PTSS Patterns in Tony Morrisons Tar Baby - Dissertation Example

PTSS Patterns in Tony Morrison’s Tar Baby Several decades have passed since the Emancipation Proclamation, yet the struggle of the American blacks have remained up to the 21st Century. The events of the past have long been remedied with the many efforts of the government towards equality of rights among all Americans, but the trauma brought by slavery has remained. In her 2005 book titled, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, renowned author Dr. Joy DeGruy discusses PTSS, which consists of behavior patterns including racist socialization, ever present anger and vacant esteem. According to DeGruy, PTSS is handed from one generation to the other through negative parental behaviors that result from the trauma. In the novel, Tar Baby, Toni Morrison highlights patterns of racist socialization and ever present anger using motives and actions of the characters in the story, particularly Jadine and Son. The tensions that the major and minor characters experience in the novel are reflective of PTSS. In particular, Jadine demonstrates racist socialization while Son shows ever present anger. According to DeGruy, racist socialization refers to “adoption of the slave master’s value system” which “includes the internalization of the white ideal of beauty” (DeGruy 135). Jadine is very fond of things that are pleasing to the whites. She loves the sealskin coat that her boyfriend Ryk gives her even though it is impractical to wear it in the Caribbean. She also loves cosmopolitan live, thus encourages Son to live in New York. However, she and Son cannot be together for they are far different from each other. She starts to realize this only when Son takes her to Eloe. Although she is black, she cannot appreciate things that Son values such as the wildlife. Opposed to Son, Jadine does not give importance to her race. She embraces European life and leaves her surrogate parents. She does not think of the sacrifices that Sydney and Odine do for her in order to send her to school. Instead, she thinks that Valerian is the only one who fulfills her dream by sending her to study in Paris. She claims, “the truth is I could not have done that without the help and care of some poor white dude who thought I had brains enough…” (Morrison 51). Jadine’s racist socialization leads her to ostracize her aunt and uncle as part of her success. She gives credit only to Valerian, thus leaves her relatives behind to start a new life in New York. Ironically, Son realizes the effort of the two and tells her, “They are the ones who put you through school, woman…not him. They worked for him all their lives. And you left them down there with him not knowing if they had a job or not…” (Morrison 50) Jadine values Valerian more than her own kin. The old couple who looks after her expects that she will take care of them when they are old but Jadine is more concerned about her own future. In fact, she comes back to the Streets’ house only to retrieve her sealskin coat, thus showing her materialistic nature, which her job and her education have taught her. Jadine’s racist socialization lets her develop stereotypes that are usually discriminating to her own race. Her encounter with the woman in yellow dress illustrates her vile view of her race and color. Despite the woman’s perfect figure, Jadine still sees the negative points, thus, “under her long canary dress Jadine knew there was too much hip, too much bust. The [modeling] agency would laugh her out of the lobby…” (Morrison 46). Jadine’s job as a model has taught her that the perfect figure is the slender one, which attracts Europeans. Nevertheless, when she sees the pretty black woman whose sense of uniqueness attracts most people’s attention, she gets puzzled and tends to realize what Son is telling her about tracing her roots and loving it. Unfortunately, Jadine’s racist socialization allows her to survive in the world she lives in. She mingles mostly with Europeans in school, hangs around with men who fool around, and survives all challenges brought about by being an orphan and living alone in Paris. The burdens she carries excuse her from the insensitivity she feels for her race. She is a product of the racist environment she lives in. She represents the racist socialization that her relatives and other blacks around her suffer from. Jadine’s background as an orphan strategically puts her in the middle of the blacks and the whites. However, she chooses to side with no one else but herself. In Jadine’s puzzlement with the woman in canary dress, she thinks about how she loves to be just herself, thus: I guess the person I want to marry is him, but I wonder if the person he wants to marry is me. And if it isn’t me he wants, but any black girl who looks like me, talks like me, what will happen when he finds out that I hate ear hoops…I want to get out of my skin and be only the person inside-not American-not black--just me?” (Morrison 48). This view shows that Jadine is a true tar baby, one who wants to be independent, not to be judged for her past or loved for her color but for whatever she does for herself and for the world. She thinks that Son may have a wrong notion of love as he wants her to be just like him, one who is deeply rooted in his past, in his ancestry. Son cannot see the point that Jadine grows up from a background truly different from his, one that positions her between two worlds—the world of the whites and the blacks, and while she has an inner longing to find out more about that woman in canary dress, she cannot take things from Son’s perspective. The events in her life have led her to form stereotypes, and she needs time to outgrow these things. Her thoughts about the woman in canary dress actually illustrates her innate ability to search for the true meaning of her existence, which could also be the voice of her race that speaks inside her. Other characters in the novel represent the racist socialization motif. These include Alma Estee, the daughter of Therese and Gideon. Alma represents black girls who have very limited opportunities in life and are only after improving their physical appearances. In order to look better, she wears a wig of dried blood color that makes her look worse. Son does not like the way she looks but does not take it away, thus showing how the blacks tolerate racist socialization. Even her father, Gideon who thinks Alma looks worse, says, “She want to look the fool, let her be…” (Morrison 