A pale-skinned resident of the Bottom, rumored to be either partly or entirely white. Tar Baby is a depressed, self-hating man, who’s among the first to join Shadrack in “celebration” of National Suicide Day. It’s rumored that Tar Baby has come to the Bottom to drink himself to death. He’s despised by many of the residents of Medallion, both in and outside of the Bottom: the general belief is that a white man shouldn’t be mixing with blacks, whether or not he’s depressed.