What kind of rich old man decides to become a recluse in the Caribbean? A control freak. Valerian Street's control-freakiness comes out in force when he tries to interact with the natural world. Since Valerian can't control his son or wife, Valerian decides that he'll control the land by digging up trees, clearing swamps, and basically living in a greenhouse populated with non-native North American plants. Usually people build greenhouses to bring bright tropical flowers to cold climates, but ol' Valerian Street wants to bring boring old cold-weather flowers to the beautiful Caribbean. And Tar Baby underlines Valerian Street's imperialist tendencies by giving voice to the natural landscape of the island: the natural features of the island seem to have an opinion on the matter.
Questions About Man and the Natural World
- How does Morrison uses Valerian's treatment of nature to make a bigger statement about white people and their desire to control the world?
- What provokes Valerian to build his greenhouse? What significance can you read into it? Use specific evidence from the text to support your answer.
- Why do you think Morrison uses so much personification when she's talking about nature in this book? What point does it help her make?
Chew on This
In Tar Baby, Toni Morrison blames white people for destroying the environment with their violent, imperialist ways.
Tar Baby reminds us that no matter how much we accomplish in our lives, we'll end up dying and returning to nature just like everyone else.