Character Analysis: Recitatif

Recitatif
“Recitatif” is a story of two childhood friends, Twyla and Roberta, one black one white, growing up in a children’s shelter in the 1950’s, whose lives seem to intersect over many years. This story is very complex, as the author never directly reveals the racial identity of the main characters. The story is narrated by Twyla and is intended to show us how we have a tendency to categorize people immediately based on the details illustrated in a story. The author of “Recitatif” is able to give us enough evidence by exploring the hidden signs of culture, opaque racial stereotypes, economic signs, and to identify the narrator Twyla, as African American, and Roberta as white. As children, the girl’s mothers come to the shelter for a Sunday visit, revealing more opaque racial stereotypes, leading us to uncover more clues of culture, and linking us to the their race. Twyla describes to us “She had on those green slacks I hated and hated...and that fur jacket with the pocket linings so ripped she had to pull to get her hands out of them” (p 658). It is also told to us that Twyla’s mom “did not bring any food for the lunch so they had to eat the candy that Twyla had in her basket” (p 658). Roberta’s mom comes hand in hand with a cross and bible. She also “brought chicken legs and ham sandwiches and oranges and a whole box of chocolate-covered grahams” (p 659). From these facts it would be easy to see the stereotype of each race, Twyla depicted to be the poor, black girl, while Roberta was the pleasant white girl with a devout Christian mother. This is furthermore seen by the displeasure Roberta’s mom has towards Twyla’s mother when she tried to shake her hand. This interaction shows Roberta’s mother as having almost a white supremacist attitude toward Twyla’s mother, treating her quite inferior. Twyla’s mother responds by outbursts and name calling. Once again we see how this supports how black women are known to be very outspoken and loud when offense is taken. These clues reveal which characters lives were a bit more privileged, and whose are unbecoming.
Again they cross paths, now adults, the economic status of their lives is now depicted. Twyla was characterized as “working in a Howard Johnson, married to a fireman, and has one child with a limited income” (p 678). Roberta “married an IBM executive, lives in the wealthy part of town, has four stepchildren, and a Chinese chauffeur” (p 688). The author is giving us very strong thoughts that Twyla is in fact African American based solely on her economic status. Statistics of that time will tell us that African Americans were low to middle class, while whites were upper class. Their economic divides help us as readers, place the character’s in a racial class of that time. Readers become spectators as racial tension grows as a result of busing, to ensure integration in the schools. Twyla’s son has to take a bus to a school in another area. It is here when we see Roberta picketing against this idea. These clues are consistent of the time. Twyla’s support, and Roberta’s resistance showed the cultural separation. Historically, African Americans fought hard for desegregation, while whites were the ones to fight and picket against the idea.
The author of “Recitatif” is able to give us enough evidence by exploring the hidden signs of culture, opaque racial stereotypes, economic signs, and to identify the narrator Twyla, as African American, and Roberta as white. The characters grow up through a divide in American culture as people of different races. Although the author never discloses who is who, and challenges us as readers to make our own interpretations; we are given enough facts, hidden clues, and stereotypes to characterized one black and one white, while linking the racial divide of that time.