“An experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial.” This is how Toni Morrison explains her only short story, “Recitatif.” In most stories and books, the character's race is not a secret, whether the author describes the characters by skin color, hair, or facial features. In the story "Recitatif," written by Toni Morrison, the characters do not have their race revealed. The author strategically gives both characters different stereotypes, from African American to Caucasian. Toni Morrison keeps the two main characters' races hidden throughout the story but uses stereotypes to confuse the reader; Roberta argues that Twyla kicked Maggie, the old black lady, and Roberta protests kids being bussed to different schools. "Recitatif" is a story about two …show more content…
Twyla asked if she was on drugs and what was often associated with African Americans. In this encounter, Twyla also mentioned that Roberta had big hair, almost so big that Twyla could not see Roberta's face anymore. Big hair could indicate she might have an afro, which was often worn by African Americans. In addition, the fact the girls seemed to be best friends in the orphanage must be brought up once more. They were friends and seemed quite similar in their personalities. They seemed to both have a shared weakness, which was bad school performance. They both had a shared struggle, which is the fact that they are in the orphanage due to their mothers not being able to take care of them rather than having dead parents. They seemed to be best friends and believed that maybe once they were no longer in the orphanage, this friendship would continue and blossom. The further along the reader reads, the more they will notice that this is not what happened. Even though they met many times after they got out of the orphanage, the friendship did not