Morrison uses the narrative style to help the readers understand her themes in a greater dept.  Through the way she presents the novel, through her additions at the beginning, the use of nature, and diction, there is a greater fill of the novel as a whole.  Morrison paints a picture through out her novel showing the plot move from point to point. 

Like every novel, Morrison has a dedication and a verse or quote that futher emphasize her themes.  After listing who Tar Baby is dedicated to, she adds that it is also for “each of their sisters-and each of their sisters, all of whom knew their true and ancient properties.”  With this quote, Morrison pushes her thoughts on heritage and family background, making it a theme through out her novel.  She uses Son, the “nigger in the closet” who becomes Jadine’s lover, to expresses this point by his life and what he says to Jadine.  He knew the small town he came from, and he worked hard for what he got out of life, the original dime, but Jadine has a white man to pay for her education.  She has no real background of a town, but just the blending thoughts of the many different cities she has once lived in.   

 The verse 1 Corinthians 1:11, which is right after the dedication, states that there was fighting in the house of Chloe.   When looking at the passage as a whole, Paul is telling the Corinthians that they should be unified.  The idea of being unified with your race is also presented through out the novel.  In reading how  Sydney and Ondine reacted to Son, one has the feeling of racism; but are they not just as black as he is?  Do they have any right to call him a nigger, when they are back too.   

            Morrison boggles down Tar Baby with nature, treating it has if it is a character in it’s self.  It does not only set the settle the characters are in, but the mood and the acts of the characters.  Nature comes alive, with descriptions of humans as “clouds [that] gather together, stood still and watched the river scuttle around the forest flood (9).”  Because of its human likeness, nature has a powerful affect on how the characters act.  Due to the power of “heat and weight of the sky,” the characters on the island “drink sweet drinks and swallow bitter coffee (81).”

            The diction used creates a novel that a common person can read.  Morrison does not use words that one would have to look up in a dictionary to find the meaning, but at the same time uses a mature vocabuary.  Her style is a mix of many different authors; Hemingway and his short sentences, Faulkner and using different character’s prospective.  Morrison has a message in all her novels that she is wanting to get out.  Hidden between the lines of her plot