Questions for your assignment (choose one from the following questions and answer it with 250-300 words):
1. At the end of "Recitatif," how does Twyla's and Roberta's exploration of the "truth" of what they had seen at St. Bonny's many years earlier affect your sense of the "truth" of later episodes in the story? Is either Twyla or Roberta more reliable than the other?
2. For you, what's the message of this story?
3. Why does Morrison use Maggie--a crippled, mute, deaf old man--as the focus of Twyla's and Roberta's obsession in this story? Toward the end of the story, Twyla says: "Maggie was my dancing mother?" What are the possible implications of this remark?
31 comments:
Q1:
It really surprised me that the ending was really different than the other story. Because of the plot of the whole story confused me a lot. When Twyla and Roberta talking about their childhood trauma, I think they must add their personal affection to the past life of orphanage. At first, I have pity for Twyla and Roberta; however, I was surprised that the end of the story because it was totally different from the front part of the story. Twyla and Roberta said that they were bullied by the other orphans.
And I think the fork of the whole story begins from the paragraph 175. When they meet together in adulthood, they have different memories. “Black? Maggie wasn’t black.” “Like hell she wasn’t, and you kicked her. We both did. You kicked a black lady who couldn’t even scream.” “Lair!”
When you read this story seriously, you will confuse that why the story is so weird? It was not the classical story that I read before. Once the character’s description was lying, what the thing will you believe? Even in the end of the story, Twyla and Roberta are still not reliable persons. They both doubted their memories. In the paragraph 200, they reveal the truth: wanting to is doing it. The key words show that they have bullied the weaker in the past. Why can mankind do the same violence to the others just because he is piece of you? Thus, the author describes the most vital issue on the characteristic. Moreover, this issue is just beginning.
For me, the story reflects the reality. In that time, maybe now somewhere still, the black are regarded as a lower state than the white. Toni Morrison uses a lot of sarcastic comparisons to challenge the society in that time. Like Twyla’s mother, the white women, is supposed to be the greater mother than Roberta’s mother, who is black women. But things go differently. Twyla’s mother does not take good care of Twyla. She even sends Twyla to the orphanage because she is having a party or some other entertainments which cause her can not take care of Twyla. And Roberta’s mother is a good mother. She makes dishes and teaches Roberta well. It is so ironic.
And in their several meeting, it shows that Roberta’s life is even better than Twyla’s
The message of this story is about racial discrimination and the social state. It challenges the racial prejudice and tells the truth that white people are not supposed to be living better than the black people. But the white people are often proud of their race and discriminate the black people. They may not show it but they do it privately. The social state is not just in the society even in the orphanage, the place full of children and teenagers. They know how to bully others. I think it is a kind of human’s instinct. Human will bully the people in the lower state. I think the most important reason is that they are afraid of being someone like them. Not even mention the society, the state is clearer.
In society, people are divided into different layers. On the top, a few people have the highest position and power. At the bottom of the people are always exploited and treated unrespect. People will bully the weak who didn’t have money, power, a whole family or a healthy body. Why do they do that? Because doing these can represent that he or she is not weak, they are the winner. People in the middle layer may be humiliated by the high layer but they will bully the lower layer. In my opinion, if you know that being exploited is a painful event for you, you can’t do the same thing for others. I think that se have experience the hurt so that we should be more considerate. The lowest layer always be exploited twice or more than times. It has been fainty in society. I guess that if people don’t show position or power, they may be looked down upon by the lower people. So, they will lose their opportunity of existence. In brief, everyone’s target is to exist in the society more safe powerfully and liberally.
No one wants to be the weak. No matter in any situation, people have the right to be treated respectively and exist in the society. You should make effort to get the higher position instead of oppressing the lower. Now, although the bad situation has improved, it always happens continuously. I hope that everyone can stand in someone’s shoes to realize different straits not just regard as a joke and ignore it.
