Analyzing Chloe Anthony Wofford's Recitatif '

Chloe Anthony Wofford was born on February 18, 1931 to Ramah Wofford and George Wofford in Lorraine, OH. Chloe was the second oldest of four children. Her father was a welder by trade but worked many jobs to support his family and mother was a maid. In 1949 she graduated from Lorain High School with. She then attended college at Howard University, where she majored in English and minored in Classics. . While attending college she decided to Change her name to “Toni” which a shorter version of her middle name. She decided to change her name due to the fact that many people pronounced given first name incorrectly. In 1953 she graduated from Howard with a bachelor in English. She went on to attend Cornell University and received a master’s
degree in 1955. After graduating she went to teach at Texas Southern University. In 1957 she returned to Howard University as an English professor. While working at Howard she met Harold Morrison and three years later they married. She gave birth to her first son Harold in 1961 and had her second son Slate in 1964. After the birth of her first son she joined a writers group and began writing her first novel. IN 1965 she moved to Syracuse, NY and worked as a senior editor for a textbook publisher. She then later on went to work for Random House. Morrison published her first novel “The Bluest Eye” in 1970. The book received great reviews but did not sell well. She went on to right ‘Sula”, which was nominated for the American Book Award. In 1977 she wrote her third novel “Song of Solomon”, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award. In 1993 Toni Morrison became the first African American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Morrison also began to branch by writing her first play “Dreaming Emmet” and children’s books. She also went on to write more novels such as “Jazz”, “Beloved (which was made into a movie)”, “Paradise” and “Love”. Morrison most recent works in include “Home” and an “Othello” inspired production in 2012. Morrison is now 83 years old. Recitatif is a “derivative of recitative”.
Recitative is a style of vocal music intermediate between speaking and singing; reflecting on the natural rhythms of speech”. In the story Recitatif this meaning is important because it points out the natural rhythm of speech between Roberta and Twyla’s relationship. Roberta is black and Twyla is white. They both have an unspoken understanding of each other because they are in an orphanage yet neither one of them are orphans. Due to them being in this orphanage their racial identities do not exist. They are no longer black/white but children in an orphanage whose mothers cannot take care of them. Twyla and Roberta both come from complete different backgrounds. Even at their young age yet they both have completely different ways that they see the world and their surroundings. This is prevalent when Roberta and Twyla meet again a few times throughout the years. Recitatif is about how people view, deal and handle life differently due to their race and circumstance even though one race may be sympathetic to another race that does not mean that truly understand or see the big
picture.
Roberta and Twyla met again for the first time across from the Howard Johnson that she worked at. Roberta was with two other blacks headed on their way to see Jimmy Hendricks. Twyla being oblivious to racial issues of time and went right over to speak. Twyla was happy and surprised to Roberta but the feeling was not mutual. “Newburgh/ No kidding” She laughed then a private laugh that included thy guys but only the guys, and they laughed with her….” “There was silence that came down right after I laughed…” “Roberta coughed on her cigarette and the two guys rolled their eyes up to the ceiling”. Roberta had sarcasm with Twyla about living in Newburgh. She acted as if she were surprised but she really wasn’t because that’s were white people live. Shy was also dismissiveness towards Twyla because she was with the guys and because she was white. She had to front as if she did not like white people either. This is the first instance of the different way they the girls handled things due to race
. “What do you mean, “What for?” They want to take my kids and send them out of the neighborhood. They don’t want to go.” “So what if they go to another school? My boy’s being bussed too, and I don’t mind. Why should you?” “It’s not about us Twyla. Me and you. It’s about our kids…..” “Look at them,” I said. “Just look. Who do they think they are? Swarming all over the place like they own it. And now they think they can decide where my child goes to school. Look at them Roberta. They’re Bozos.” Roberta is protest against her children’s rights to not be bussed to another school due to integration. While Twyla is for her sons being bussed out. Twyla is once again completely oblivious to the struggles that the black children will have by being bussed out and why this fight is Roberta children. Twyla says a loud statement that comes off rather racist to Roberta and they people behind her. Sadly enough Twyla has no clue that she even said anything wrong.
“Her eyes were watery from the drinks she’d had, I guess.
I know it’s that way with me….” “…Roberta lifted her head up from the tabletop and covered her face with her palms. When she took them away she really was crying. “Oh shit, Twyla. Shit, shit, shit. What happened the hell happened to Maggie?” Roberta holds on to a guilt and also has an understanding of Maggie. She feels bad for never helping Maggie when she would get picked on but yet she knows she was too young to help. She also understands what life must have been like fro Maggie because she was a mute, older black woman. She understood her struggle but she could only imagine Maggie’s pain. Who could Maggie call on in her time of need or who could she tell when she needed help. She true symbol of a black woman without a voice. None of this could Twyla understand and she never understood the big
picture.
Toni Morrison a Nobel Prize winning author wrote the story Recitatif along with many other great novels, plays and children books. Recitatif is about how people view, deal and handle life differently due to their race and circumstances. Even though one race may be sympathetic to another race that does not mean that truly understand or see the big picture. Twyla was a white woman oblivious to the racial issues that Roberta faced throughout her life. Roberta was never very sympathetic to Twyla ignorance about race and not understanding that Twyla did not endure nor share the same values herself.