Reading Notes Week 16 A: Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison : Recitatif (1172-1182)

"Recitatif" is the French form of recitative, a style of musical declamation that hovers between song and ordinary speech, particularly used for dialogic and narrative interludes during operas and oratories. An obsolete sense of the term was also "the tone or rhythm peculiar to any language." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitatif

Toni morrison uses rhythm and a sing song style to all of her writing. (1173)

Her stories center around pushing the preconceived notions that people hold in their minds. She touches on the issue of race, gender, equality, diversity, class, and poverty. She also weaves love and violence together in seamless transitions. She uses conflict to amplify the emotan between her characters. (1172)

In Recitatif, the racial preconceptions we hold shift our focus from scene to scene. One moment Twyla is white, and Roberta is black, and viceversa. Every since the divided racial line is introduced, the reader is left to assume which girl is which. This in a way bridges the gap in differences in humanity.  

“... we weren’t real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky.” (1174)

“I used to dream a lot and almost always the orchard was there.” (1175)

Maggie: Bent legs and wore a silly childs hat. She was a mute and could not tell on those who abused her. The question is, what happened to her after the orchard? She never comes up again in their memories after that event. And Roberta asks in tears “What the hell happened to Maggie?” (1187). Their memories mean so much to them for years, and as time goes on they start to question their validity, as their counterparts remember things slightly different.

“Maggie was my dancing mother. Deaf, I thought, and dumb. Nobody who could tell you anything important that you could use.” (1186)

Roberta - against integration in school, sometimes her hair is poofy and big. Sometimes straight. Step mother. Husband is rich. Mother was sick. Had to go back to the orphanage.

Twyla - mother danced. Never went back to the orphanage. Worked as a waitress. Married a firefighter. Had one son. Was for integrating schools.