2. I think there are two messages in this story. The main topic in “Recitatif” is racial problem. Although Toni Morrison did not point out clearly which race the two characters－Twyla and Roberta belonging to, we could still judge from some clues in the story. For example, Twyla said “we looked like salt and pepper.” It’s obvious that these two girls were from different races and different cultures. There were a lot of conflicts between black and white in Recitatif. As an African-American female writer, Toni Morrison created a context of tension between different races. In the past, race always corresponded to the social status. However, in this story, Toni Morrison overturned our concept. In this story, black girl leads a superior life to white girl’s.
And another message this story sent is human desire. I strongly believe that there must be a kind of original human nature deepest in our mind which drives us to bully someone weaker than us. I think that’s why Toni Morrison created the role－Maggie, a mysterious one in the story. When those big girls bullied Maggie in the same way they did to Twyla and Roberta, they just stood aside and looked. In the end of the story, Twyla said “I didn’t kick her but I sure did want to” and Roberta said “Thinking is doing.” By imagining bullying someone weaker than them, Twyla and Roberta could feel a little sense of superiority. They felt released because they knew they were not the most inferior. No matter Maggie is black or white, we knew she is the weakest. The most important is that she represents the deepest human desire in everyone’s mind.
In the story, I see the segregation and I think sometimes human are really cruel. People bully someone who is small and weak. In the U.S.A., it’s sometimes that we see racial discrimination. However, the story is very different, Twyla’s mother, is bullied even by a big black woman, which shows that that big bully the small. And Twyla’s mother doesn’t understand that she has been looked down. And she is even a white skin woman. How satiric it is! Because we are easily afraid of being different from others, sometimes we would join others to bully poor people. Nobody wants to be alone. We would join a group to make ourselves stronger and be safe. Human is sometimes selfish. Nowadays, more and more people find out that the society is getting sicker and sicker. Some people with very kind heart would like to be a social worker to help those in need. Even so, there is not enough. People in “the third world” still lead a miserable life. They need the same and equal chance to be treated well. They are exploited, and though they have tried hard to resist, they could not success because they have no “power”. In this greedy and selfish society, people would be more away from each other. What I hope is the kind heart, if all of us have, we can lead a more beautiful life, and the world would be better.
Q2:
People all have some stereotypes about the state in the society. Twyla is a white girl. However, her mother just dance all the day and don’t want to take care of her. Actually, they are poor. Roberta is a black girl, but her mother will do the housework. It is different from the stereotypes. We always think black people have the lower state. In this story, class and race are conflict. There also have many encounters in the story. Roberta even has a better life than Twyla. In the world of St. Bonny’s, the person who is in the lowest social state is Maggie. People always want to tease someone who is weaker than them. Twyla and Roberta do this. Fascinatingly, they also cannot find the same opinion on the racial identity of Maggie, because Twyla brings to mind a fact that she was confused hearing that Maggie was black. Even when she thought about it she actually couldn't be sure. Together with that, Twyla does not reject that she wanted to hit the lady with the crippled legs she says that they just watched and they never called for help. The uncertainty about their racial identity stays open. The issues about race and class are always controversial. This story challenges the prejudice in our society. The reality maybe is just like the story, not everybody’s situation will be the same. We should think it in a different way. I think we are happiness and we even live in a better life than many people. However, we hate our life, while somebody are dreaming of it. How could we don’t want to help them and even want to tease them?
In Recitatif, I think it revealed that the human nature and the psychology transition of Roberta and the narrator.
In that age, people’s thoughts are seal and have racial discrimination such as the white people. Social Darwinism is the best example to illustrate their arrogant. They thought that they were the leader of the world and look down upon the Black and others who were different from them. Narrow scope, in Twyla and Roberta’s childhood, they saw put-out girls bullied the weaker person, Maggie, with their own eyes, but they watched with folded arms. To my surprise, when they grew up, they all confessed that they agree this deed and they were delighted about that. Why didn’t they take pity on her and help her? On the contrary, they echoed and they seemed more crucial. I think it is because Maggie was weaker than them and to bully Maggie could let them look more stronger, expressed that they were the powerhouses. In recent years, people start to be concerned with the bully in campus and in my opinion, the bully and the bullied are all very pitiful. Someone who bullied others because their family probably without warm or they have some flaws which people cannot see. By bullying the weaker people maybe can fill their void, demonstrate their importance and not to be bullied by others. For the bullied, they are pitiful because they seldom fight for their rights and being brave. No matter who you are, I think we should guard our own rights.
