Recitatif: Themes | SparkNotes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Effects of Inherited Prejudice

Through Twyla and Roberta's evolving relationship, Morrison explores how people must deal with the effects of the prejudices they inherit from their parents and culture. At the beginning of the story, Twyla makes clear that racial prejudice was one of the few things her mother taught her. Children are not inherently racist, but they learn racism by watching, listening to, and mimicking the people they admire. Twyla's choice of words emphasizes that her prejudices are not her own when she says her “mother wouldn't like" her sharing a room with a person of another race. Most people learn their core beliefs in childhood from watching and listening to their guardians, who are human and therefore sometimes incorrect. In "Recitatif,” every encounter between Twyla and Roberta is influenced by external factors: their mothers' prejudices and personal issues, the racial tension of the 1960s, class inequality, and the end of segregation in schools. One of the main themes that runs through "Recitatif" is the effects that other people's prejudices have on our thinking and behavior throughout our lives.

The Complexity of Female Relationships

"Recitatif" explores several kinds of female relationships. The story opens with Twyla declaring that both girls are at a shelter as a direct result of their mothers' issues. Although Twyla places blame on the mothers, she also shields them by offering vague descriptions of their flaws. "Dance all night" and "sick"—words assigned to Twyla and Roberta’s mothers, respectively—could have several meanings of varying culpability. This vagueness shows the tendency of girls to defend their mothers even when their behavior negatively affects them. Further, Twyla insists that her abandonment "really wasn't bad" in another attempt to both assign blame to her mother and defend her simultaneously.

Most girls' first female relationship is with their mother, and it sets a precedent for the female relationships that follow. Twyla and Roberta find solace in each other's company, but they also bring to their friendship all the dysfunctional patterns they have learned thus far. Being thrust into the shelter forces Twyla and Roberta to navigate early female friendships with girls of different races, ages, and backgrounds. As is often the case during adolescence, the girls fall into a social hierarchy as most girls at St. Bonny's form groups with girls of their own race. Twyla and Roberta's status as "not real orphans" lands them on the lowest rung of the social ladder, demonstrating that some traits trump race in the hierarchy. It is this subtle social dynamic that forces Twyla and Roberta together. While they likely wouldn't be friends under normal circumstances, the girls’ shared painful experiences help them develop a genuine connection. Despite this strong bond, the girls spend most of their lives trying to untangle the complexity of their relationship, which is made more complex by its unconventionality.

The Difficulty of Holding Conflicting Ideas

On one hand, "Recitatif" is about a lifelong connection between two women, but on the other, it's also about their persistent disconnect. Morrison creates several dichotomies between Twyla and Roberta as they meet at different moments over time. Twyla and Roberta are perpetually divided by their different races and their socioeconomic statuses. Morrison juxtaposes Twyla as a small-town service worker with Roberta as a carefree, town-hopping Hendrix fan and part of the historic youth culture of the late 1960s. Later, as a middle-class mother, Twyla can afford few luxuries, while Roberta represents the wealthy IBM crowd driving up prices in Newburgh. At the highest point of conflict between the two women, they protest on opposing sides of racial integration in Newburgh’s schools.

At all times in the story, readers can vacillate between distinguishing which of the main characters is Black and which is white. Morrison never gives a definite answer, so both remain possible. The breaking point in their relationship seems to be the women’s inability to agree on whether Maggie was Black. Neither character can say for sure, so there is no right or wrong answer in the story, only different perspectives. One of the marks of maturity is being able to see the truth in two opposing ideas at once because usually two conflicting ideas both hold some truth. In the final moments of "Recitatif," Roberta comes to the same realization that Twyla has earlier in the story when she wonders about Maggie's wellbeing. Figuring out the right or wrong side of every situation is less important than showing kindness to the people we meet along the way.

Previous section Main Ideas Next section Author's Purpose