Tar Baby (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Toni Morrison
- First Published: 1981
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social criticism
- Time of Work: The 1970’s
- Setting: Isle de Chavaliers in the Caribbean, New York City, Florida
- Principal Characters: Valerian Street, Margaret Street, Sydney Childs, Ondine Childs, Jadine “Jade” Childs, William “Son” Green
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: African Americans, 1970’s, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Africa or Africans, Caribbean, Class conflict, Racism, Blacks, Slavery or slaves, New York City, Interracial relationships, Servants, Models, fashion
- Locales: Caribbean, New York, NY, Florida, Isle de Chevaliers, Caribbean
Form and Content
Jade Childs is the tar baby that Toni Morrison refers to in her title. Jade is a black woman, intelligent, orphaned, and educated in Paris, who at twenty-five stands poised between two worlds. Her natural world is that of her aunt and uncle, Sydney and Ondine, servants to the affluent Streets who, impressed by Jade’s unique abilities, have sent her to study art history at the Sorbonne. Jade can function in both of her worlds.
Tar Baby is a polemical novel. Morrison examines two worlds by putting into sharp contrast the marriages of the Childses...
[The entire page is 2847 words long]
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