What Is The Theme Of Recitaff By Ton Morrison

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

On the next meeting, farther into their lives, Roberta actually calls out to Twyla in a grocery checkout line. When they begin to talk, Roberta asks if her Twyla’s mother is sick as well, meaning that what she said last time they met isn’t correct, that she was still sick. They begin to reminisce, remembering how Roberta’s mother had the cross like two telephone poles, a much less elegant description of how Twyla originally stated earlier, realizing it wasn’t necessarily salvation for her. As the conversation continues, she asks again about her mother, asking if she got well, which she never did, a nice way of saying she passed away. Later on, during the picketing and everything, Twyla notices Roberta picketing with a sign larger than her mother’s cross. Insinuating that she’s becoming her mother, if not more, and falling into a sickness herself that could destroy their friendship. They begin arguing over whether or not when the bow legged servant Maggie fell whether or not they kicked her. This spurs off into a war of words. To insult her Twyla makes a sign saying “How would

'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.

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.

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.

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

As the community begins to wrong them for their sexuality, Lorraine becomes very irritable when she is confronted about her ‘ways’. Although the community views her as abnormal, their change in communication tends to be the only thing that’s not normal to Lorraine. the residents of Brewster Place alienate Lorraine by saying harsh things, and making her feel as though she is “different.” Lorraine begins to feel lost in herself, so she turns one of the tenants, Ben to confide in. Ben helps Lorraine build her confidence with herself by reminding her that it’s not about how society perceives you, its how you perceive yourself. It is common in the black community for therapy to be viewed as a “white people thing’” despite the positive results therapy may bring for some individuals. At a young age Lorraine’s father kicked her out of the house due to her sexuality, which aided her to find a sense of stability in women. Instead of Lorraine’s father trying to see where his daughter went left, he kicked her out because that isn’t the way he wanted her to live her

“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.

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

Each time that the pair meet, Twyla is in some way rejected, just as her own mother was rejected by Roberta’s mother. If anything, this rejection intensifies over the years, as the class divide between the two stratifies and increases. However, there is one occasion when Twyla and Roberta do not battle along class lines: this takes place during their first meeting as fully-grown adults, when the two bump into each other a fancy supermarket (Twyla feels guilty for spending her husband’s hard-earned money there), and then go to lunch. This time, instead of fighting over class distinctions, the pair fight about something else: memory.

Prior to the disturbing incident, Roberta ignores the racial difference between herself and Twyla because their similarities rise above any color barrier. Two eight-year-olds orphaned to give their mothers more freedom and less worry find common ground more easily than perhaps imagined. Even after the unsettling encounter, Roberta gives Twyla reason to believe that "she was sorry that her mother would not shake [Twyla's] mother's hand" (214). Rather unluckily, Roberta's presence during her mother's actions, geared toward making Twyla and Mary feel small, upsets her stability. In the same way, Nelson's feet slip from their base. Mr. Head not only publicly announces his racial attitudes, but he does so repeatedly. As he himself says, "A six-month-old child don't know a nigger from anybody else" (252). The same idea applies to a ten-year-old child, especially if someone feels it necessary for him to "be content to stay home for the rest of his life" (251). Nelson even has the urge to rest in a black woman's secure arms once his grandfather gets them lost in the city. Still, Nelson learns to hate black people in Atlanta and decides "[he'll] never go back again" (270) based on his perception of the city as allowed by Mr. Head. Though the competition almost overcomes them, Mr. Head and Roberta's mother apparently possess almost absolute power.