Twyla and Roberta were two childhood friends from back when they first met each other in St. Bonny. The two of them were left there for a certain period of time because Roberta’s monster was sick and Twyla’s mother loved to dance all night. The two of them were identified as separate races the moment Mary told Twyla that “that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny. Morrison doesn’t reveal the either of the character’s race. As Twyla and Roberta grew up in St.Bonny, none of the other children liked them because of how they weren’t real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky. Twyla and Roberta were treated and bullied by other grown up girls. Maggie, a person who worked in the kitchen for St.Bonny was also teased by other children in St.Bonny. One day, she tripped and fell and the older girls would then laugh at her. Twyla and Roberta are standing there watching Maggie’s misery because they were afraid the older girls would bully them if they were to help Maggie up. Later on in the story, Roberta would eventually leave St.Bonny thus separating the two of them and Twyla never saw her then.
Years later, Twyla would encounter Roberta when Twyla was working behind a counter in Howard Johnson’s. She sees Roberta with two other guys who were smoking a cigarette and how Roberta’s physical appearance has changed drastically from the last time she seen her. Throughout this stage, Twyla and Roberta are just catching up with each other and ask each other the same questions, “How’s your mother?” Years later Roberta and Twyla would meet each other again in a grocery store called Food Emporium. During the time they met each other, both of their lives were completely different. Twyla is married to James Benson with one child and Roberta is married to an IBM executive who’s apparently rich. When they started to talk about the past, it seems the side of their stories were completely different. Twyla recalled Maggie who tripped and fell but Roberta remembered how Maggie was pushed onto the ground and her clothes were torn off in the orchard by the older girls. This puts Twyla in a state of confusion because this wasn’t how she pictured it from the past. And later on the same question comes back between them, “How’s your mother?”
Years later, a racial strife occurred during this time when kids were being sent from one school to another. This affected Twyla because she had to drive her child to Hudson street and there she encountered a familiar face, Roberta. Roberta was in a group of protestors who were against the forced movement of their child from one school to another. This results to the argument between Twyla and Roberta because they had different views on the racial strife. Then a group of protesting ladies surrounds Twyla’s car and starts swaying her car. The story continues as how Roberta describes Twyla as different from before. She also says that “you’re the same little state kid who kicked a poor old black lady when she was down on the ground.” This starts to drive Twyla nuts because she doesn’t recall Maggie being black and not to mention she didn’t kick Maggie either. Their memories differ from one another and this conflict develops between the two of them. Then again the both of them asked each other, “How’s your mother?”
During Christmas, Roberta and Twyla once encounter each other again in a coffee shop. The two of them were having a conversation about the “St.Bonny and Maggie incident.” Their perspective of the stories differ from each other and Twyla doesn’t recall anything about Maggie being black. This time, they didn’t ask each other the “question” but instead just blurt it out randomly. Twyla’s mother never stopped dancing and Roberta’s mother never got well. After that Roberta was in tears and a state of confusion and wondered what the hell happened to Maggie.
Two questions I’ve posed:
1. Why does the story of the “Maggie incident” change whenever Roberta and Twyla encounter each other? What does this symbolize?’
2. Why does Twyla and Roberta ask each other the same question over and over each other as the year goes by? (How’s your mother?) Is there any meaning behind it?