Twyla And Roberta Meet :

Two more pertinent points are made by the author, in regards to the grandmother, follow in quick succession; both allude to further yet-to-be seen gloom within the story. O’Connor writes of the grandmother “[s]he didn’t intend for the cat to be left alone in the house for three days because he would miss her too much and she was afraid he might brush against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself” (1043) and of the way she is dressed “[i]n case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady” (1043). These two observations are innocent enough on the surface but provide true intent on the foreshadowing that O’Connor uses throughout the story. It is these two devices, irony and foreshadowing, that I feel are prominent and important aspects of the story and are evidenced in my quest to decipher this story.

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

down upon Twyla and her mother, represents God looking down upon Marry who is not pure because of her expressing her sexuality/appearance/stripper. In this instance, we could see that Marry was the “new” woman, while Roberta’s mother was the old conservative type that looks down upon these “new” women. Although Marry was expressing her sexuality, she Toni Morrison portrayed her with traits such as irresponsibility and rudeness. When she groaned through the Sermon this was disrespect to God.

When the dialogue appears in the story its style of avoiding what needs to be said is part of the repetition with Marie or the narrator changing the subject whenever the reality of Carol’s illness comes to light. When Marie starts to describe her new reality that acknowledges the illness such as talking about her new friend at the institution Marie tactfully manages to avoid the situation by changing the topic to their pre-illness reality by mentioning that “Mrs. Smith asked after you” (154). This is repeated again when a harsher reality of Carol not taking her medication comes to light. Instead of facing the reality that she is not getting better they instead change the subject by asking “‘What’s the girl like that is in the room with you?’” (155). In this instance, they want to preserve their new found reality again by avoiding what needs to be said or acknowledging that they do not fit into reality. Then again, when Carol mentions getting a cottage with her inheritance instead of coming to terms with her illness, they skip acknowledging the question by answering “that’s a good idea” (156). They refuse again to discuss that this is not a rational way to deal with her issues and instead give into her fantasy by not acknowledging its faults. Throughout these repetitive conversations, nothing of substance is ever talked about as that might disrupt their reality as they refuse to acknowledge or discuss what needs to be

Friendships tend to change over time, for better or worse. This is illustrated in Toni Morrison’s short story Recititaf. The relationships of Twyla and Roberta are a rollercoaster from the moment they meet at the orphanage, to their confrontational meeting at the Howard Johnsons, to the picketing during segregation, until the end when they try and sort things out. One of the ways to show the rocky relationship of the two is through their dialog when they discuss their mothers.

Throughout the short story, Twyla and Roberta have multiple encounters after they are old enough to leave the shelter. In the first scene, Twyla is a cashier at a restaurant as Roberta visits with a few friends. As Twyla approaches Roberta, she attempts to have a conversation to catchup with each other. Roberta presents herself as snobby as her mother was, and laughs at her when mentioning a famous singer Twyla does not know. As years pass by, they run into one another in line at a grocery store. This time, Roberta greets Twyla to engage the conversation. As they talk, the event of Roberta acting snobby at the restaurant is brought up by Twyla. Roberta’s response was “you know how it was in those days: black-white”. As Roberta seems much friendlier, “those days” appear to be over, as they exchange phone numbers before departing.

Years after the restaurant incident, Twyla meets Roberta at the Food Emporium. Although Roberta had treated Twyla so harshly years earlier, she is overjoyed to see her. When Roberta meets Twyla, she states, “I got married to a man who lives here. And you, you’re married too right” (1409)? While Roberta has married a very rich man, Twyla has married a fireman named James (1408-10). Because of their marriages, Twyla and Roberta find peace and joy in their lives. Twyla begins to love her lifestyle because of her husband and his family. Roberta begins to live an even more lavish lifestyle than before because of her husband and seems to enjoy every moment of it. Because of mothers’ lack of emotional support, Twyla became very hard on herself and Roberta became self-righteous. Eventually, Twyla and Roberta find their source of validation through their marriages in different ways.

