–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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Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
Morrison leaves out the core section of the story by not identifying the race of both Twyla and Roberta for various reasons. I think his main reason for leaving out the race of the main characters was to allow the audience to visualize themselves. By describing certain scenarios and actions of the characters, the readers get to imagine for themselves. I found this amusing as Morrison tries to send his readers a message on stereotyping and the views of society. As a reader, the assumptions of race was based on actions and attitudes of the lives of the characters. At first, I assumed Twyla was white and Roberta was black simply due to the fact of what their mothers wore and acted. Clearly he had sent his message and at the end of the story it reveals to be the opposite.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
Toni Morrison, one of the known writers of his time wrote “Recitatif” as “an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial.” As part of the experiment, to best of my knowledge, what Morrison basically would have thought was, “I’m going to write a story with two protagonists, one of which would be African-American and the other one white. And I am not going to tell who is who.” This makes me think that he leaves it up to the audience to identify which woman is from which race based on their judgement.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
Leaving the races of the two young girls unannounced adds great value to the story in my opinion. by leaving these details for the reader to make assumptions and expose societies racial assumptions and stereotypes. Morrison choses to classify the characters based on life experiences, not based upon race and in doing so really shows similar we can be from completely different backgrounds. This literary trick really helps Morrison get her points about race across.
–Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
I believe the ambiguity surrounding the race of the characters reveals personal biases and social categorization. Morrison allows the reader to determine the characters’ race to help readers realize the issue of racial stereotypes. When I read this story, I interpreted Twyla to be the African American character, and Roberta to be the Caucasian character. This is can be credited to my understanding of the societal structure where there is an association between class and race.
Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
I think it’s optimistic. Children don’t think about race and grow bonds of friendship outside of that distinction and we see that with the two girls as they are growing up. They do have difficulties in their friendship as they grow older, like the bus protest, but their remembering of caring for each other helps them come back to each other. Race relations need understanding and respect which these girls developed for each other during their friendship.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
Some reason why Morrison chose not to reveal the races of the characters Twyla Benson and Roberta Fisk could be that Morrison wanted to let the reader, read the text beyond the stereotypes of race. The reader was able to carefully weave out details that allowed them to piece together their own conclusion. Morrison leaves it up to readers to identify their own beliefs of racial signifiers.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
I think Morrison wanted to shy away from the traditional description of characters. In addition I also think Morrison also wanted the the readers to distinguish the characters themselves .
Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic? Why?
I think it is optimistic because race doesn’t end up being the main issue between the characters, in fact they were able to establish a connection, a friendship since very young and race was not an obstacle as we might have thought it could be. Throughout the story, the reader might look for hints to find out the real reason of the discord between them, thinking all the time that it was about racism, and at the end we learned that the real problem was related to the way both women feel towards Maggie and how they identified with her and how she reminded aspects of their own mothers.
Why do you think Morrison chooses not to be explicit about which girl is African American and which girl is Caucasian?
In my opinion it makes the story more engaging and makes the reader want to pay attention more. The author left out important information so the reader would try to figure it out the whole story. When reading this I kept trying to look for clues and trying to see if the author slipped up somewhere making it obvious which race each of the characters were but in the end it would all be perspective without confirmation from the Toni Morrison. In addition to this I think when the author leaves room for the reader to explore it makes for an overall better story instead of it being straight forward it would become more boring of a read.
What are Twyla and Roberta fighting about in the section about school busing? What’s going on between them?
As Twyla was driving by Joseph’s school she noticed Roberta take part in the picketing against busing. The two exchange words in a heated argument based on there different views on busing for their children. Roberta states that Maggie was black and that Twyla kicked and pushed her down so long ago and uses that against her for so called bigotry.
Is the story’s perspective on race relations ultimately pessimistic or optimistic?
Optimistic. Twyla and Roberta dosen’t care about the race at the beginning. When they grow older , it is the society that put the bais of race on them. Though they both invovled in race conflict and have a hard relationship on the protest , but they are finally good. Race issue needs to be solved by kindness and repect.