Toni Morrison Recitatif Setting

After Roberta found out that Twyla worked there she and the two men she was with laughed at her. Roberta also mentioned that they were all going to see Jimi Hendrix (7). Roberta and Twyla met up again at a grocery store. This time Roberta went up to Twyla to talk to her. Twyla remembered Roberta not wanting to talk to her and only getting greeted with a wow (9). Now Roberta is different than what she was at Howard Johnson’s. Her hair is slick, she dresses like she’s rich, and she lives in a rich neighborhood. Twyla is upset by this because she says that everything is so easy for them and they think they own the world (9). Twyla confronted Roberta about pretending like she didn’t know her at Howard Johnson’s. Roberta responded "Oh, Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black-white. You know how everything was" (13). Through these meetings it is known that Twyla and Roberta are still completely separated by race and class. Despite Roberta being friends with Twyla, she still ignored her and laughed at her for being who she is in front of the two men. She may not have wanted them to know that she’s friends with a poor girl who is of another race and who did not even know who Jimi Hendrix was. Roberta wanted to keep a secret that she associated with someone like Twyla. Twyla saying that they get everything and they think they own the world could be her realizing that the opposite race does not even need to work

'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.

Many authors write fictional novels about historical events. A common topic written about is the racial integration between African Americans and whites during the 1950’s. Although the short story “Recitatif” explicate many different themes, the central topic of Morrison’s writing is about racism. Throughout the story, the author expresses examples of hatred between black and white races at the shelter, the different encounters they have, and the remarks to Maggie’s race in conversations between Twyla and Roberta.

It has always been assumed that races have a certain look; a person can always tell what a person is by their mannerisms, their speech and the overall way they carried themselves even if they looked a certain way. However, this is mainly due to stereotypes that have long plagued our society and what one “expects” someone to look like just based on the negative connotations that are associated with skin complexion. When we read certain literature, the description of the character is the first thing that we look for as it is a way for us to somewhat bond with the character and attempt to see the story through their eyes. Toni Morrison’s Recitatif explores how the author describes each character not expressing their race leaving a bit of mysery to the reader and attempts to breaks down the stereotypes that exist for each race. Through a literary analysis, the reader is able to see those stereotypical assumptions about the color of one’s skin and how they should cease to exist in any world whether it is literal or figurative.

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.

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.

Intelligence plays a big role on trying to figure out which character is which race but it does not offer a definitive conclusion for either character. The story states, “We were eight years old and got F’s all the time. Me because I couldn’t remember what I read or what the teacher said. And Roberta because she couldn’t read at all and didn’t even listen to the

In 1983, Toni Morrison published the only short story she would ever create. The controversial story conveys an important idea of what race is and if it really matter in the scheme of life. This story takes place during the time period of the Civil Rights Movement. The idea of civil rights was encouraged by the government but not enforced by the states, leaving many black Americans suffering every day. In Morrison’s short story Recitatif, Morrison manipulates the story’s diction to describe the two women’s races interchangeably resulting in the confusion of the reader. Because Morrison never establishes the “black character” or the “white character”, the reader is left guessing the race of the two main characters throughout the whole

Roberta's mom "brought chicken legs and ham sandwiches and oranges and a whole box of chocolate-covered grahams. Roberta drank milk from a thermos while her mother read the Bible to her.” Also, Roberta's mother would not shake hands with Twyla’s mother. Continuing further the girls meet again in the grocery store. It seems more likely that Twyla (who worked as a waitress and eventually married a firefighter) would be African-American and that Roberta (who eventually married a rich man with servants) would be white. However, just because it’s more likely doesn’t make it true. They reminisce of an earlier meeting, “I don’t know; you acted sort of like you didn’t want to know me then.” Oh, Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black- white. You know how everything was.” Moving through a part of history including when segregation was still popular. As picketing and rioting began about the integration of their children’s schools they meet again. “Now they surrounded my car gently, gently began to rock it. I swayed back and forth like a sideways yo-yo.” “Automatically I reached for Roberta, like the old days in the orchard when they saw us watching them and we had to get out of there, and if one of us fell the other pulled her up and if one of us was caught the other stayed to kick and scratch, and neither would leave the

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.

“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

“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.

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.

When comparing N. Scott Momaday’s “The Way to Rainy Mountain” and Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” the findings show that they possess many differences but also have some similarities. One of the differences that are in Morrison’s work speaks more in the lines of race, whereas Momaday’s expresses the ancestral side of the story. “Recitatif”, is about two girls who become friend in an orphanage. One is black and the other is white, but yet Morrison does not tell which is which as she shows here, “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.” (1043) Morrison is very ambiguous in revealing who is who.

Setting and indirect and direct characterization are the two major elements Morrison’s uses to communicate to her readers the authenticity of racism both in the time of the story-taking place and in society currently. The author relatively early in the story, as well as later on, describes the setting and the characters in Recitatif. “Even the New York City Puerto Ricans and the upstate, Indians ignored us. All kinds of kids were in there, black, ones, white one, even two Koreans” (123). Based on the description, the author concludes by suggesting that the era in which the story takes place was during the time of racial segregation between the civil war and World War