Each of the women face hardships with family, life in general, and men. Antonia a young, Bohemian girl is faced with many challenges and hardships throughout her life. After the death of her father, Antonia is obliged to start living by working in the fields alongside the men. Every member in her family depends on her both physically and emotionally. “With the death of her father, Antonia is forced to work on the family farm for her family to survive, and this shift in her role sparks a change in her identity. Antonia now wears some of her father’s belongings to suggest that she has indeed moved into a role that her father was supposed to play” (Everton). Antonia’s brother, Ambroch, makes use of her abilities as much as he can. When she works out on the fields he profits from the cash that she earns because he is the man of the household. “Antonia worked as a hired girl at the Cutters, and she was worried about Cutter’s intentions towards her. The moneylender, Wick Cuter, was known in Black Hawk as stingy towards his customers and over friendly to young girls . . . . Wick’s wife needed to go to Omaha for the weekend, and as a result of Wick’s infidelity she forced him to go with her. Although it seemed that Wick had left with his wife, Antonia still feared his intentions and pleaded with Jim to stay the night at the Cutters in her place . . . during the

Not only that but her questioning of gender role was a concern for her. After her parents were separated, her father’s expectations of her were no longer there and did not speak to one another. After a while, blaming one-self after a separation of the parents is always expected from young children and so Roberta’s feeling that the separation of her mother and father was due to her misbehavior at home allowed her to be not happy. The separation of her parents did not only cause Roberta to feel not happy but also her thinking was shaped in ways that blamed all men to be the exact same way and that on one could be the same. This can be related to what each child feels and thinks if that were to happen to their own family, and unfortunately in our current society there are people that still the same way as Roberta’s father and

As the women walk through the house, they begin to get a feel for what Mrs. Wright’s life is like. They notice things like the limited kitchen space, the broken stove, and the broken jars of fruit and begin to realize the day-to-day struggles that Mrs. Wright endured. The entire house has a solemn, depressing atmosphere. Mrs. Hale regretfully comments that, for this reason and the fact that Mr. Wright is a difficult man to be around, she never came to visit her old friend, Mrs. Wright.

Such as, her mother has always been embarrassed of their small Mennonite town in Manitoba , she has felt as if the town and the people that are situated in it hold her back. To Trudy, the town does not allow her to live her life how she wants, nor live it to the fullest. Nomi and her sister, Tash, would often ask each other “Is our mother crazy in a cool, fun way or has she now stepped over the line into disturbing, crazy that we would like to see stopped?”(12). Not only did other in the town think their mother was mad, Nomi along with many others knew that Trudie, her mother, had an eye for travel and that most topics she discussed were about had to do with how amazing and wonderful everything outside their town was, like for example

The idioms of everyday American speech in a middle-class domestic situation are used in showing the events and relationships of the Berlin family. In contrast to the conversations of Becca and Stan, usually presented as straight dialogue, the discussions among the three sisters are conventionally presented, often with “she said” and other interpolations to give explicitly the emotional level of the sister’s disagreements. Madga, the Polish student who acts as Becca’s guide to the death camp site speaks fluent English but at times awkward English “Oh, they are much in appreciation” she says when given a pair of jeans. Contrast between the formal, traditional language of the fairy tale and childish, informal chatter is shown when the children comment or question as Gemma proceeds with her Briar Rose fairy tale story telling. Her contrast revisiting of just this one fairy tale shows the reader that while her conscious memory has buries the details of her past horrors, she cannot help returning to the fairy tale allegory. Contrast is also shown between the warm, happy imagery of life in the Berlin house and the bleak, harsh details of the holocaust.

From the very beginning, racial tensions were seen, even from girls of such a young age. While being in the shelter, Twyla did not want to share a room with Roberta because previously her mother had told her that “those people smell funny.” Come to find out, this was an untrue statement and the two girls ended up sticking together; it is the girl’s bond that keeps them sane in this orphanage. They are the only one’s at St. Bonny’s that still actually have parents and this too is a reason they stay so intertwined. The narrator of the story talks of all the things that lessens herself as a person and she is most likely ashamed of. In the early pages of the story, Twyla remembers a time when Maggie ran through the field to catch the bus, which she was inevitably late for. The older girls in the orphanage always gawked at and made fun of this poor woman and the way she walked, which made her fall. Twyla felt tinges of guilt remembering how she never helped Maggie

Mrs. Wright is referred to when Mrs. Hale speaks of her by using her maiden name, when saying ?I wish you?d seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang.? The old rocking chair symbolizes Mrs. Wright as she has allowed herself to depreciate, just as the rocking chair has depreciated. ?The chair sagged to one side,? Mrs. Hale stated that the chair was not anything like she remembered, referring to the fact that Mrs. Wright has also changed since she