Comparison Of Twyla And Roberta In Recitatif By Toni Morrison

In “Recitatif,” by Toni Morrison, racial divides are implemented throughout the story due to circumstance and place. The setting or other characters involved in the story or the actions they take often closely relate to how the two girls feel towards one another. Throughout their lives, Twyla and Roberta vary on whether or not they should be friends with one another due to racial divides, although it is not ever explicitly stated.
When Twyla and Roberta first meet, there is already a racial divide. This is made evident by their different ethnicities and Twyla’s skepticism brought on by her mother’s comment about their hair “smelling funny (Morrison 31).” Although this misconception might not have directly influenced their friendship, it is stated that Twyla and Roberta did not get along in the beginning and Twyla even comments that her mom would not like the set-up; it was not until they

spent time alone that they became close friends. Moreover, when the two girls went away from Bonny’s, their lives both changed drastically and the divide thickened. When Twyla sees Roberta again several years later, Roberta is with two hairy men and looks like the girls she once feared, and Roberta does not give Twyla the time of day (137). At this point in the story, it is probably around when segregation was on the rise and Roberta was probably embarrassed to be seen with Twyla.
Moreover, as the women age, so does their oblivion to the differences between their lives.

Once again, Roberta and Twyla meet at and uppity grocery store; Roberta has climbed up the social ladder and tries to play nice. However, when Twyla brings up Maggie, Roberta tells a different story than what Twyla remembers and then tries to defend her past behavior towards Twyla by saying “‘You know how everything was (141).’” Roberta’s defense mechanism by blaming the times shows the reader just how prevalent instilled racism is between the two. Likewise, the plot reaches a climax when the women meet a third time at their children’s schools during integration. The two begin a full-on picket war with one another because Twyla catches Roberta protesting the integration of schools and when confronted, believes she is doing nothing wrong. Tensions rise when the two mirror the phrase “’I wonder what made me think you were different (143).’” This admission to social and racial differences expresses the theme of the story and opens one another’s eyes to what has really happened between the

two.
In short, this story is a social commentary on the racial divide between two friends as they get older and their oblivion to the matter. Morrison uses different scenarios and characters to get her point across and waits until the third encounter to blatantly express the theme of the story. Although the two eventually make up, their struggle to maintain a friendship after their time at Bonny’s correlates to the issues with racism during their lifetime.