Literary Devices in Tar Baby
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Most of this book takes place on Isle des Chevaliers, and island off the coast of Dominica in the Caribbean. Valerian bought Isle des Chevaliers as private property—lucky dog!—which goes to sho...
Narrator Point of View
In Tar Baby, Morrison uses a third-person omniscient voice that dives in and out of character's minds like a dolphin at play. You know, a mind dolphin. This narrative technique gives the reader the...
Genre
Morrison is doing a lot of different things in this book. She gets to: she's a literary genius. On a basic level, though, the book is a straight-up family drama. The first half of the book is taken...
Tone
There are lots of different ways an author can use tone with a third-person omniscient narrator. Jonathan Swift, for example, decided to be mean and sarcastic. But Toni Morrison chooses to be under...
Writing Style
It doesn't take long to realize that Toni Morrison likes to use a lot of symbolic language in her books. In the book's opening scene, for example, Son's sighting of a town called Queen of France le...
What's Up With the Epigraph?
For it hath been declaredunto me of you, my brethren, by themwhich are of the house of Chloe, that there arecontentions among you.Morrison chooses a passage from section 1:11 of Paul's First Letter...
What's Up With the Ending?
He threw out his hands to guide and steady his going. By and by he walked steadier, now steadier. The mist lifted and the trees stepped back a bit as if to make the way easier for a certain kind of...
Tough-o-Meter
The language isn't the toughest in the world, but Toni Morrison's Tar Baby can totally tie your brain in knots. It's pretty easy to get lost on the foggy shore of Isle des Chevaliers, it's just as...
Plot Analysis
Jumping ShipA black guy named Son jumps off a ship and eventually ends up hiding in the house of a rich white candy-maker named Valerian Street. We like to think of Valerian Street as a warped Wi...
Trivia
Son didn't make up the Tar Baby story. Here it is, in all its glory. There's just one question: what is a "Br'er"? (Source)Isle des Chevaliers doesn't exist. We know: bummer. It sounds pretty. But...
Steaminess Rating
Morrison isn't one to shy away from tough questions, or from steamy romance. In Tar Baby, we hear references to sex not only from the book's two main lovers, Son and Jade, but also the much older V...
Allusions
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince (3.137-141)"If I Didn't Care," by The Ink Spots (song) (4.321)