–How is the theme of maternity explored in the story? Give at least two examples.
–Morrison adds issues of class to what is already a complicated story about race. Why? Where in the story do you see evidence of this?
–What is the meaning of Morrison’s title, Recitatif? How does it work as a title for this story?
–What are Twyla and Roberta fighting about in the section about school busing? What’s going on between them?
–Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
–Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
Toni Morrison, Recitatif
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I think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian because she wants to challenge the reader’s views on the relationship between race and social class/economic status. During the time that Recitatif was written and even now, there are often discriminatory beliefs about what social class most African Americans and Caucasians belong to, with the latter believed to belong to a higher social class and economic status. So, some readers might unconsciously assume that Roberta is Caucasian because she was described as wearing diamonds and living in a wealthier neighborhood. However, by intentionally leaving out the races of the two girls, readers are forced to face the question of what made them think that Roberta or Twyla was a certain race and it pushes the reader to perhaps, examine their own discriminatory beliefs that are at play while reading the story.
–How is the theme of maternity explored in the story? Give at least two examples.
One example of how theme of maternity is explored in the story is when Twyla and Roberta are in the orphanage, because their mothers are unfit to take care of them. Maternity refers to the natural instinct women have to take care of their young, however Twyla’s mother danced at night and Roberta’s mother was sick. Thus, the two young girls missed out on this mother daughter connection. Perhaps the absence of their mothers in their early childhood motivated them to be very active mothers in their children’s lives. This leads into my second example of maternity when Twyla and Roberta are protesting on separate sides in regards to their children being mandated to attend different schools to support desegregation. I think Twyla and Roberta demonstrates their strong maternal instincts, because they are protesting an issue that affects their children. This is a stark contrast from their own mothers, because their mothers were not present in their lives. Thus, Twyla and Roberta attempt to fill this maternal absence by being active in important issues that affect their children such as their education.
–Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
I think the story’s perspective on race relations is ultimately pessimistic since it is using stereotypes to make the reader infer what race Twyla and Roberta are (money, knowing musicians, perspectives on busing, etc). These stereotypical descriptions also can cause arguments between different readers since they have different reasons to why they think one is African American while the other is Caucasian. Readers make also be labeled as racist for using the stereotypes given to describe Roberta’s or Twyla’s race.
Morrison chose not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian because she wants readers to understand how we identify race. Someone would identify race based on their clothing, appearances, language, and where they live. Morrison wants us to figure out how we identify race without using these ways. She gives us clues on how we might explain their race. For example, when they talked about Maggie on how Twyla and Roberta gave their perspectives on Maggie’s race and how she fell. Twyla believed that Maggie was African American while Roberta believes that she was of a different race and that Twyla was the one who knocked her out. Morrison gave these clues for readers to look through and give their perspective of Twyla and Roberta’s race.
–Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
The storys perspective on the race relations is ultimately optimistic because racism of Roberta waxes and wanes as a child is absent. I think this can express an idea of how racism is constructed in society and racism isn’t innate part of the human psyche. Although people just like her cross bearing mother are influenced by expressing prejudices in a child’s presence. This is interesting enough as we wont ever know what race twyla and Roberta was. At the end of the reading based on modern day we can assume what race they can belong to.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
I think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian is because of two main things. First example, she chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian because she wants the reader to have a self reflection towards themselves. When you read a story such as fiction, majority of the time we do not know the skin color of the character’s that is being presented to us. Morrison want’s the reader to question their thoughts when a character is appearance or personality is brought up because their is this loophole the reader can be thinking if the character is black or white. The second example, Morrison does this because why does it matter in a story to begin with if the character is white, black or any other skin color. Even though race is brought up, Morrison does not mention what skin color the characters have and presenting to the reader it is not about the skin color we should be focusing but their character.
I think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian because she wants the readers to think about their own biases. Are people’s perceptions formed by societal stereotypes? It makes the reader question if they judge a person based on actions, clothing, speech, or location from prior knowledge. For example, the reader could assume Roberta is white because she went to a Woodstock concert mainly attended by white people. However, even though a majority of white people went to the concert, it doesn’t conclude that Roberta is white. Actions do not make up a race. The reader is not told about either girl’s race to make them understand that they, too, have unintended biases. Morrison wants the readers to read with an open mind. Even though there are subtle hints on which race the girls can be, it is never apparent, so readers always need to keep an open mind and view each girl as an individual with their personalities and not someone that is defined by their race.
–Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
I think that Morrison chose to do this to challenge our perception and understanding of the internal and physical world around us. When we first hear a story, we assume that the main character is white. Why do we do this? Morrison challenges our assumptions.
We don’t really know who is black and who is white. It was never explicitly stated, and you could make an argument for both Twyla being black or Twyla being white. All in all, Morrison demonstrates in this story that whatever the case maybe, whether the main character is black or white, she is still relatable, and we see the world how she sees it.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
I think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian is as a reader we tend to associate bias and stereotypes on to the character within the story. To chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian allows the reader to have different perspective on which character is which race. Since everyone can have a shared experience, it doesn’t matter what race you are. I think she doesn’t want to associate their experience to one race, she wants the reader to be open minded. The author doesn’t want to confine them to a mold of what people expects them to be depending on their race.
Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
I think the story’s perspective on race relations is ultimately optimistic because the story started off with them becoming friends and it’s not common during that time period. Morrison is like hinting to the world that it is possible for different races to become friends. Although we see Twyla and Roberta have different opinions on things and different lifestyles, they never hated each other because of their race; Morrison is possibly hinting to the world that race is not really important.