Recitatif

Your Name

Professor 's Name

Course

Date

A Question of Race : Toni Morrison 's Recitatif

Race usually provides an additional flavor to a story , but when different races are involved , authors sometimes resort to racial stereotyping . Toni Morrison introduces her two main characters without explicitly identifying which one is black , and which one is white in to let the readers ' personal judgments and prejudices contribute to the interpretation of the story . The readers may discover something about their views about race in the process . It is also apparent that

br the author intends to show that the best way to discover the real person is to remove color , or any other superficial characteristics , from the judging criteria . In Morrison 's Recitatif ' the story becomes similar to the musical term that it has been named after . A recitatif or a recitative , is a vocal music intermediate between speaking and singing (Dictionary .com . A reader may experience each of the five sections of the story as a `recitatif ' from an opera missing its other parts . The dialogue and narration foreground the plot . Readers must imagine the rest (BlackNet Art . The story is like music , with the different time settings as its stanzas

Recitatif ' tells the story of Twyla and Roberta , two girls who are both placed in a state institution called St . Bonaventure 's because their mothers can no longer take care of them . According to Twyla , her mother dances all night , while Roberta says that her own mother is sick . The references are also vague , just like the girls ' races Sick ' may suggest mental illness or any other debilitating illness and the dancing all night ' may also refer to insanity , or it can mean a job that will make Mary leave her daughter home alone every night Whatever the reason , both girls understand that it is better not to elaborate

Twyla is first uncomfortable about rooming with Roberta , who is a girl from another race . Roberta reciprocates the feeling . However , common experiences at St . Bonny 's have later made them allies (Morrison . The fact that Twyla and Roberta are still young at that time may make them more able to adjust to someone of a different color . Any of the misconceptions Twyla has had about Roberta 's race have been brought by comments from adults around her . Her mother has told her that those of Roberta 's race never washed their hair ' and smelled funny ' The two girls ' first meeting does not go so well in terms of dispelling stereotypes because Roberta does smell funny according to Twyla

One similarity that the girls have is their mothers . Each mother has a different problem and personality , but they are both unable to care for their girls so that they have to give them up to a shelter for mostly orphans . When the two visit on one Sunday , the reader is introduced to two different personas Twyla 's mother , Mary is carefree and forgetful while Roberta 's mother is a religious fanatic who...