Othering Within Communities and Its Effects. A sense of belonging is a crucial aspect of one's wellbeing and creating a strong support system within a community allows people to feel they are a part of something larger than themselves. When a community intentionally excludes members of a community and makes them feel as though they are second class members of their community, we call this othering. In Toni Morrison’s Recitatif, published in 1983, and American History by Judith Ortiz-Cofer, published in 1993, we see the theme of othering in the communities of the main characters, Elena, Twyla and Roberta. Twyla and Roberta are two girls living in an orphanage, despite their mothers being alive but unable to care for them. Throughout their childhood, the girls were excluded and teased by the other girls living there for being “different” than them. Although the othering they experienced allowed Roberta and Twyla to become close to one another, it also gives rise to their own unconscious biases against Maggie, a mute, disabled woman who …show more content…
Throughout the short story, Elena sits in her window and stares down at a house that a family, with a son named Eugene, moves into. Elena quickly develops a crush on Eugene, and they become friends and plan to study together, however, their motherhood fosters a continuation of the separation between the people who live in the houses in Elena’s community and the residents of El Building. In Toni Morrison’s Recitatif, and Judith Ortiz-Cofer's American History, the theme of “othering” and its unhealthy effects on self-image, unconscious prejudices, and one’s overall view of the world can be seen through racial conflicts within the characters, communities, and