Recitatif by Toni Morrison

The short story ”Recitatif” written by Toni Morrison is about stereotypes of the different races. Two young girls, Twyla and Roberta meet each other in an orphanage house. Those girls become friends despite bad and not comfortable situation. They are sent to orphanage house because their mothers could not take care for them anymore. Both mothers have problem. Roberta’s mother is hyper-religious and unfriendly and Twyla’s mother is pretty immature and dancing a whole night. Both girls have bad experience. In orphanage house they look at girls assault Maggie. She is disabled woman who works in the kitchen. Later both girls quit the orphanage house. Twyla meets Roberta by accident several times. As young adults in a  Howard Johnson’s where Twyla works, Roberta stops in with two young men on the way to coast for ‘’ an appointment with Hendrix’’, in a grocery store in NewBurgh, the blue-collar town on the Hudson river where Twyla lives, at a picket line against a busing plan and finally in a diner on Christmas Eve. Each time they meet, they piece together what has happened in their lives, but also about the bad moment of Maggie. The talked about what really happened and what role they played in the abuse.
 

Racism is one of themes of the story from the beginning of the story to the end, when the two girls met. Twyla’s first impression about Roberta was she disliked to share the room with Roberta at St. Bonny’s.

''It was one thing to be taken out of your own bed early in the morning-it was something else to be stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race.''  

It’s clear for me that racism is real between two girls. That made it difficult to become friends in beginning.

‘’Maggie didn’t fall,’’ She said.

‘’Yes, she did. You remember.’’

” No, Twyla. They knocked her down. Those girls pushed her down and tore her clothes. In the orchard.’’

 ‘’ I don’t --- that’s not what happened.’’.

‘’ Sure it is. In the orchard. Remember how scared we were?’’

‘’ Wait a minute. I don’t remember any of that’’

Leaving my home, T. Morrison, Recitatif pg 217

Twyla didn’t remember that she saw what happened with Maggie. Because she was young and sometimes as young girl you can remember the bad things that happened to you. Some people can’t remember it because it’s fade away. I have bad experience in my childhood when I was victim of bullying during the cab trip to my deaf school. Now I couldn’t even remember it all.

Roberta lifted her hands from the tabletop and covered with her face with her palms. When she took them away she really was crying. ‘’Oh shit, Twyla. Shit, Shit, shit. What hell happened to Maggie?’’

Leaving home, T. Morrison pg Recitatif

Twyla and Roberta have regret they didn’t do anything to help Maggie. They did leave her behind. Now they don’t know where Maggie is and what she does now. Maybe she doesn’t life anymore.