Differences Between Twyla And Roberta In Recitatif, By Tony Morrison

The story “Recitatif”, by Tony Morrison tells the story of two young girls, Twyla and Roberta, whose mothers abandoned them in an orphanage apparently during the late 50’s. Throughout the story, Twyla and Roberta encounter some hardships due to their racial differences. In spite of their social and economic differences, one of their main differences is their race. Even though it is hard for the reader to conclude who is white or black, some parts in the story indicate that one of the characters is white. In the story, Twyla’s race can be identified as white in different parts of the story especially when Twyla first meets Roberta in the orphanage, in the grocery store, and at the end during the school busing strife. At the beginning of the story, Twyla’s first encounter with Roberta …show more content…
The conflict of the desegregation of the schools that was happening during that time brings another conflict to Twyla and Roberta. During the conversation, Twyla and Roberta encounter a conflict in their differences that defines Twyla’s race. In Twyla and Roberta’s third encounter during the bussing strife, the author Ann Rayson remarks, “[t]his argument between the two women intensifies until Roberta tells Twyla, ‘Maybe I am different now, Twyla. But you're not. You're the same little state kid who kicked a poor old black lady when she was down on the ground.’” Twyla’s action of kicking a defenseless old, black woman makes a clear statement of her race. The fact that Roberta accuses Twyla of kicking a black woman helps the reader conclude that due to racial differences, Twyla could have kicked the black woman in the orchard. Moreover, Twyla tries to defend herself by ensuring that the old woman was not black, demonstrating that Twyla wants to forget what happened in the orchard. For this reason, Twyla’s actions help the reader conclude that she is in fact