Write An Essay On Twyla's Character

In the 1950’s-80’s racism was more prevalent during this time than it is today. In Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” these racial prejudices are experienced by Twyla and Roberta along with class issues at the time. Twyla and Roberta were both put into an orphanage whenever their mothers were not able to care for them because of personal reasons. One girl was black and the other white, but it was not mentioned who was what race. Twyla’s mother danced all night and Roberta’s mother was ill. These factors played a huge role on both girls thoughts and actions. Race and class issues reflect the prejudice experienced by Twyla and Roberta in Toni Morrison’s short story,“Recitatif” which shapes their life views.

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.

Mark Smith's novel 'The Road to Winter' explores the behaviours of characters after their experiences of loss, and their ability to persevere whilst trying to continue to act to their own ethical principles. The protagonist of the novel, Finn, is one of the many who have lost their family and way of life to the deadly disease that has ravaged the world, yet has managed to survive without much external help and relative isolation. Whilst he has managed to keep his benevolent

     The significance of the role Twyla?s mother plays is just one twist to the way in which the story can be read. This makes the meaning of the story different to every reader. My interpretation of the details left by the author can be completely different to interpretations of someone else, and there are probably deeper meanings to the story that I didn?t even come across. This characteristic is what made this narrative unique and interesting for me to read.

Toni Morrison’s Sula revolves around the relationship of her two main characters, Sula and Nel. The childhood friends grow apart with age. Although it is indicated that their friendship is the most important relationship they participate in, they eventually betray each other and lead dishonest lives. Throughout the novel, we see their constantly deteriorating relationship as a result of absence of a family life. Sula is a novel about the influence family may have on the make up of someone’s personality. In particular, the novel examines the effect parents can have on their children and the conscious effort the main characters make to be unlike their mothers.

Most stories based in the 1950's-1960's explicitly state the race of their character in order to show how race played a role in their life, though the story of Twyla and Roberta showed how race worked into their life while also keeping their race a secret. For Morrison, not portraying race as the main component of the story was important in order to have the reader understand the character's struggle through inference rather than through what the author says.

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.

Mary is so embarrassed that she starts to curse uncontrollably. During the time period of the story, the African Americans were seen as “animals” and swearing was viewed as being unwomanly and animal like. At the third encounter, Twyla and Roberta meet each other at the Food Emporium which is a rich, gourmet grocery store. Shopping at the same grocery store implies that both of the women are well off economically and are not necessary struggling. This acquaintance counteracts the previous theory that Twyla was black and Roberta was white because both women were shopping at rich stores. Contradicting meetings like these happen throughout the short story and Morrison manipulates the contrasting details of the races’ to make the reader befuddled during the conclusion of the story.

In addition to that, it also shows the theme of racism. Starting off from the beginning of the story, Twyla tells about what her mother, Mary, told her about the other race as them. It is important to note that Morrison never quite tells the reader what races any of the characters are, due to the fact that her intention was to not focus on race, but on intellectual (Tally 3541): but the reader is often still found trying to decipher what the races are of the characters, which could be a point Morrison wanted to make. “Every now and then she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of the things she said was that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny. Roberta sure did. Smell funny, I mean” (Morrison 3541). Here, Twyla is showing how racism was instilled in her as a child by her ‘dancing’ mother. No matter the race Roberta was, it is racist to regard one race with a certain quality; in this case, her ‘funny’ smelling hair. Not only did Twyla’s mother display racism, but so did Roberta’s when they met for the first time. “Roberta’s mother looked down at me and then looked down at Mary too. She didn’t say anything, just grabbed Roberta with her Bible-free hand and stepped out of life, walking quickly to the rear of it. Mary was still grinning because she’s

One of the traits that made Toni Morrison’s writing style unique was her significant choice in the story. Her main choice was not telling the readers who was black and white and making the girls have similar backgrounds. The first time Twyla and Roberta meet is in the orphanage. Their fathers are both out of the story, mothers who are unable to care for them, and very alone. In the very first page of the story, Twyla mentions that, “we looked like salt the pepper standing there,”. By this quote, we can infer that Twyla and her friend Roberta are black and white. However, Morrison chooses not to reveal who was which race. Since this leaves the readers to make their own assumptions through often wrong stereotypes, Morrison makes a point to switch the stereotypes around for the girls in various places in the story.

In Sula, Toni Morrison questions what true friendship is by putting Nel Wright and Sula Peace’s friendship to the test. Morrison tests the phrase “opposites attract” in this novel. Nel and Sula have two different personalities yet they are able to compliment each other. They are opposites in the way that they relate to other people, and to the world around them. Nel is rational and balanced; she gets married and gives in to conformity and the town’s expectations. Sula is an irrational and transient character. She follows her immediate passions, completely care free of the feelings other people might have about her. To Nel, Sula’s return to Medallion is like “getting the use of an eye back, having a cataract

Roo is characterized an intelligent, responsible, and caring person. You can infer this because she gets cares for her family, plans on getting accepted to Yale with a scholarship, and was an honors student. She is seen as responsible because she would always be on time for things and she knew what was wrong from right. While Tilly can be seen as a creative, short-tempered, and caring person. She shows these traits through the use of her being extremely worried about the health of her sister. She is described as short-tempered because when Roo was late to go pick her up from the museum she was really mad and kept on blowing up Roo’s phone, another example would be when she went off on Newton in the hospital causing her to get her visiting rights suspended. Newton can be characterized as smart. Roo’s mom is portrayed as a strong independent woman. This is because although her husband had recently died she stayed strong during Roo’s situation, she also knew how to handle things accordingly by her own.

After everything that happened in the shelter both characters eventually left the shelter. Twyla became a waitress and Twyla did some drugs and became a part of the bad crowd. When they saw each other again, Twyla was happy to see Roberta, but Roberta didn’t feel the same way due to her attitude towards her. They moved on. Both characters got married and had families. They then met in again in a supermarket and Roberta had a good attitude towards Twyla. Depending on whom she was with and what part of her life she was in, Roberta’s attitude towards Twyla would change. This is a racial stereotype. Roberta again had a bad racial attitude towards Twyla when she started picketing and protesting things about the school system and racial issues. While Twyla was okay with segregation in the school system and blacks going to one school while whites went to another, Roberta was not okay with it. She was actually strongly against it. She felt that

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

She doesn’t love her dad, he’s just “tollable” (183). When asked about her friends it was “as if (she was) puzzled” (183). She was trapped in her home without friends or affection. She isn’t accepted by whites because she lives so poorly and isn’t properly educated. The blacks don’t accept her because she is white.