Recitatif Essay

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Life is Nothing but a Hazy Shade of Gray Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif” is a short story about two girls, Twyla and Roberta, their relationship and various run ins throughout the course of their lives. Recitatif’s main underlying theme deals with racism. The theme is obviously present, Morrison makes it known that the two girls are of different races, but he intentionally does not define them by their color. This decision forces the reader to come up their own assumptions and ultimately strengthens the message of racism and the understanding of the point that Morrison is trying to make. Toni Morrison gives clues that leads the reader to formulate their own guesses about the girls’ ethnicities by saying that they are “like salt and pepper” (Morrison 140). Although the fact that the two girls are different races is an essential part of the story, Morrison makes it obvious that the difference in color is not the most important part. Through various clues about each of the girls’ race the reader is put in a situation where assumptions are made based on racial stereotypes. With hints throughout the whole story, the reader’s assumptions are either being changed or second guessed. As the story goes through the intertwining lives of Twyla and Roberta the fact that there is tension in their relationship is made obvious. The two girls, who happen to have similar issues in their lives, are friends turned ‘frenemies’ of sorts. The first time the girls are introduced they are in an orphanage and friends immediately. Neither of the girls are “real” orphans, they both have mothers who are seemingly unable to take care of them. Twyla and Roberta bond over spying on the older girls as they smoked and danced, and they always got a laugh out of yelling mean things at Maggie. At the picnic, one of their last interactions at the orphanage, the reader gets clues about the girls’

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