Compare And Contrast Roberta And Twyla

Roberta and Twyla, two young girls from the story Recitatif, written by Toni Morrison, meet for the first time at a state home for orphan and foster children. Early in the story, the narrator, Twyla, tells the reader that Roberta is a different race than she, “it was something else to be stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race.” (201) Twyla’s description of Roberta leads the reader to form a conclusion that one of the girls is black and the other one is white. As the development of each character proceeds, many of the traits the girls have could be either white or black. The real contrast between Twyla and Roberta is their behavior and personalities. The reader will initially probably classify the girls’ race from Twyla’s

Roberta was excited for her mother to meet Twyla, her roommate and Mary, however, Roberta’s mother refused to shake Mary’s hand and looked down her nose at Twyla as she grabbed Roberta by the hand and went to the back of the line. At this point in the story, the racial snub here is a contrasting hint as to which race Twyla and Roberta might be. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, there were still a lot of white people that would usually not socialize with black people or treat black people differently. The reader may change their mind about Roberta’s and Twyla’s

Roberta snubbed Twyla, as her mother did years before, and barely acknowledged her. When Twyla hung around to talk, Roberta was rude to her and called her names. Years later, another chance meeting happened at an upscale grocery store, and they met again. Roberta was much nicer this time and wanted to go for a coffee. Roberta acted as if the past meeting never occurred. She was extra friendly to Twyla and they laughed and giggled. Twyla felt reunited with her old friend, as if in just a pulse beat, twenty years disappeared and all of the memories came rushing back. For a moment, they acted like best friends. At this point in the story, Roberta has two servants and is transported by a limousine. Twyla is driving a station wagon and can’t actually afford the upscale grocery store where she had a chance meeting with Roberta. For a brief moment, Twyla is reminiscing in the visit, but Roberta ends it by telling her that she doesn’t remember all the facts that happened to a mute cook at the state home. Add in the snub she got from Roberta at the Howard Johnson’s and it sours the moment. Yet another place in the story where the reader may change their mind as to who is black and who is white because of the time period and what was going on with Twyla and