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Oppression Of Jadine In Tar Baby By Toni Morrison

328 Words2 Pages

By placing a positive spin on something that has been used against her as a racial slur, Morrison is taking ownership of the tools of oppression that have been used against her. This is something that only a black woman can do herself. As she has spoken about her personal experience and opinion of the term Tar Baby, when she presents a novel with the same name, it can be assumed that the opinions of certain characters mirror her own. Morrison’s character Jadine in Tar Baby finds herself discouraged by her own race, and becomes skeptical of the man who loves her. She fears that he is fetishising her blackness, and thinks, “I wonder if the person he wants to marry is me or a black girl?” Although she is discouraged by this, her awareness means

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