian she stops and

starts to think about whether she should go and tell or not. After much thought

she decides not to, but also promises herself that she would try to avoid him to

the best of her ability.

That same day Valerian suggests that Son go to the main island with one

of the workers to get some clothes and a hair cut. He comes back the next day

and sees Jadine. At first she is amazed by his appearance she could not believe

that he was the same guy who she encountered the privies day. Her amazement

was not long lasting her memories of the day before quickly came back to her.

Son apologized for his behavior but Jadine does not want to hear anything that

he has to say. Son offers to take her on a picnic and she agrees against her

better judgment. On the picnic Jadine gets to know more about Son. How he got

on the island where he came from and what life he left behind. Everything was

going fine until Son started commenting on her feet he became almost obsessed

with seeing them and then touching them. Shortly after Son touched her foot

Jadine pulled it away and said that she was ready to leave the whole situation

made her very uncomfortable. Even as Jadine walked back to the car she still felt

Son’s thumb print on the sole of her foot.

Then came the “Dinner”. Christmas finally arrived and everyone sat down

at the table for dinner even Sydney and Ondine. At first it was a little silent, then

everything went crazy and everyone’s true feelings came out. Sydney revealed

how he felt about Son staying in the house. Ondine and Margaret got into a huge

argument that almo

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