Justine Neill

Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
12 November 2014
In Toni Morrisons short story Recitatif there are two young girls brought into an
orphanage one white and one black, but which one is which is unidentified. Throughout the story
confusion on race is obvious. Although the story starts in the orphanage where the two girls
develop a friendship the timeline continues up through different run ins between the two, now
women. The accidental meet ups show some suspicion about who is which race and the reader is
kept guessing on who is who. In this paper I will trying to determine whether Roberta is white or
black and also whether Twyla is white or black and validating why I think who is white and who
is black.
In the story Recitatif Robertas mother acts as if she does not want to shake hands with
Twylas mom (Mary), She didnt say anything, just grabbed Roberta with her Bible free hand
and stepped out of line (Morrison 3). This story took place during the 1950s-1960s which was
during the civil rights movement. Odds are a black woman would be more likely to go out for a
handshake and the white mother would be more predicted to turn down the friendly gesture due
to the time period of the story. Also through research of Robertas last name Fisk I found that
it originated in Scandinavia where the population is mainly white.
The critical essay Black Writing White Reading: Race and the Politics of Feminist
Interpretation by Elizabeth Abel she further discusses reasons for race and gender through her
writing, The racial ambiguity so deftly installed at the narratives origin through codes that
function symmetrically for black women and white women (they never washed their hair and

smelled funny) intensifies as the story tracks the encounters of it protagonists over
approximately thirty years (Abel). Abel brings up Morrisons quote they smell funny and
never wash their hair in her own writing, during the said time period this statement would be
true from Robertas point of view towards Twyla because she may have never seen a different
type of hair before so she is thinking this way.
Also in Abels writing she brings up the point In the civil rights movement that Twyla
sees as a common struggle against racial barriers, Roberta sees the distrust of white intervention
and the impulse toward a separatist Black Power movement: she has the insiders perspective on
power and race relation (Abel). Roberta and Twyla obviously have two separate viewpoints
through the fact that they believe the civil rights movement is combating two different things
according to their opinions. Twyla is seeing the movement from a black point of view and
Roberta, from a white point of view.
Overall Roberta and Twyla were two girls coming from a completely opposite race
during a difficult time period. The girls grow to women and still have their differences
throughout the run ins they have in their lives, predicted through the way the writing is and the
critical essay on race and gender it is presumed that Roberta is white and Roberta is black. These
two women are forced to deal with race and gender conflicts their entire lives. There are so many
different views on this extremely touchy issue and the different ways it can be interpreted an
endless debate.