Recitatif by Tony Morrison is a story of two girls, Twyla and Roberta. The story is told in five encounters and all of them are narrated by Twyla, that’s why this story is also known as the Recitatif of Twyla. Recitatif literally means a musical narration. The language of a Recitatif is different from poems and stories. This is symbolic of the grave nature of this story.
The story begins when both the girls, who belong to different races, are put in an orphanage. The setting is particularly important because it gives the readers a hint about the background of these two girls. Their mothers were alive but they couldn’t take care of their daughters as Twyla says in the very first line: “My mother danced all night and Roberta’s mother was sick” (Morrison, 1983). A major part of the story takes place in the orphanage. This is important because one of the main themes of this story is racial discrimination and yet the girls live in the same place and they get along quite well.
Throughout the story, a reader can’t find out that whether Twyla is Black or White. We see her in a surly mood and a little irritated, but later she becomes good friends with Roberta. There are instances where it can be interpreted that Twyla is a White girl as she says to Mrs. Itkin “My mother won’t like you putting me in here” (Morrison, 1983).
This confusion of identity is significant because it tells the reader about the struggle of the protagonist to have an identity.
At the beginning, the reader does sympathize with Twyla because she is sent to an orphanage because her mother “has to dance all night”. But there are various instances where her mean side is also observed like when she “kicks a poor old black lady when she was down on the ground” (Morrison, 1983). However, she has always been treated as dirt, therefore some of her actions are justified and the reader can’t do anything but sympathize with her.
Works Cited
Morrison, T. (1983). Recitatif. New York: Morrow Publishers.
