The Meaning of Liberation implied in ‘tar baby’ myth in Toni Morrison’s Tar Baby Ryu, Jeong-Mi(Chonbuk National University) Toni Morrison’s novels represent the African-American people’s predicament resulted from slavery and institutionalized racism in the U.S.. But Morrison suggests that harmony and coexistence are indispensable in a society constituted of different race, gender, and class. In Tar Baby, her fourth novel, Morrison shows the mental and cultural dichotomy in black society which stems from the history of domination and oppression of the Whites over the Blacks. But she also suggests a multicultural potentiality of Jadine, the heroine, as a solution to the problem. Tar Baby is based on ‘tar baby’ myth originated in Africa as a part of trickster tales. Morrison uses the tar baby myth to represent the repressed historical experiences of black people. It has various transformations, and Jadine shows the process of its transformation. Jadine wants to deny her own tradition and blackness. Used as a tool by white people, she is criticized and called tar baby by other characters and some critics. But she shows the ability to take advantage of her own situation as a ‘trickster’. She functions as a trickster to show that the violence and dishonesty are necessary tools for survival. And ultimately Jadine shows the positive ability to hold the opponents in black society together like tar and glue.