Ambiguity In Toni Morrison's Recitatif '

Race is intended to be ambiguous in Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” despite the cultural turmoil taking evident within the story’s time period between the 50s and 80s; this intent is much more than mere negligence. Rather than depicting race as an unimportant concern, she brings about a more inclusive affair. Through the racial vagueness of the narrator, Toni Morrison accentuates how people should be treated, portraying this as an issue that should garner more prominence than the racial strife pervasive during the context of the story.
Racial difference is something that can be overcome through shared experiences and an accepting nature; as such, building relationships and having experiences with others overcomes racial division, demonstrating

the importance of these tasks and rendering knowledge the actual race of Twyla as obsolete. Morrison demonstrates this idea through the relationship between the Twyla, otherwise known as the narrator, and her friend,Roberta. Those with different skin colors did not associate with each other normally, but Twyla and Roberta were an odd pair of girls who overcame this boundary between races.

Having befriended Roberta simply for her quick understanding, Twyla comments, “So for the moment it didn't matter that we looked like salt and pepper standing there and that's what the other kids called us sometimes” (1). Twyla’s characterization of her friendship with Roberta as “like salt and pepper” clearly describes their different races, and like the tastes of salt and pepper, she also describes how they are different people with different personalities. Despite the age of their companions within the orphanage, Twyla recalls being verbally offended by other kids. Because she says, “for the moment”, their surviving friendship can be attributed to their circumstances within the orphanage as outcasts with failing grades and parents who are still alive. In turn, their bond created by focusing on what they have in common, rather than what makes them different, endures derogatory comments to the point where “it didn’t matter”. Regardless of who was black or white, they were still different and overcame this difference along with its hardships. Their childlike innocence and willingness to find a friend were also factors in overcoming racial boundaries, but these

traits are not completely necessary. Twyla recalls that years later, “Busloads of blacks and whites came into Howard Johnson's together. They roamed together then: students, musicians, lovers, protesters.” (13) In this case, the race of every individual is unknown, so the importance lies in the fact that they overcame their differences. The togetherness of blacks and whites are emphasized through its repetition in two subsequent sentences. Grouped by their interests rather than by color, the experiences that they shared are also noted. Furthermore, the fact that they came in “busloads” indicates that this togetherness is not a special case. Unity in the presence of racial discrimination was shown to be achieved by many. In both of these cases, it is not the particularity of race that matters. It is the division between people and the reality that this division can be overcome with shared experiences and relationships.
After establishing the importance of relationships in comparison to race, Morrison is able to utilize the character of Maggie and the evolving relationship between Twyla and Roberta in order to establish how people should be treated.

Maggie is a presumably disabled woman who is older than Twyla and Roberta. During their stay at the orphanage, they were fascinated with Maggie’s disability as a mute and proceeded to call her names. In hindsight, Twyla criticizes their actions saying, “And it shames me even now to think there was somebody in there after all who heard us call her those names and couldn't tell on us”(3). She certainly sees the fault in her demeaning behavior and is ashamed of it. Now that she’s mature, she understands that what she did with Roberta was wrong, but she did not realize this at the time; it would take decades before she would. This willingness to accept the guilt and responsibility for her treatment of another, particularly the disabled Maggie, develops over her chance meetings with Roberta. For instance, during Twyla and Roberta’s first encounter with each other after leaving the orphanage, they do not talk about this situation at all despite a decade having passed since then. During their second encounter, Roberta claims that “‘Those girls pushed her down and tore her clothes’” and Twyla responds saying, “‘ I don't remember any of that”’ (12). At least Roberta is able to recall some specifics about the situation compared to Twyla, but both of

them still avoid the guilt and responsibility of their actions and inaction to help entirely. Regardless, they have reached a level of maturity to somewhat acknowledge what happened. Much later, during their third meeting, Roberta blames herself and Twyla saying that they kicked Maggie, a mute black woman. They are unsure of Maggie’s race, but as the Morrison has shown , it is how they treated her that matters. The accusation of guilt causes them both to think to the point when at their fourth meeting, Roberta explains that “ We didn't kick her... But, well, I wanted to.” (19) Maturity is necessary to realize and accept when one treats another wrongly. As people grow, like Roberta and Maggie, they become more conscious of past faults, but they can only accept these faults and hope to learn from them. At this point, Roberta accepts the guilt for their ill thoughts against Maggie as well as their inaction against those who did patronize her. Roberta’s sense of empathy evolved in increments as she matured alongside Twyla. Rather than being the one who thought about hurting or berating Maggie, both girls at this point wished that they were the ones who stopped the berating in the first place. Like in overcoming racial differences, spending time with someone to accept them and create experiences with them is the way to build a good relationship. Roberta ends the story saying “‘What the hell happened to Maggie?’”. She with newfound maturity, she experiences regret and a wish to have a relationship with Maggie. Her neglect of building a relationship with Maggie has caused her to lose someone that she cared for.
Building relationships with others has the twofold purpose of unity and protection. Without unity, traits such as skin color have to potential to drive nation's apart. Without protection, tragedies like the assault of Maggie are possible. These lessons were derived from learning of the relationship between Twyla and Roberta. The world is abundant with connections between people, and taking part in these connections allows for the potential to learn and prevent regret.