How Do People Identify Twyla And Roberta?

A social issue Toni Morrison emphasizes in Recitatif is that people should not judge others on their racial basis because life experiences are not limited by race. Morrison makes it vague for readers to identify Twyla’s and Roberta’s races by not revealing information their races. First, Morrison’s use of names that are often used for both races shows ambiguity in their ethnicity. Second, their mother’s feeling of superiority over each other does not disclose their races. Finally, Morison hides their racial differences by showing their friendship regardless of their separate races and how they unite against other older girls. Toni Morrison blurs the race line by using names, mother’s sense of superiority, and friendship regardless of

The names of Twyla and Roberta do not give a hint about their racial backgrounds because both names can be used for black or white race. According to David Goldstein-Shirley, Roberta derived from Robert which is an old European name but there is an African-American singer named Roberta Flack. Also, Twyla is an uncommon name so readers can think her as African but “Twyla Tharp, the dancer and choreographer, however, is white” (“Race and Response: Toni Morrison's Recitatif'”). This represents that Roberta and Twyla can be black or white, therefore, people cannot differentiate others on the basis of names. Morrison makes it difficult for readers to classify the characters by using their names. Morrison’s is trying to explain to the readers that people should stop using stereotypes to judge anyone. Morrison explains, "The only short story I have ever written, Recitatif, was an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial" (qtd. in “Maggie in Toni Morrison's Recitatif”). In her short story Morrison is leaving space for readers to fill what they think about their backgrounds and Morrison also discloses the fact that how people categorize others by few

Twyla’s mother puts in Twyla’s mind that “they never washed their hair and they smelled funny” (Morrison). Twyla’s mom, Mary taught her that they are superior from the race which Roberta belongs to. But it does not reveal their races because any one from any race, who does not was his/her hair, can have dirty hair. On the other side, Roberta’s mother's shows superiority when Twyla and Roberta introduce their mothers and Roberta’s mother refuses to shake hands with Twyla’s mother: “Roberta’s mother looked down at me and then looked down at Mary too. She didn’t say anything, just grabbed Roberta’s hand with her Bible free hand and stepped out of line” (Morrison). Roberta’s mother’s behavior shows that she dislikes Twyla’s race and has preeminence over her race. This does not disclose their races because during segregation whites used to think that they were superior to the blacks but in this story both mothers’ think that they are superior to each