An Analysis of Memory in ‘Recitatif’
Toni Morrison’s short story, ‘Recitatif’, tells the tale of a complex relationship between two women, Twyla and Roberta. In the story, Morrison uses the concept of memories as the foundation for the conflict between Twyla and Roberta. These two women have a strange and complicated relationship of competition and conflict, and this conflict is founded on forgotten, remembered, and shared memories. Twyla and Roberta share a long history, full of memories, and it is these memories that serve to ???
One important memory is the memory of Maggie, and this memory serves as a major point of conflict between Twyla and Roberta. Both characters have a vivid, specific memory of a certain incident involving Maggie in the orchard. Twyla claims Maggie, “fell down and those gar girls laughed at her”, while Roberta claims that the gar girls, “pushed her town and tore her clothes” and that Twyla and Robert joined the gar girls (Morrison, p. 16). Further, there is a discrepancy in the memory of Maggie’s race — Twyla
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thought she wasn’t black, Roberta insists she was. Not being able to recall the correct memory of Maggie serves to directly perpetuate the competitive conflict between the two women; whoever remembers the incident correctly is somehow better than the other. Attempting to remember this incident doesn’t serve as just a common endeavor, as it would with most individuals, but instead it becomes a point of contention. Morrison paints a picture of two characters who take a forgotten memory and turn it into a battle, thereby illustrating the conflict that lies between them. The first time Twyla and Roberta reunite after leaving St. Bonny’s is in a small town Howard Johnson’s. During this meeting, Roberta, in the words of Twyla, “acted like [she] didn’t want to know me” (Morrison, p. 13). This awkward interaction between characters seems to set the tone for their all future interactions — the tone of perpetually trying to appear better than the other. More importantly, the memory of this interaction is something Twyla clings to: “I remembered Howard Johnson’s and looking for a change to speak only to be greeted with a stingy ‘wow’” (Morrison, p. 10). Twyla never really lets go of this memory, and never really forgives Roberta for her behavior and lack of an apology. Every time that Twyla and Roberta interact, this past behavior is still in Twyla’s mind, and serves to perpetuate Twyla’s need to prove herself better than Roberta. Twyla holds on to the memory of Howard Johnson’s, and Morrison uses this example to illustrate how memory is utilized as justification for their behavior. In the midst of personal competition and conflict, Morrison is sure to highlight that Twyla and Roberta actually share memories and are united by common recollections.
During one of their meetings, Twyla and Roberta laughingly reminisce on their days at St. Bonny’s, saying, “‘Remember the Easter baskets?’ ‘Any how we tried to introduce them?’ ‘Your mother with that cross like two telephone poles.’ ‘And yours with those tight slacks.’” (Morrison, p. 11). While these memories don’t fuel the conflict, they do provide a context for the conflict. Twyla and Roberta have good memories that unite them, yet they still maintain this battle to outdo each other. If Morrison had chosen two characters who were lifelong enemies, the story would be much different. By choosing two characters who share fond memories of a difficult time in their life, Morrison shows the complexity that underlies Twyla and Roberta’s relationship and their
conflict. ‘Recitatif’ uses forgotten, remembered, and happy memories to form the foundation of a relationship filled with uncomfortable conflict. ???
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
The Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS-2) is a revision of the Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS) created by Cecil Reynolds and Bert Richmond in 1985 (Reynolds & Richmond, 2008). The RCMAS-2 includes an updated standardization sample, improved psychometrics, and broadened content (Reynolds & Richmond, 2008). Although these revisions occurred, the brevity, elementary reading level, and content-based item clusters were retained, offering an updated and effective tool for understanding and treating anxiety in school-aged children (Reynolds & Richmond, 2008).
Joshua Foer’s “The End of Remembering” and Kathryn Schulz’s “Evidence” are two essays that have more in common than one might think. Although on two totally different topics, they revolve around the central point of the complexities of the human mind. However, there are some key elements both writers have contemplated on in differing ways.
In conclusion, it is through these contradictions between history and memory that we learn not to completely rely on either form of representation, due to the vexing nature of the relationship and the deliberate selection and emphasis. It is then an understanding that through a combination of history and memory we can begin to comprehend representation. ‘The Fiftieth Gate’ demonstrates Baker’s conclusive realisation that both history and memory have reliability and usefulness. ‘Schindler’s List’ reveals how the context of a medium impacts on the selection and emphasis of details. ‘The Send-Off’ then explains how the contradiction between memory and history can show differing perspectives and motives.
