In
“Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, the narrator, Twyla, is recounting
her past from when she entered the orphanage to adulthood. At the
orphanage, she met Roberta, whom she got along with really well.
There were many indications that tells you about the race and class
backgrounds of the two main characters, such as “It something else
to be stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race.”
Also, when the girl’s mothers came to visit them, the narrator
gave a description of what her mother, whom she calls Mary wore. “She
had on those green slacks I hated...didn't she know we were going to
chapel? And that fur jacket with the pocket linings so ripped she had
to pull to get her hands out of them” where as her description of
Roberta’s mother “I looked up it seemed for miles. She was
big...and on her chest was the biggest cross I'd ever seen...And in
the crook of her arm was the biggest Bible ever made…” Roberta’s
mother snubbed Mary. To me this was the first hint that the two
characters are of different race and class, however as the story
progresses, the author does not disclose specifically which girl is
black and which is white. At the turning point of the story, where
there were racial conflicts in the form of busing, has divided both
characters to the opposite side. Yet still, the author did not state
the race of either characters. Even at the end of the story, I still
could not tell precisely the race of either one. I believe that the
author presented her story this way because she does not think it was
necessary to label humans in the form of race, or skin colour, etc. I
think she more focuses on the characteristics of the characters.
Everyone has different behaviour patterns, and emotions for different
situations and that is what the author was more focused in bringing
out.
I liked the way u brought your points across. I agreed with them.
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