The representation of the American local society in Toni Morrison’s Tar Baby: A critical stylistic study

Abstract

AbstractThe current research aims to investigate and reveal the implicit ideologies that are used by Morrison to present her local society in her novel Tar Baby and which analytical tools of critical stylistics she uses in the selected extracts. The study adopts Jeffries’(2010) model of Critical Stylistic to analyze the selected data by using mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative). Four extracts are chosen depending on two themes to represent the American local society: racism and psychological struggle from the traumatic history of the slavery system. The analysis of analytical tools shows that Morrison uses all of the analytical toolkits to present her viewpoint. The racism theme gets 50.72% which shows Morrison’s criticism of racism against black people; also, she criticizes black people because they use racist language against each other. The theme of the psychological struggle of the traumatic history of the slavery system comprises 48.79% of the total use of the analytical toolkits that elucidate how Morrison criticizes black people because some of them still live and constrain themselves to the traumatic history; instead of changing their social class, they consistently showed signs of sadness and hopelessness in the form of hostility and wrath, as represented byJadine ’s and Ondine’s speeches.