Maggie is a crippled, mute, deaf person. In the society, this kind of people are weak and without power. They used to be ignored or to be domineered humiliatingly. Twyla and Roberta are not strong in the society, either. Because of their race or family situation, most of the people will think that they are weird children. And people won’t have the willing to get along with them. Even worse, the ones with more strength will bully them. Twyla and Roberta might think that seeing Maggie is like seeing themselves in the mirror. Their poor situation is just as similar as Maggie’s. But they are still luckier than Maggie. So, they may have a sense of proudness that they are finally in a higher level than someone.
Twyla says: "Maggie was my dancing mother?”. I think that Twyla thinks that Maggie and her mother are kind of dumb. They are teased and tricked by others, but not very notice it. And have no strength to deal with it or fight for it, either. Twyla knows what the whole thing is about. But she just puts it in mind and keeps silent. She doesn’t want to cope with something, neither to admit it.
This story is to writing about racial issue, but it seems to dissolve it away. That is, there is no racial issue, implying that racial discrimination is unnecessary, or even foolish.
When Twyla and Roberta first met, they were both children without care of their mothers. In other words, they were both “dumped.” Due to their similar circumstances, they become allies against the "big girls” on the second floor, as well as against the "real orphans" whose parents have died. Besides, they share a similar fascination with Maggie, a deaf-mute kitchen woman with legs like parentheses. Though Twyla and Roberta are different colors, one is white and the other is black, the race difference never becomes a problem between them.
Race in the beginning is not the problem; the problem is mainly about strength or weakness of power (or fist). Not merely the “big girls” would bully others, but also the "real orphans" would threaten Twyla and Roberta who do have mothers, though useless and helpless. Similarly, Twyla and Roberta confess to each other that though they never touched Maggie, but they did have a thought to kick her; and this "thinking is doing,” said Roberta.
So it seems Morrison wants to emphasize on the primitive human desire, i.e. the desire to bully the weaker, and therefore adding the character Maggie as a contrast. Maggie is a white deaf-mute girl who is bullied like Roberta and Twyla by the big white girls. The oppressed experiences of Roberta and Twyla do not eliminate their thoughts to avoid having thought to oppress others, e.g. Maggie. So racial discrimination is not really concerning races. It is a problem of power, and human beings tend to bully the weak and fear the strong. To me this seems to be the message of this story.
I think why Twyla and Roberta kept mention this Maggie because she is something that exist in their past that they cannot deny. It’s a traumatic memory, and both of them are forced to go back again and again. Somehow, deep in their heart, they knew that they didn’t bully Maggie; but they have figured out that not helping her is a way of bullying her. This idea tortures them for years and years, and every time they met each other accidentally, they think about Maggie. She has become some kind of nightmare, and they can do nothing about it. This also has something to do with the racial discrimination in the 1960’s at the time, they are trying to fight for equality.
Twyla says that: Maggie was my dancing mother. I think she projected the social weakness of Mary (Twyla’s mother who dances all night, doesn’t take care of her) and herself onto Maggie, which is an idea of being bullied and at the same time, bullying people. That explains why every time Roberta and Twyla met each other, they saw Maggie. Twyla saw a sense of weakness in her, and she think that it is the same feeling when she is looking at Maggie; she is afraid of that. The reason why she is bullying Maggie is because she saw herself in Maggie that is the part she wants to deny. Being a social weakness isn’t what she wants, but no matter she wants to hind or avoid, that is pieces of her.
In my opinion, I think this story wants to express us that to remove the race’s boundary. In other words, in fact, black people and white people can get along peacefully with each other.
