Jeffrey Leonard
Mrs. Smith
English 102I
14 June 2015 The Same Color “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison the author of this racially active story for the main characters Twyla and Roberta. Class separates the story, but neither character is confirmed as African-American or Caucasian. There are multiple questions that need to be answered with this story. During each episode, did Morrison leave clues in her words of the girls’ race? Is racial thinking getting better or worse? With the clues Morrison gives us in this story, she demonstrates how racial thinking plays into today’s world in everyday decisions. There are multiple character encounters that demonstrate this in the story. The first encounter is when Twyla and Roberta are kids and meet at a state home. One clue is that Morrison lets the reader know that one of the characters is African-American, and the other is Caucasian. Instantly the characters bond because they are in similar circumstances. They are both taken away from their mothers, and that is why they are at the home and why they become friends instantly. They see their parents only on Sundays for church. Twyla’s mom dresses inappropriately, and Roberta’s mother is wearing a cross on her chest. The clues in the first encounter are at the church with the mothers’ attire. Twyla is African-American and Roberta is Caucasian. Reasons the biggest clue is the cross, Caucasians like to wear religious attire everywhere and not just to church. African-Americans can overly be inappropriate in a public place but everyone can be. The second is very short and brief. It is eight years later, and Twyla is working at a counter behind a thruway. Roberta and two guys with her in the booth are on their way to the west coast to see Jimi Hendrix for an appointment. The clues here are the circumstances of their lives: one is working, and one is with her friends going to a Jimi Hendrix event. After this the races have flipped. Reasons African-Americans had troubles trying to get a job back when this story took place.
The girls meet once again, but now it has been twenty years since they first met. Now they meet at a new grocery store and tell each other that they are married. Roberta lets Twyla know that she is very wealthy and married to an IBM executive while Twyla lets Roberta know that she is in the lower middle class and married to a firefighter. They share more memories of their past and part ways again. The marriages are the clues in the third encounter. With the husbands are characters married to great men in this world that do great things. Once again the stance hasn’t change with the clues given Twyla is African-American and Roberta is Caucasian. The fourth meeting is more telling than the others about what race the characters are. This takes place in Twyla’s town, which is being threatened by protesters for busing. After Twyla sees Roberta in the crowd rioting, she starts threatening the group and then starts engaging with the crowd. Twyla sees Roberta never comes to her aid. Roberta also brings up the situation when she assaulted a black lady, but Twyla remembers she was
