Tar Baby: Character Analysis
- Paige
- Sep 30, 2018
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 12, 2018
For this post, choose two of the following discussion questions to respond to:
1. In what ways does Jadine represent consumer-capitalism?
2. How does Son represent a barter system?
3. In what ways might Morrison be critiquing second-wave feminism? Consider the relationship between Jadine and Margaret and Jadine and Ondine in your answer?
4. What does Son's decision to join the blind horsemen suggest?
5. What does Jadine's decision to return to Europe suggest?
6. How does Valerian change over the course of the novel? What do we think about his demise?
7. How do you see the theme of African mothers or ancestors in this novel?
8. What are your thoughts on Son and Jadine's relationship?
9. Why does Son get angry when Jadine takes pictures of the kids in Eloe?
10. How does Morrison deconstruct what she refers to as the "racialized gaze" or "white gaze" (in this interview) through her characters, language, plot, or any other literary techniques?
*Please remember to include your full name and section number at the start of your post to receive credit
Eric Kent Section 4 5. Jadine has each foot planted in a different world, and that causes her difficulty in making decisions and relating to people. I believe that she wants to adhere to the European lifestyle but a sense of loyalty, and perhaps occurrences of rejection based on her ethnicity, she finds herself returning to the island. Ultimately, I think that her character represents that you can strive to exist among another culture while still retaining your roots. You don’t have to choose one or the other and those that think you do are wrong.
6. Valerian controls the estate through aggressive negligence. He is the leader, but everything seems to occur around him without his supervision, unless…
Brian Marquez – 0006
1. In what ways does Jadine represent consumer-capitalism?
From her profession to her behavior, Jadine is a very accurate representation of consumer-capitalism. Jadine works as a fashion model; her photographs are used to market and advertise products to consumers. She also places a lot of importance on material possessions. This can be seen by how obsessive she is of her sealskin coat. She returns to Isle de Chevalier not to say goodbye to Ondine and Sydney, but rather to pick up her coat to take to Paris. She also brings them Christmas presents, a pair of heels so high for Ondine that she was not able to walk in them. However, she chooses to ignore her…
Margaret Plunkett oo06
1. In what ways does Jadine represent consumer capitalism?
Jadine represents the westernization of the modern black woman. Jadine symbolizes consumer capitalism through her love of material items such as clothes and jewelry. Jadine lacks culture and tradition, thus juxtaposing Son. While Jadine represents consumer culture, it is important to note that she is neither bad nor good, but just contrasting compared to the other characters in the novel. Jadine struggles with acceptance because the black community rejects her because she is so westernized in nature, and she fails to feel completely accepted in western culture as well. A woman in a yellow dress spits on Jadine because she believes Jadine lacks authenticity of black culture.
5.…
Taylor Mahoney
Section 0006
6. At the beginning of the novel, Valerian seems to be a very controlling man. Although it's portrayed that he's nice to his servants, you see his judgmental and controlling attributes come out. From the start, it's very obvious that Valerian doesn't care about his wife's happiness when he moves to this island without plans to ever move back to the United States when she makes it very evident that she hates the island and misses the US. His control and his power are symbolized through his greenhouse, in which he spend a lot of time in in the beginning. The way Valerian changes throughout the novel is the fact that he becomes less and …
Mike McLaughlin section 0006
4. Son's decision to join the blind horseman suggests that he is choosing his African roots over his love for Jadine. After traveling with her I think he realized that he valued his own cultural history more than anything that Jadine could offer him. This idea of joining with a native tribe offered freedom to him in a sense that he was able to embrace another identity and maybe this identity would stick with him even longer than the "Son" name he embraced for so long. I view his decision to join the blind horseman as an act of self rediscovery and national pride.
9. Son gets angry becasue he feels like Jadine is trying to…