111). This attitude of the blacks explains why racist socialization still exists even in the contemporary time. It illustrates the truth about DeGruy’s claim regarding the black American’s trauma. The character of Son illustrates ever present anger. This, according to DeGruy, arises when a person’s goal is blocked by his discriminatory reasons such as procedures of redlining or gentrification. The trauma is passed on from one generation to another due to the stress a parent feels out of malpractices in society. In Son’s case, he demonstrates ever present anger because he is deeply rooted in his race and must have seen how his people suffered. Likewise, his interaction with his father called Old Man, shows that Son has developed biases against the whites. When inquiring about the money he sends, Old Man explains, “…you know I didn’t want to be going over there to the Post Office every month, cashing em. Might set folks talkin and turn the law out on account of other businesses” (Morrison 64). This reveals that black Americans have no right in their place to become rich or possess a lot of money, otherwise they will be investigated. Son’s trauma leads him to limited opportunities, including marrying Jadine. Although he can impress whites like Valerian, he does not succeed financially because of his stereotypes. He feels an ever present anger towards the whites, thus pities Therese and Gideon despite their wrongdoings. He hates Sydney and Odine for being loyal servants to Valerian, and does not see the goodness in the latter with the way he treats him and the way he sends Jadine to an art school in Paris. His mind is limited to what he sees good about his hometown and his race. Thus, in the end, it can be supposed that he will join the horsemen instead of following Jadine. Son’s relationship with Jadine fails because he insists that Jadine should understand him, love his hometown, and be loyal to the black race. In his most furious fight with Jadine, he accuses her and her education of failure to understand his race, saying, “What tests did they give you about me? Did they tell you what was in my heart? If they didn’t teach you that then they didn’t teach you nothing…” (Morrison 52). As he insists that Jadine understand her, Son forgets his role to understand her too. This reflects the tendency of some black Americans, especially those with ever present anger, to be racist, themselves. Instead of demonstrating to others how they should exercise equality, their own negative white stereotypes lead them to be in conflict with their counterparts. In Son’s case, his stereotypes even leads him to be in conflict with other blacks such as Jadine, Sydney and Odine. Son does not realize the value of attending art school in Paris or he dismisses its value because of his ever present anger towards the whites. He claims that educating Jadine is like “toilet paper” (Morrison 46) which Valerian uses to clean up his mess as the whites enslaved the blacks. He claims that the whites are responsible for doing this because of the pains they caused the blacks. This clearly shows the PTSS of Son as he cannot move on from the slavery of his ancestors even though he has evidence that Valerian treats his servants and Jadine nicely. Jadine thinks otherwise and replies, “you can’t make me think that is not an important thing to do. Because nobody else did….you didn’t!” (Morrison 52). Jadine wants Son to understand that no matter how bad he thinks of Valerian, he has to accept the truth that it is the white man who educates her. Taking into consideration that Son represents the black race in this novel, Jadine’s remark could be taken as an insult to the blacks for not looking after their own people. Jadine’s experience implies that there are some blacks who cannot help but be grateful to the whites for the education and freedom they enjoy which in turn disgusts the blacks who have such closed minds to understand how things have changed. Ever present anger is also seen in the character of Therese. On one hand, it can be seen as an advantage because that leads her to save Son from starving. On the other, it also makes her live a life of regrets. She feels bad about white Americans for not employing her anymore as a wet nurse. Her trauma later guides her to advise Son not to follow Jadine anymore but to live with the horsemen. This means settling down with the past and forgetting Son’s dream of finding true love with Jadine. Therese’s own discriminating views limit her own happiness and freedom from the traumas of the past. Her blindness in the end signifies her blindness of the truth that could set her free. The motives and actions of the characters in the novel illustrate the truth in DeGruy’s claim regarding the presence of PTSS among black Americans. As seen in the novel, the characters’ racist socialization and their ever present anger towards the white race lead them to unhappy lives. Nevertheless, Morrison does not end up her story without giving hope to the characters. Readers see Alma correcting Jadine when the latter addresses her “Mary.” This could mean Alma’s realization to be herself and not to allow others to call her by any other name. Likewise, Son has a choice to wait for Jadine or follow the horsemen. Although the ending suggests that he will follow the horsemen, Morrison illustrates that it is his choice to do so. In addition, Son is slowly adapting to change and understanding matters of the world. When he sees Alma’s wig, he does not take it away even though it looks disgusting because he fails to give her a new wig. This shows that he considers Jadine’s thoughts when he blames him that he or other blacks do not send her to school. Furthermore, Sydney decides for himself at the end while Jadine leaves again for Paris to continue her dreams. The traumas that black Americans experienced in the past reveal their existence in the the behaviors of Jadine, Son, Alma, Therese, and other characters in the novel. As Morrison reveals, the characters are not aware of these traumas because if they are, they would have addressed them right away, and the story would have ended happily. The sad ending illustrates that if the blacks will not overcome PTSS, they will live desperate and lonely lives just like Jadine and Son in Tar Baby. Works Cited DeGruy, Joy. Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing. Portland: JoyDeGruy Publications, Inc., 2005. Print. Morrison, Toni. Tar Baby. New York: Knopf Publishers, 2014. Print. Read More