Research Essay-Week 2
The current time of Tar Baby is before and after Christmas in 1979. Memories of various characters, however, present much earlier times—Philadelphia and Baltimore in the early 1900s.The experiences of the white and black cultures reflect the move of many blacks to the North after World War II, when one can recognize their rise in the middle class of society. In her novel “ Tar-Baby“, Toni Morrison focuses on the experience of black Americans, particularly emphasizing black women's experience in an unjust society and the search for cultural identity. She uses fantasy elements along with realistic depiction of racial, gender and class conflict
Toni Morrison published “Tar-Baby”in 1981, she explores the African origins of the Southern folk tale of Br'er Rabbit. In Africa, the tar baby was often known as Anansi. The black slaves and Spanish settlers carried the folktale to America, beginning in the sixteenth century. The trickster tale based around Br’er Rabbit was retold by Uncle Remus in Joel Chandler Harris’s collection of tales in 1881. The storyteller, Uncle Remus, tells tales to his master’s children. The tale of Br’er Rabbit is probably the best-known one. The myth of the tar baby is well known in the cultures of the southern black in America and the West Indies slaves from Africa. The figure of a trickster who is caught by a sticky figure is known throughout the world. The trickster is caught when he becomes angry at the figure made from an adhesive material—tar, gum, rubber, or tree syrup, for instance. The trickster has tried to talk with the figure, which never responds. In anger, the trickster hits him with a hand, which becomes stuck to the figure. With his other hand the trickster hits the figure; this hand is then stuck. The progression to his feet and finally his head being stuck results in the trickster’s complete “capture” by the adhesive shape. The tale is told in many cultures but always having a trickster made...