First, when Twyla meets Roberta first, she feels Roberta is dirty and smells funny. This reflects the race’s boundary that is still clear. But little by little, these two girls, Twyla and Roberta begin to become friends, not any other reason; they are discriminated against by the other orphans, just because they are dumped by their mother. So they build a relationship. In this time, they see Maggie, a woman can’t speak and legs have some problems. When Maggie falls down, Twyla and Roberta know they should to help her, but they do not do it, because they are afraid of t big girls, and then just follow big girls to shame on Maggie. This part represents process of making good relationships between black and white must has some conflicts. You still can see black are bullied by white, you cannot just follow surge, and do not be an observer.
Second, when they meet in a parade, in this time, in order to protect their children’s right, they go into the street to protest or to support. But their opinions begin to be different again. And at the end of this part, Twyla and Roberta fight over Maggie’s things, and then leave with an unhappy ending.
This represents again that process of making peaceful life must has many difficulties and contradictions.
Third, Twyla and Roberta run into each other on Christmas Eve, Roberta says that she ever sure Maggie is black, but now she can’t be sure. This expresses race’s boundary has been broken, of course, just what Toni Morrison wishes.
There’s individual superficial view of mine.
Comments by Amy Sun
For me, the story gives me a clear, illuminated message of the act of bullying. We see it everyday, the minority being oppressed by the majority. Only it’s not only just happening in the present, it has been going on almost forever. It seems almost human nature for us to bully the people that we think we are better than. I was reminded of a song called “Hero” sang by the Super Chic. A section of the lyrics is such “No one sits with him, he doesn’t fit in, but we feel like we do and we make fun of him…’Cause you want to belong, do you go along? For his pain is the price paid for you to belong…” It’s not hard to comprehend what the lyrics mean-we bully people because we are afraid to become like them, so in order for us to fit in we did what we think we had to do-bullying and making fun of them, physically and mentally. But is this right? Of course not. How many people committed bullycide－suicide by bully? Too many. But what are we doing to stop this? Hm... good question, NOTHING! It makes me sick to the stomach when thinking that this is all still happening. Is there no place safe? So here is the other message I received from this story: telling me to take action to stop and prevent things like this from happening. It is high time that we should do something for others and simultaneous helping ourselves and our future children.
I choose question 2.
This story gives me one important message: We are afraid to face the dark side inside our heart.
I am going to talk my experience in my early year. When I was in elementary school, there had one classmate. He didn’t know how to cope with the relationship with other, and didn’t know how to handle the clean habits. Every time you see him you may see his untidy appearance. These caused many classmates start to stay away from him (almost everyone). Do not talk to him. Pushed him aside like the outsider then even rumored something bad about him. Why everyone did this for him? Of course, there was someone would jump out to help defend him. But latter he / she would be pushed outside as the same unpopular person with him. The crowd power is so terrible! We want to help that kid but we afraid to be edge out then stay silence. But it can’t solve the situation about him instead it may cause the problem get worse.
The image about him appears in our mind. We don’t want to be him, we afraid to be him, we fear to face our weakness side in our heart.
That is why in the end of story Twyla says: Maggie was my dancing mother? That is why bully accidents in everywhere never get solved. Maybe this is the problem hard to be solved. Maybe this is the humanity.
I would like to answer question NO.2. In my opinion, Recitatif is a story of doubles, one black and one white, but the reader can’t say for sure which is which. As doubles, Twyla and Roberta share an uncomfortable past. Roberta challenges Twyla to remember parts of her past Twyla prefers to forget. Reality and repressed desire get mixed up. The issue of race and racism is central to the story. Throughout the story Twyla and Roberta’s friendship is inhibited by this sense of an uncrossable racial divide, played out against the background of national racial tensions such as the busing crisis. Morrison's Recitatif reminds us that race is important, providing many examples of the differences between Roberta and Twyla. The challenging feature of this story is that we never learn conclusively which character is white and which is black. You will make assumptions and like many you will assume that you have it figured out, but in the end a conclusive ending is not possible.
My answer to question 2
In the story, the two girls are in the same place in their childhood, but their fate is different totally. In our logical thinking, we will infer that the white girl, Twyla, has the better life than the black one. However, the black girl, Roberta, lives a better life. Their memory for their childhood is clashing, and they dispute over it. I think the writer wants to express some messages in this story.
