Toni Morrison, “Recitatif”
- 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?
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Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
At the beginning of the story, it can be shown that neither character found the other to their liking based on pure judgment of skin. Throughout the story, you start to see some changes occurring when both girls are hanging together more. There was a scene where they were fixing and brushing each other hair while preparing to meet their mothers. Bonding to this level is very sister-like and powerful. This action is looking past skin color and more on human connection, regardless of race. I believe Morrison is optimistic about race relations due to the positive changes both characters had from beginning to end. Initially, they started off as enemies to long lost sisters catching up about their lives. reminscing about their past life together, a very touching and bonding experience.
But is this closeness true throughout the story???
In Toni Morrison “Recitatif”, the decision to not to identify the races of the two main characters was a choice by Morrison to challenge the reader’s own racial prejudice of stereotypes that we would normally categorize through objects, language, hair, ect… . By Morriosion not specifically addressing the race of the characters Morrision can address more valuable topics like friendship, family, and class, by this she can focus more on the plot of the book while not tying their whole characters around their race. Morrision in turn is critiquing how as readers it has been seen as important to know the race and identity of a character to get our own opinion of the book. I believe the ambiguity of the race makes the readers ask more questions about the book, something we don’t see as often in other books. With other books we would ask questions of what the author wanted the message to be, but with “Recitatif” we can ask more societal questions of why we thought one character was African American and what made us think this way. As readers we deeper dive into this thought adds to our own upbringing and environment that we have been surrounded by. Overall I think that Toni Morriosion did this because she wanted to challenge us in our own stereotypes of what we categorize people as being Black or White.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
In the short story “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, the decision of not identifying the race of either Roberta or Twyla leaves room for each reader to have a different interpretation based on their own biases and stereotypes. What makes this decision so interesting is that because we don’t know their race our social prejudice is revealed. When we reveal our own biases and prejudice, it helps us see where our societal views are being conflicted and led on by these biases. Toni Morrison created this short story as an experiment for society and explicitly did not include a clear description of the character’s race to accomplish this reflection to hold us accountable for our own social biases.
Nicely put!
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 to not be explicit about the narrator and Roberta’s specific races to make a point about racial stereotypes. Both characters have different views and experiences, some of which challenge the stereotypes of the race a reader may assume them to be part of. By leaving out Twyla and Roberta’s races in a story where race is a recurring theme, Morrison makes readers make their own conclusions while reading the text, which may or may not line up with the reality of the characters’ races.
Do we every really know which woman is which race?
Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
In my opinion, the story’s perspective on race relations was ultimately optimistic. There were a few examples where the narrator was said to be naive because she truly believed that races got along well. In the reading, the narrator says that to Roberta and Roberta brushes it off because she knows what is really going on.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
She wants the reader to look more deeply into race and have their view on who’s who based on their actions. She want us to pay more attention to the character’s conflict and experiences with each other and how we judge them based on how they act.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
To see if we follow the regular stereotypes associated with a race to identify the character’s race in the story. For example, something as small as the name can be a reason why people might learn a certain race more than the other. Traditionally, Roberta is a Caucasian name and Twyla is associated with African Americans’. This along with many other features about them, like hair type, and the certain types of meals eaten before the orphanage, are all tactics used to make the reader side guess the character’s race.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
In my opinion, I think that the author chose to be explicit about the girl’s identity to challenge the reader as they read deeper into the story. Although the reader does not know which girl belongs to either race, there are descriptions about each girl, past experiences, and the current situations they find themselves can all lead the reader to be bias and lean towards identifying what race the girl is from. This makes the reading interesting because it makes us realize how we interpret things and show how we are used to certain stereotypes that led us to have a bias opinion.
Hi Jason, I agree with you and would also like to add that it can allow the reader to learn more about themselves by analyzing their responses to the story.
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 chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African and which girl is Caucasian to show the reader that stereotypes are generally wrong. During class we discussed how different details, such as hair type, caused two people to interpret the text differently. By noticing this, the reader can learn more about themselves by asking “Why did I think this?”. Another reason behind this text being written this way is to stop the readers from being biased to one side or the other and listening to both stories. Overall, this was an interesting way to write and experiment on peoples’ perceptions of the world.
Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
The story’s perspective on race relations is ultimately an optimistic one. Twyla and Roberta both get along as children even though one is black and one is white. Their races are not presented as a limitation or obstacle in forming a sister-like friendship. This idea helped as the reader is not given any identifiable racial features to see irreconcilable differences between the two. As Twyla and Roberta grow up they may no longer be close, but they are still willing to catch up with each other. When they do conflict over the bussing they are able to later reconcile with each other showing that they still care for each other as fellow human beings and friends.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
I think Morrison chose not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian to force people to use opinions outside of normal racial stereotypes. With the ambiguity that comes with not identifying races, readers are forced to focus on more universal themes void of any precedents. I also believe Morrison wants people to see how growing up without a maternal figure and an unstable childhood can affect transition into adulthood.
What are Twyla and Roberta fighting about in the section about school busing? What’s going on between them?
In the passage about school busing in “Recitatif,” Twyla and Roberta find themselves involved in a heated debate over the integration of schools, which we understand is really a reflection of the severe racial tensions of the time. Twyla, in the beginning, was supportive of the ideas until it became uncertain when conflicting information surfaced. When she sees the picketers outside her son’s new school, and Roberta is one of them, everything begins to take a turn for the worse. The two mothers have an intense argument about the merits of bussing. It becomes clear that the disagreement goes beyond policy, and is a conflict of perspectives rooted in their different backgrounds.