Tar Baby Essay -- Essays Papers

Tar Baby It is often said that it is better to follow your heart instead of your mind because it will never lie to you. However, when you follow your heart you are not always prepared for what the outcome may be. This is proven in Toni Morisson's novel Tar Baby . Tar Baby is Morrison's fourth novel and it took three and a half years to write . The story was based on an old African American folk tale about Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby. This book is said by some to be an excess of what made Morrison's other books good but despite the criticism the book still made it to the best seller's list. The story takes place on an isolated island of L'Arbe de la Croix. this was purposely done by Morrison so that the characters would have no way to escape. There were no immediate policemen to call and no neighbors to interfere in the story . The characters were placed in a cage and left to see what would happen. L' Arbe de la Croix is the vacation home of Valerian Street a retired candy maker and his wife Margaret Street. The house is also occupied by a black couple, Sydney and Odine, who have been the long time servants of the Street's. During the time of the story the house is also occupied by Jadine, who is Sydney's and Odine's niece. Jadine was took in by the Streets and they paid for her to go to school and become a model. Jadine came down from Paris to contemplate a marriage proposal from a Frenchman and to spend Christmas with her aunt and uncle. Jadine can be considered the tar baby in this story. She was taken in by the Street's and opened up to the world that they lived in. She got a wonderful education and traveled all over. She had a sense of security and knew that anything she needed would be given to her by the streets. The streets get another unexpected guest during Christmas. One night when Margaret is up in her room she opens her closet and sees a strange black man sitting there. She becomes hysterical and runs down the stairs in a panic. Sydney goes upstairs and brings down the intruder everyone in the house is startled by his appearance and ready to call the police. Everyone except Valerian. He invites the intruder to sit down for a drink and this makes Margaret crazy. She runs up to her room and locks herself in her bedroom. We later find out that the intruder is the same man that we encounter in the beginning of the novel on ... ...sland but Gideon says that it is to late. Gideon's wife on the other hand offers to take Son. Gideon's wife is partly blind but she claims to know the sea well and Son takes her up on the offer. Gideon's wife takes Son to a part of the island that Son never ventured to. It is dark and Son does not know where to go. Gideon's wife says to trust her and just get out the boat and follow the path. The story ends there and we do not find out what becomes of Jadine or Son. Jadine and Son are a prime example of listening to your heart and not your mind. They rushed into their relationship and did not know enough about each other to make a reasonable decision. Jadine was trying to run from something and Son was not in love he was in lust. If they had taken the time to know each other better they might have realized that they were two different people. Just as in the folk tail of Brer Rabbit and Tar Baby, Son (the rabbit ) was attracted to Jadine (Tar Baby ) and got caught in a trap. Jadine and Son were from two different worlds that could not come together. In the end Jadine realized that she made a mistake but Son still held on to the past and ended up right where he started. Lost.