First, we can see Roberta’s mother looking down on Twyla’s mother. I think it means that no matter what color (class) you are, if you cannot be a good mother (have a sense of responsibility), you will be looked down by everyone. Second, the black girl has a better life. It breaks our prejudice against the color of people. It shows we can’t classify people by their color. Their accomplishment is more meaningful. Third, memory is scary if we can’t remember it clearly. In the story, Twyla has difficulties to remember the truth about Maggie. She doubts whether she had kicked Maggie when she fell down. The power of memory is so strong that Twyla changes the way she views herself. She can’t believe she did do it and she is perplexed by the annoying memory. It’s very important for us to know ourselves by our memory. If the memory we used to know is wrong, the cognition about ourselves will be chaos. Especially the memory we remember is differ from others, we can’t help but doubting what’s the truth.
In my opinion, I found that there is something unpredictable after I read the story. First, when Twyla and Roberta were taken to the orphanage, Twyla shows her peaceful. “My mother danced all night” gave readers the answer. It represents there are some differences between Twyla, Roberta and their mother. Then, the story tells that three levels in the orphanage. Big bozo makes rules, real orphans bully Maggie and the only thing dumped kids could do is keeping quiet. However, when they grew up, Twyla and Roberta found they did wrong things. This part shows the bad side of human being. Maggie is a crippled, mute and deaf woman. According to her weakness, she could not fight against the people bully her. Finally, it’s about race. Although the story did not show protagonists’ color of skin directly, there is a divide to different race. I consider that Twyla is a white girl because of her attitude to other girls. However, she did not have better destiny. Therefore, the author wants to tell readers that no matter who you are, you’ll be successful if you keep trying hard.
Answer for question 3:
Throughout the story, the crippled, mute, deaf old woman – Maggie, has been the focus of Twyla’s and Roberta’s obsession in the story. It is because as the story progresses it becomes clearer and clearer that this event was very significant to both Twyla and Roberta and to their relationship with one another. Twyla's memories of the incident are challenged. Twyla is threatened by the obligatory integration, Roberta does not help her. In actual fact, Roberta makes a supplementary remark that Twyla had kicked an old black lady and she shouldn’t dare to call her now.
Twyla and Roberta's friendship is inhibited by this sense of an uncrossable racial divide, played out against the background of national racial tensions such as the busing crisis. The scenery about Maggie is used to create in our mind how skin color can change depending on the previous experiences and mindset of a reader. They cannot find the same opinion on the racial identity of Maggie, because Twyla brings to mind a fact that she was confused hearing that Maggie was black. Even when she thought about it she actually couldn't be sure. Together with that, Twyla does not reject that she wanted to hit Maggie she says that they just watched and none tried to help her and they never called for help. Toward the end of the story, Twyla says “Maggie was my dancing mother.” There are possible implications which let us know that Twyla saw her mother through Maggie, deaf and dumb inside her mother. She is weak, and she afraid she would be Maggie, or even her mother. She does not want to be bullied.
Lily
3. In the story, Maggie is a crippled, mute and deaf old woman. According to her weakness, she suffered lots of bullying which she did not deserve it. However, everything of Maggie is different from moral. To me, I consider that Maggie is the weakest part of human being. Due to the story, Twyla and Roberta saw that Maggie was bullied by the real orphans; however, they did nothing. They could help Maggie to get away from them, but they saw what happened and did not give their hands. Besides, they are suspicious that they want to join the real orphans, too. In my opinion, the author used the vulnerable and weakest Maggie to show the part of human nature. Moreover, everyone wants to escape the weakest part, so Twyla and Roberta thought about bullying Maggie in their heart. The end of story, Twyla and Roberta admitted they hurt Maggie, too. Twyla said, “Maggie was my danced mother.” It represents she found her mother is the darkest part which she did not want to remember in her heart. Because of their shadow of their mother, they could not face the bullying of Maggie.
