Reading Notes W16: Recitatif, Part A

Recitatif

Roberta and Twyla were two different girls & races from the same world. The only difference is that Twyla was in the foster care system because her mother like to party, however Roberta was in the foster care system because her mom was ill. They were the same age, bullied by the older girls, and both had problems learning.

The interaction between Roberta and Twyla mother is interesting because the author without mentioning, alludes the issue of race but leaves it to the reader. Roberta’s mother could have walked away because she did not approve of the way Twyla mother dressed.

Maggie symbolizes the girls’ mothers. Maggie could not communicate what she was feeling. She could not express the pain and cruelty she was experiencing at the hands of the gar girls. Likewise, the author compares Mary dancing and Roberta’s mother illness to Maggie. They could not verbally communicate what they were experiencing, both dance and sickness is silent. Both ladies were dealing with individuals issues that they could not express. Instead they dropped their kids off at an orphanage, maybe that is why both girls desired to kick Maggie even though they did not. The fact that they argued over whether she was black or white reveals that it did not matter because she represented their moms (black and white). Their concern was not that Maggie was an innocent person, who had not afflicted any harm on anyone and she did not deserve to be pushed/kicked, but whether she was black or white. This is another indicator that the author was highlighting the issue of race. How we focus so much on race that we ignore the real issues of treating people as human beings with kindness and dignity. It also reveals that both women struggled with similar issues, such as abandonment and race was not the factor of those issues.