Recitatif by Toni Morrison RR

Melicia Bharioo
EN 102
Pro: Raquel Corona

Reading Response 1:

From the clues provided by the narrator, how do you figure out the race and class background of the two main characters, Twyla and Roberta? Why do you think Toni Morrison present this in the way she does? 



The short story Recitatif by Toni Morrison, tells a story of a two young girls, Twyla and Roberta who met at St. Bonny's, a shelter home. They were both "dumped" there by their mother and were from different race meaning one was black and the other was white.  Twyla as the narrator give several clues that this short story was based on race. For example, at the beginning of the story Twyla was introduced to Roberta then Twyla says " My mother won't like you putting me in here". This says that the narrator mother wouldn't like the idea of her daughter having to share room with someone of a different race. There isn't a specific description as to which character is black or white. I believe Twyla is the white and Roberta being the black girl. The narrator gives another clue as to race by metaphorically comparing Roberta and her as being like "salt and pepper". Twyla puts "salt" first before "pepper" because salt is white and pepper is black. I concluded that Twyla was the white girl as referring herself to the "salt" and Roberta being the black girl as to the "pepper". In the middle of the story, Twyla compared herself to a "Swiss cheese" towards Roberta. This helped me to understand more of what is going on in the story and who is who. The narrator also states that Roberta reminded her of kicking an only black lady. Though out the story, the racism gets deeper until both character notice the difference among themselves. They both were from a different class and background. Twyla mother seem to not be so religious, they were poor. All she cared about was the way she looked, she wore slacks and a torn jacket, didn't bring any good for Twyla. Whereas, Roberta mother was more religious, she carried a huge bible with a huge cross on her chest. She brought food for Roberta. This give me a clearer view of what both side looked like and that both characters shared a different background and class. Morrison presented this in a such a way to be a suspense as to where the reader have to keep guessing and figuring out what is actually going on and who is really who in the story. With the clues and description in the story given, it helped the reader understand what is going on and be able to identify who are the characters in the story. I find that it was a suspense because I had to put it together to understand what was really going on in the story.