Tar Baby
novel by Morrison
Quick Summary
Toni Morrison's novel Tar Baby (1981) is set on a Caribbean island and explores conflicts of race, class, and gender. The title character, Tar-Baby, originates from African American folktales, notably popularized by Joel Chandler Harris in his Uncle Remus stories. In these tales, Tar-Baby is a sticky figure, often made of tar, used to trap a trickster like Brer Rabbit. The more the rabbit struggles, the more stuck it becomes. Morrison's novel uses this motif to delve into complex social dynamics.12
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