How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Tell him anything but don't tell him I smelled you because then he would understand that there was something in you to smell and that I smelled it and if Valerian understands that then he will still know that there is something in you to be smelled." (4.347)
Scent is synonymous in Tar Baby with sexuality and animal magnetism. Son doesn't want the fact that he smelled Jade to be public knowledge because he thinks that knowledge of Jade's scent with inflame Valerian's passion. Jade doesn't want Valerian to know about the incident either, because she thinks that her smell must be somehow shameful.
Quote #8
"Oh, God, he scared the s—t out of me. He looked like a gorilla!" (5.29)
Margaret Street doesn't think of herself as a racist person, but she says quite a few racist things. Comparing Son to a gorilla, for example, is definitely racist. There's a bit of leeway here because Margaret is scared—Son was hiding in her freaking closet. On the other hand, it wouldn't kill her to take a few classes in sensitivity training.
Quote #9
Jadine's neck prickled at the description. She had volunteered n—, but not gorilla. (5.30)
Jade has a funny understanding of racial slurs. For example, she seems to think it's okay for her to call Son the "n" word, but she's not willing to let Margaret compare him to a primitive gorilla. This second insult is especially bad because it suggests that black people are somehow less evolved than white people.