Trauma is an exhausting, painful mind game that feeds off of the strongest emotions felt by an individual like fear and anger; its longevity on one’s memory lingers through the years and forces many to relive their most tragic experiences without an end. Recitatif, Toni Morrison’s short story, illustrates the effects of trauma through the perspective of an orphan girl, Twyla, and her best friend in the orphanage, Roberta. While the young girls are growing up in an orphanage, they observe an assault against a mute, disabled woman named Maggie. Due to the aggressive and brutal visuals of the attack, the girls became overwhelmed with emotion, leaving them little to react with. Their future memory of the attack soon becomes blurred as the two
