Summary- Tar Baby (Toni Morrison)
The novel Tar Baby, by Toni Morrison, explains the story of the extremely debatable quandary of the racially separated African-Americans in America and the inherent practice of social discrimination inflicted on then due to racial prejudice. The novel uses the character of the Protagonist, Jadine, who faces the communal allegations of betraying her own race because she abandoned her real culture and gave up her racial heritage to pursue her dreams. This reflective summary of the novel focuses on the part (pages 231-275) where Valerian (the white owner of entire household and master of all the blacks) realizes about the abuse of his son, Michel, who was abused by Margaret (Valerian’s wife) who had a drinking problem. This part is followed by the segment when Jadine and Son reach Eloe, Florida and they were unable to understand the culture and language of the Eloe residents.
Valerian is found to be intrigued by the fact that he assumed that Michel’s trauma because Margaret had a drinking problem. However, he was shocked to know the Margaret was feeling guilty because she abused Michel when he was a child. She also confessed this to Valerian that she enjoyed abusing him. The two other characters, Sydney and Ondine, tend to get a hint from Valerian whether they will be continuing to serve Valerian because their entire financial future and financial stability depended on Valerian. Valerian felt extremely grieved and helpless about imagining Michel hiding under the sink because he could have intervened and resolved the situation to help the poor kid. However, his misinterpretation of the real cause behind Michel’s fear resulted in the abuse of the little kid. This guilty conscience made Valerian feel extremely uneasy and he wanted to weep his guilt off by crying out the tears of blood but he was unable to do so. The next morning, Margaret understood that her crime was already exposed to all and she tried confessing it to Valerian saying that she never harmed Michel so much. Sydney and Ondine were already worried about their future financial stability. Then Margaret revealed it to Valerian that she had called for Michel and this infuriated Valerian because he found her strong and confident of the fact that Michel still loved her. Valerian also felt dismayed by the fact that Michel could never confide in him to express his true state of trauma and suffering under the abuse of Margaret. Margaret asked Valerian to hit her for her sins but Valerian denied her request by postponing it to some other day.
The next chapter elaborates the plight of Jadine and Son at Eloe, Florida where Jadine was unable to understand the language and culture of the Eloe residents. They were also asked to stay separately by the Old man (house owner) as they (Jadine and Son) were unmarried. Jadine was bemused by the difference in culture. However, Jadine and Son try to sneak into each other and break the rules imposed on their freedom by the Old man and his wife, Rosa.
The book Race Matters, by author Cornell West, focuses on the crucial aspects of the participation of the black in the socially authoritative positions and the resultant connection of spiritual elements in shaping the various progressive factors related to the uplifting of the blacks in the American society. The title of the novel, Race Matters, is deliberately made to express the importance of racial discrimination and ethnic segregation involved in all the decisions of the American society. The book explains how the racial discrimination has affected the lives of African-American people and their entire culture as it acted as the prime root-cause for uprooting all of the progressive efforts of the African-American society. Thus, the novel tends to shed some light on the fact that what situations made the blacks lose their faith in the progressive side of the American society and lacked any motive to grow further in their lives. The novel portrays the two very critical factors of developing a model of economic well-being (for the black community) and stresses the creation of specific political influence for the African-Americans for getting an assured progress of them. The novel also presents the other aspect of the above-mentioned prospects by explaining some specific issues which hindered the progress of the African-American community in the current society by suppressing all the political and social efforts exerted in this context. The most important factors discussed in this regard were those of black rage, confused sexuality, and flawed leadership for blacks in the political scenario.
The evident connection between the novel Tar Baby and the book Race Matters can be explained on the basis of commonality drawn on the subject of racial disparity in them. Firstly, both of these works tend to elaborate the plight of African Americans due to excessive racial prejudice and try to enlist various factors which have caused them. Secondly, how the issues of black sexuality and feminism have worsened the gap between the blacks and their social progress? This is a prime question highlighted din both the books. Finally, both of the books give very typical analysis of how the white Americans acknowledge the progressive acts for the ascent of the black community.
A critical question related to the ‘Tar Baby’
The critical question that becomes prominent in the analyzed segment of the novel, Tar Baby, is whether prejudice and abuse are only limited to the people of the black community or is it a menace that can co-exist in the nature of any human being? This question arises from the fact that Valerian was trying to be just to the blacks working in his household when his own son was brutally abused and he never considered Valerian to be trustworthy enough to share his trauma.
