The Civil Right Movement reigned between 1955 and 1968 its purpose was to stop racial discrimination against African Americans. This movement caused there to be changes within the American society mentally. Civil rights activist W.E.B Du Bois, shares the idea that a “veil” exists within America’s society and due to it African Americans are suffering from double –consciousness. Toni Morrison’s narrative reflects Du Bois ideas greatly. Du Bois depict his ideas of the veil and double consciousness theoretically throughout “The Forethought and Chapter 1: Of Our Spiritual Strivings” where as Morrison depict hers creatively throughout “Recitatif.” Throughout the course of history there has always been a division between blacks and whites in the …show more content…
Du Bois expresses the idea that blacks have been living in a country that has devalued them and therefore it has been difficult for them to unify their culture with the American culture. Du Bois states “This is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity” (5). Therefore, people are always looking at themselves through the eyes of other individuals. People should strive to be themselves and not perceive themselves as what others seem them as. Twyla in Morrison’s text proves the suffering of double consciousness to be true when Roberta happens to show up at Twyla’s job at Howard Johnson: Howard Johnson was really a dump in the sunlight. She was seen by Roberta working in a diner, while Roberta was off to see Jimi Hendrix. Twyla is suffering from a damaged self- image that was shaped by the perceptions of Roberta since that she was white and doing others things with her life than working in a diner that was a dump according to Twyla. Twyla feels that Roberta is looking down upon her just as Roberta’s mother did to her mother Mary. The class separation between the two shows Roberta as being wealthier and Twyla being the lower middle