Morrison, Toni: 1931 - 2019

Tar Baby, 1981 - Thematic Parallels: Race

Morrison, Toni: Tar Baby, 1981
This novel explores several interwoven themes, but its central topic revolves around race, class, and identity, particularly in the context of African American life and the legacy of slavery. Morrison examines the complexities of cultural heritage, love, and assimilation.
The following books are thematically similar. They lend themselves well to being read in groups, compared with one another, or used to teach a similar topic over an extended period with a class:
- Gaines, Ernest J.: A Lesson Before Dying, 1993, ~250pp
  This novel explores racial injustice in the American South, focusing on a Black man wrongly sentenced to death. It examines themes of dignity, identity, and the impact of systemic racism, aligning with the themes in "Tar Baby."
  - While Gaines’ novel is more historical and direct in confronting racial injustice, and Morrison’s is more allegorical and psychological, both share a deep concern with the impact of race, identity, and societal constraints on Black life, the transformative power of relationships, and the search for dignity and self-understanding.
- Kidd, Sue Monk: The Invention of Wings, 2014, ~430pp
  This novel intertwines the lives of a young white girl and her enslaved servant, exploring themes of freedom, oppression, and the fight for equality.
  - Both novels focus on race, gender, power, and identity, with an emphasis on women navigating oppressive systems and the complex interplay between personal desire and societal constraints. They interrogate social structures and hierarchies.
- Paton, Alan: Cry, the Beloved Country, 1948, ~250pp
  Set in apartheid-era South Africa, this novel delves into racial injustice, the disintegration of the social fabric, and the quest for reconciliation, highlighting systemic racism and its impact on individuals and communities.
  - Although separated by decades, geography, and narrative style, Paton and Morrison converge in their focus on racial injustice, moral responsibility, the tension between rural and urban life, and the human capacity for empathy and hope. Both novels use personal stories as a lens to interrogate societal structures and provoke reflection on social change.
- Walker, Alice: The Color Purple, 1982, ~300pp
  Set in early 20th-century Georgia, the story centers on Celie, an African American woman who faces abuse and marginalization. Through letters, she narrates her journey toward empowerment and self-realization.
  - While "The Color Purple" focuses more on African American women’s personal and social liberation in the U.S., and "Tar Baby" on shared identity, class, and cross-cultural tensions, they follow the same concerns: racial and gendered oppression, the quest for personal freedom, complex human relationships, and the use of lyrical, voice-driven prose to explore African American cultural identity.
List of general discussion questions on Race (pdf)
List of essay prompts on Race (pdf)