Recitatif Theme Essay

The fiction “Recitatif” was written by Toni Morrison, which is a profound narrative and meant to invite and let the readers wondering to search for the buried connotation of the encountered experiences of the main characters, Twyla and Roberta faced as children and their reunion as an adults again. Some of the story’s meanings and values involving around friendship, race and abandonment began to emerge as the plot thickens, and also more additional messages got concealed and remain unrecognized until even the most last sentence of the story about Recitatif. From the very first paragraph of the story, there were few details that were not mentioned which required further deeper possibility and that produced the story extremely engaging for me.

In Toni Morrison’s short story “Recitatif” there is never a definitive statement about the race of either Twyla or Roberta. There are many different ways in the text to try to classify one as Caucasian and the other as African American. For example, “it was one thing to be taken out of your own bed early in the morning-it was something else to be stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race.” Also this text, “so for the moment it didn't matter that we looked like salt and pepper standing there and that's what the other kids called us sometimes.” There are many hints of traits throughout the story that could be indicative of a black or white status. To place either girl in a race category would be done by stereotyping them by

“Recitatif” is a short story by Toni Morrison, an african american author. On the outside, this story seems to feature 5 meetings between two girls, each aging slightly each time we see them. One white. One black. Referred to as “Salt and pepper”. However, on the inside, Toni Morrison reveals her intention to educate the readers about racial stereotypes and their everyday impacts. She does this through her unique writing style of making influential choices, and using symbols to harmonize them with her theme.

In Toni Morrison's short story "Recitatif", the story revolves around two girls, one white and the other black, and how their social status affects their way of life. The narrator, Twyla, has five significant instances in her life where she is in a setting with her childhood best friend, Roberta. When they first met at the orphanage, they disliked each other, but because both of them still had a parent to their name, they were seen as social outcasts to the other children of their orphanage. Through their social disgrace they became friends and helped each other out. As they grew up, their lives were distinctly different with Twyla living the life of a lower-middle class citizen while Roberta was living a lavish lifestyle, creating conflict between the two. In the end, there is a slight sense of reconcilement in that they clear up a misunderstanding of their past, but there is an open question to what had happened to an element of their past.

Recitatif is a story written by Toni Morrison. It is about characters Twyla and Roberta and their experiences during and after being put in a shelter. Race can change what a person’s motives are viewed as. Racial stereotyping and racial segregation play a big part in this story. Twyla and Roberta are of a different race/ethnicity which causes strife between the two and they have different opinion on things.

The author of Recitatif, Toni Morrison, is an acclaimed writer known for her fictional stories and her explorations within the black community. Receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993 was one of her most acclaimed accomplishments. Morrison’s American Midwest family had an unfathomable appreciation and love for black culture and showed this through there many traditions and storytelling. Recitatif, a fictional short story, was written in 1983.

Yours was a very good one, it is relevant to successful social work practice, especially in a country as culturally diverse as Canada. Cultural competence is needed, not only in social work, but also in other spheres of human services fields. Simply put, in any profession that is involved with dealing with people, a modicum of cultural competence should be advised. As you rightly said in your online contribution, “… social workers should bring awareness to the strengths of an individual’s culture and background by recognizing and being sensitive to one’s beliefs, values as well as their social diversity”

Toni Morrison’s only short story was Recitatif, she never reveals which character is white or black. The story explores the relationship between Twyla and Roberta, and their experiences based on their racial differences. By decoding each characters racial identity, we can then understand how race defines a person’s status in society. In analyzing the social cues such as culture, politics and economic signs, to identify the racial identity of Twyla and Roberta. I believe that Twyla is the white character and Roberta the black character.

Twyla went from being prejudiced herself to accepting Robert for who she is and then realizing that they will always be on opposite sides. Roberta went from accepting Twyla to becoming prejudiced herself. When they saw each other again at the tree store, Roberta finally let out her worries to Twyla. She told Twyla that she did want to hurt Maggie but wanting to do that had left her feeling guilty (19). This left both girls actually wondering what did happen to Maggie. Finally realizing that their prejudiced ideas were

“Recitatif” addresses several problems in society without attaching a character to a specific issue. Toni Morrison shows racial stereotyping as a learned behavior as well as an incessant activity. The most admirable characteristic of this story is it does not draw a particular conclusion nor does it come to a clean resolution. The general framework of the story poses questions that incite the reader to reevaluate one’s opinion of the importance of race to them. The story causes one to try to see others as

While racial stereotypes contribute to the majority of the short story “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, Morrison uses these stereotypes to convey a much larger issue. Morrison uses the stereotypes of intelligence, social class, and the character’s behavior and attitude to break the racial code. The two characters, Twyla and Roberta, realize that it is not about race but about their experiences of relating Maggie to their mothers that makes them similar. Many readers try to figure out which character is which race and as they go through, trying to figure out these clues. All they do is realize their own stereotypes.

'Recitatif', by Toni Morrison, is a profound narrative that I believe is meant to invite readers to search for a buried connotation of the experiences that the main characters, Twyla and Roberta, face as children and as they are reunited as adults. Some of the story?s values and meanings involving race, friendship and abandonment begin to emerge as the plot thickens; however, more messages become hidden and remain unrecognized, even until the very last sentence.

In the story “Recitatif”, Toni Morrison portrays the lives of two girls from different racial backgrounds who are emotionally abandoned by their mothers. The main characters, Twyla and Roberta, are portrayed at different points in their life, ranging from when they were eight until their adulthood. Because of the situations with their mothers, Twyla and Roberta develop unhealthy senses of self-image and attempt to solve them with distractions. As time goes by, their characteristics become vastly different because of their lifestyles and outlooks.

Toni Morrison’s short story, “Recitatif” is about two young girls, named Twyla and Roberta, who grow up in an Orphanage because their mothers were in no condition to properly take care of them. The main theme in the “Recitatif” is concentrating on racism. A very mind- grabbing event in the story is how the author never tells the race of the two girls. Morrison leaves class codes but not racial codes, as in the story Twyla states, “ It was one thing to be taken out of your own bed early in the mornings—it was something else to be stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race” (pg 201) , even the girls do not mention which race the other is. Recitatif is a great story as it plays with the reader’s emotions and effectively makes the reader aware of the stereotypes and each races characteristics.

Once the student is back in his room, he begins pondering his life's situation. He is sensitive to his current environment, and imagines Harlem and New York talking to him, as if they were friends. They are the two worlds he is a part of, and he tries to resolve the differences by acknowledging the similarities. He recognizes that his life has many things in common with other people; working, loving, reading, learning, eating, sleeping, etc. Only the objects of expression are different.