Looking at Maggie’s weakness is just like looking at theirs for the girls, so it has been Twyla and Roberta’s obsession. Maggie is a crippled, mute and deaf old woman. And I think, the disadvantage of Maggie represent something for the weakness of the girls. “Crippled” implies that the girls cannot defend their selves from the “gargoyle”. “Mute” implies that they cannot speak out for themselves but being put in the orphanage. And they do not want to communicate, even with each other. “Deaf” implies that the girls cannot get any positive lesson of life from the world. The first door to learning has been closed by their moms because of their disability to take care of the girls, just like what Twyla says that her mother teach her nothing. And Twyla has seen her own mother in Maggie. I think it is because she thinks her mom is dumb and disadvantaged. So, it is suffered for Twyla to saw Maggie, it would make her think of her mom. Sometimes we hurt those who seem inferior to us. It is because we are afraid of being like that. Actually, we avoid of the pieces of us that we do not want to face with. So, we try to get rid of it.
Not only white people themselves but also people who are not the white usually consider black people the inferior group. When it comes to the refugee or the low-level people, the racial identity of them we first associated with was the black people. That is because of bias and racial discrimination we have on black people. However, the story overturns the thought of most of us that white people live superior life than black people. The author doesn’t directly tell us the racial identity of the two girls, Twyla and Roberta. From the little details in the story, we can find out that their racial identities are not what we think of as. Compared to the black girl, Roberta, Twyla, the white girl leads a worse live. Her mother doesn’t take care of her, which is the reason why she is sent to the orphanage. The food from the orphanage is good for Twyla but bad for Roberta. That means Roberta’s mother does take care of her. It shows that not every white people’s family lives better life. At the beginning, both Twyla and Roberta are not happy to be put together. Racial difference must be the key point. And, just like the society we live today, children in the orphanage are also divided into different classes which are based on having power or not. On the top of the power pyramid is Big Bozo. Then the real orphanages, the dumped kids follow by. And Maggie, having least power is on the bottom of it. Children bully the weak like Maggie because it makes them feel superior. Twyla and Roberta are not exception. This is exactly the human nature. However, aren’t people just afraid to be like them? Just like the lyrics of the song, pieces of you mentions.
I want to answer question 2
We can found that in the story is mention the racial issue. Racial issue is exist in our society. In the story, we may found that Twyla is a white girl but her mother but her mother dance every day and don’t take care of her mother. On the contrary, Roberta is a black girl but her mother will take care of her and does the house work. I think that in the story, we can have different side to think. Because we always consider the black people as the lower status. But in the story, it may give us the different side to think. The higher status means that will take care of their children well? It all because that we have racial stereotype.
The story give the message to us is that we should get rid of the racial stereotype. White people usually use their standard to judge black people. But it is unfair. We can’t use the same standard to judge everything. What we need to do is that break the stereotype of color.
Answer to question NO.2:
In the story, there are two characters different from race. But Author doesn’t tell us their skin tone clearly. I think she is managed to challenge our stereotype about race consciousness.
The issue of racism is central to the story. Nowadays racial prejudices persist throughout American life, including healthcare, educational services, employment opportunities, wage levels, the criminal justice system, and media employment. People judge other by their skin tone, race and economic status. Another important issue in the story is about a humanity concerning we always bullying those who are weaker than ourselves. Regardless of which girl was black, this could have led them both to have the yearning to hurt Maggie. This leads to my primary point. No matter black or white people both have tendency to mistreat people in poverty and irresistibility. There are some reasons about this phenomenon, first, people can get a sense of superiority from bullying others. Second, people have no choice but to join this group of bullying, because they won’t to be considered the weak and fear to become the next target of bullying.
This story tells me that no one is absolutely rich or poor. No one is superior or inferior. We should have open mind and get rid of our all stereotypes.
2.
Twyla and Roberta are role playing a society which is minimized, it is so realistic to us reader to feel, there are always week and superiority in every kind of group. The loudest sound is always the only sound can be survived on stage, others if it were not positive to the loudest sound, it would be against. Once if the against sounds appeared, if they were not to set challenge to the superiority, they are not afraid of being blamed or being repressed.
