Jade she spends a lot of Tar Baby stressing about whether or not she's an authentic person. Unlike many of the black people in her life, she was educated at an elite French university thanks to the financial help of the white man Valerian Street. Problems arise when she tries to impose her views on her boyfriend Son, who basically has no interest in living his life on her terms. By the end of the novel Jade has accepted her priorities, but the question of both individual and of black identity haunts Tar Baby.
Questions About Identity
- Why is Jade conflicted about her lifestyle choices?
- How does the presence of the African woman in the Parisian grocery store impact Jade? What does the African woman come to symbolize for Jade?
- Which character in this book has the most confidence in her/his identity? Why? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Chew on This
In Tar Baby, Toni Morrison shows us that it's impossible to ever truly have a stable identity. We are changing every second of every day, and the person we are right now isn't the person we were a minute ago.
Tar Baby shows us that our identities aren't based on anything biological, but on the choices we make as individuals.