While Roberta in particular carries the guilt of not being sure if she was a contributor to the violence against Maggie and therefore wrestles with what that means about her as a person, in “The Thing in the Forest”, both women struggle with the idea that they were responsible for what happened to Alys, yet focus more on what the creature was and how they can each prevent what happened to Alys from happening to anyone else. In “Recitatif”, the women show their guilt by bringing up what happened as they meet again and again. Everything else comes and goes from their conversations, but as soon as Maggie is brought up, neither woman can escape her. In “The Thing in the Forest”, this is demonstrated by how each woman has reacted to their new situation, going through life knowing that such horrifying creatures exist. Penny is far more of a realist, she became “good at studying what could not be seen” (Byatt 364). Primrose, on the other hand, leans into the fantasy of it all, telling children the story of what happened to her as a way of warning them. This works to emphasize the most basic difference between the two women, realist versus
The memories of an individual will give shape to their own identity and how they are able to perceive the world around them; memories allow an individual to look back at where they were and where they are now and to see the contrast of their current life. In the text “Ru”, Kim Thúy, the narrator, finds herself looking back at her memories of her life and dreaming for more. When she arrives at Mirabel airport in Quebec, she is awestruck by the peace and beauty of it compared to her past in in the refugee camps of Malaysia and war torn Vietnam. Throughout her visit, she is able to dream of her future outside of her bleak memories of her past, and imagine a future without the constant strife of living in a post war life. Kim is able to use her memories to shape who she wants to be and allows her to truly admire where she is and where she wants to go, setting a path for her to follow throughout life. In the text, “Ru”, Kim Thúy uses her own past and memories to demonstrate the idea that an individual's memories will shape who they are and show them a life they want to live, whether it is a memory they want to revisit or a memory in which they wish to leave behind. Kim’s present is influenced greatly by her past and allows her to appreciate the little things all that much
Through this short story we are taken through one of Vic Lang’s memories narrated by his wife struggling to figure out why a memory of Strawberry Alison is effecting their marriage and why she won’t give up on their relationship. Winton’s perspective of the theme memory is that even as you get older your past will follow you good, bad or ugly, you can’t always forget. E.g. “He didn’t just rattle these memories off.” (page 55) and ( I always assumed Vic’s infatuation with Strawberry Alison was all in the past, a mortifying memory.” (page 57). Memories are relevant to today’s society because it is our past, things or previous events that have happened to you in which we remembered them as good, bad, sad, angry etc. memories that you can’t forget. Winton has communicated this to his audience by sharing with us how a memory from your past if it is good or bad can still have an effect on you even as you get older. From the description of Vic’s memory being the major theme is that it just goes to show that that your past can haunt or follow you but it’s spur choice whether you chose to let it affect you in the
Memories are symbols that are used to demonstrate the progression from the past into the development of one’s current personal identity. We often use our personal memories to investigate our thoughts. Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro are 21st century works that reflect on the use of memoires to enhance personal thoughts to impact perspectives. Perspectives are created and altered by addressing and reflecting on thoughts and feelings towards previous events. In Native Guard, Trethewey uses her memories to develop a perspective on her past and history. In Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro uses Kathy’s memories to develop her actions and decisions. Tretheway and Ishiguro both demonstrate that a memory is a symbol
When Maggie finally smiles ‘a real smile’ at the end of the story as she and her mother watch Dee’s car disappear in a cloud of dust, it is because she knows her ‘mother holy recognition of the scarred daughter’s sacred status as quilter is the best gift if a hard-pressed womankind to the fragmented goddess of the present.’ (Piedmont-Marton)
The title of this piece, “Remembered Morning,” establishes what the speaker describes in the stanzas that follow as memory; this fact implies many themes that accompany works concerning the past: nostalgia, regret, and romanticism, for instance. The title, therefore, provides a lens through which to view the speaker’s observations.
Repressed memories is a topic that has been an ongoing dispute among some, however ac...
The narrator, Twyla, begins by recalling the time she spent with her friend, Roberta, at the St. Bonaventure orphanage. From the beginning of the story, the only fact that is confirmed by the author is that Twyla and Roberta are of a different race, saying, “they looked like salt and pepper” (Morrison, 2254). They were eight-years old. In the beginning of the story, Twyla says, “My mother danced all night and Roberta’s was sick.” This line sets the tone of the story from the start. This quote begins to separate the two girls i...
Morrison uses the awkwardness of the two women’s meetings combined with the words spoken by the women to portray the confusion of race throughout the story. The first meeting was at Saint Bonaventure when they were roommates. Twyla’s mother was “always dancing” as a stripper and Roberta’s mother was a well off business woman “who was always sick” (Morrison) as Roberta would say. In the time period of the story, it would have made sense that a black mother would not have had a good paying job as a business woman. Because of this, one would think that Twyla was the black child while Roberta was the white one. Also, both girls’ mothers come to visit St. Bonny’s one day. Morrison focuses on the interaction between the grown women. Twyla’s mother, Mary, is dressed inappropriately and Roberta’s mother is dressed very well with “an enormous cross on her even more enormou...
Eva Hoffman’s memoir, Lost in Translation, is a timeline of events from her life in Cracow, Poland – Paradise – to her immigration to Vancouver, Canada – Exile – and into her college and literary life – The New World. Eva breaks up her journey into these three sections and gives her personal observations of her assimilation into a new world. The story is based on memory – Eva Hoffman gives us her first-hand perspective through flashbacks with introspective analysis of her life “lost in translation”. It is her memory that permeates through her writing and furthermore through her experiences. As the reader we are presented many examples of Eva’s memory as they appear through her interactions. All of these interactions evoke memory, ultimately through the quest of finding reality equal to that of her life in Poland. The comparison of Eva’s exile can never live up to her Paradise and therefore her memories of her past can never be replaced but instead only can be supplemented.
Twyla and Roberta are two close companions of isolated races who figure out how to experience childhood in Civil Rights-time America. Twyla and Roberta are two young ladies who meet at St. Bonneventure's shelter for young ladies. They get to be moment companions, not in view of their age, but rather on the grounds that both of their moms are still alive. Twyla's mother parties time after time to tend to her, and Roberta's mom is too sick to administer to her. The creator is deliberately unclear about the race of both young ladies, so all that is known is that they