Nature Vs. Civilization In Tar Baby

In Tar Baby, the natural world serves many functions. It is one of the novel’s thematic oppositions, nature versus civilization. The natural world aids Morrison in defining characters. Characters like Therese and Son spend most of their time outdoors in the midst of nature. Both of them firmly value the ties of heritage, family, and race. They strongly believe in the importance of place and origin and they believe in the power and reality of myth. Therese and Son are very comfortable with the natural world to an extent that it feels like they are part of nature in a way. Therese prefers working outdoors, Son in the novel is described as wild. In the novel when he was swimming, toni Morrison stated that Son blended in with the blackness of the ocean and sky. Conversely, characters like Jadine in the novel, who are uncomfortable in nature and are civilized, prefer the city life, those characters struggle with their sense of identity. They hesitate to identify with a particular race or gender and feel skeptical about the power of myths. When Jadine gets stuck in the swamp or when she feels uncomfortable by the blackness of the night sky, she conveys readers how scared she is to be stuck in the midst of nature and people of
Most characters embody either nature or civilization. Characters that embody nature value racial and familial connection and they truly demonstrate the importance of places of origin. They have a strong belief in the past and reality of myth, they believe that all their actions reflect their actions from the past and they can’t control or change that. On the other hand, characters that embody civilization believe that nature is something to be mastered or controlled. They believe in the importance of education and dissociate values with nature. To a certain degree in Tar Baby, black characters align with nature, whereas white characters align with