Previous
Alma Estée
Ryk is Jadine’s fiancé in Paris. Jadine has come to L’Arbe de la Croix in part because she wants to gauge how Ondine and Sydney feel about the prospective marriage, particularly because Ryk is white (though he’s European, not American, which Jadine thinks might work in Ryk’s favor) . Ryk gives Jadine a sealskin coat, an expensive gift that functions as a symbol of Jadine’s materialism, as well as her complicity in systemic oppression.
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Ryk Character Timeline in Tar Baby
The timeline below shows where the character Ryk appears in Tar Baby. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...woman’s respect. Instead, by spitting, the woman made Jadine feel lonely and fake. She and Ryk had set a date for a marriage, but then the woman spit, and Jadine left...
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Chapter 4
Meanwhile, Jadine receives a Christmas gift in the mail from Ryk. It’s a sealskin coat. She eagerly shows the gift to Ondine. Ondine asks if it...
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Chapter 10
...long, and Jadine says she’ll leave tomorrow. Margaret assumes she’s returning to France to marry Ryk, but Jadine says she’s not going to marry him and changes the subject. Margaret says...
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