In the story, big girls are like the gangsters that can do all kinds of evil as they like, without anyone who dare to complain. Big girls are like second government in the small society just under the principal of the school, what they said and done has to be followed or you will be out of the circle of security line.
Things just lamentably worked this way, people followed them to ensure their safety, and they rather do the opposite way their heart told him to do than speak out loud in their mind, as long as they unite together in trust and tightly, it’s never hard to overthrow the “big girls”.
Twyla and Roberta are playing a quiet role which is also being suppressed and being a joke of everyone, it is common to see people that are in different situation with others, we are educated to inclusive them, but humanity mostly don’t. So they assemble a small group, which are like recipients of charities in nations. They have to help themselves.
Maggie is the most crucial person to discuss, she is the laughing stock and the most bullied of all, no one’s on her side, even the group which is also being overwhelmed, they can do nothing to help, they are so shameful to me, they want to also do what everyone do—to bullied Maggie.
I would like to be the one to challenge the authority, in calm way though, but I won’t sightless do what majority do just to cater them.
2. I think the white uncertainly live better than the black. Like Twyla, although she is white people, but her mother didn’t take well care of her. So when she went to St. Bonny’s, she thinks food isn’t bad. On the contrary, Roberta’ mother treated her very good. So she thinks the food in St. Bonny’s is terrible. That are very close to our reality, not all parents are good parents no matter which racial you are. In addition, Twyla’s mother behavior inappropriate but she is the white. It reveals not only the black will behavior misplaced. And your racial won’t decide whether you are rich or poor. In the story , Roberta is rich but she is the black. And the author also write about the protest. All that the author wants to tell people the black are support to have the same right as the white. But there is a lot of segregation between races in the word in past years, the story just tells some sociality’s situation. And she hoped it can make more people care the situation which the black faced. On the other hand, the plot talks about Maggie was bullied by gar girls in the orchard. It also shows the sociality’s problem. Almost everyone has heard or seen the problem. Some people like to make fun of others especially minority. Besides, Roberta said she wanted to bully Maggie, too. That is because she may be bully ,she wanted to treat someone who may face the same situation as the bad people treat her. The author wanted to say the social problem will have an influence on people who are treated unfairly.
To answer the second question. The first, in this society, many people always bully others to make themselves superior. This is why campus bully can not stop. There is a research report said : “If someone was bullied, the one will more easily be a bully.” Why? They might think: “If I bully other people, I won’t be bullied anymore.” Bully is not a strange behavior to them, in contrast, bully is one kinds of means that they can change their status in their surroundings.
Second, why does those orphans who don’t have parent are superior than those who have parents? In my opinion, they are more people than those two and they are envy they have parents. They are two different group and they are all kids. It is hard to let them know what is tolerate. They only know: “They are different to us, and they have mother…” These different between them make the bully.
Third, the black woman finally was more successful than white. This contain the racial discrimination. Until nowadays, here still have the racial discrimination problem in this society. White people always do the better job and earn more money, and yellow and black people do the labor job, and these job earn less money. However, It’s have a great progress in this site. The problem in our concept couldn’t change in only one night. With the time pass, we can change a lot of our concept in next generation. And this is my opinion.
2.To me, the story is not only about the relationship between the girls from different races, but also about the changing from children to adults. The two girls from different races unexpectedly become friends because they are not the real orphans. I think that the children don’t care the race issue as much as adults do; even though, in the story, Twyla’s mother has told her about the stereotype of black people, she still makes friend with Roberta. Then, the situation between them changes after they leave St. Bonny’s. At first, they are two little girls; however, when they are adults, there are differences among them, for example, the living style, the way of thinking, and even the race issue, which they didn’t care so much in old days, etc. In the following four times when they meet each other, the conflict, which is caused by the differences grows bigger and bigger. I think Toni Morrison tells us that during we get older, we are being socialized and the innocence becomes less and less. In addition, there are the few same sentences appear through the story, I think it is because that Twyla can’t just let the old days fade away, like Roberta says that maybe she is different but Twyla isn’t. I think many people have difficulty in getting rid of the bad memories during growing up. However, it depends on how you adjust your feeling, and Twyla is just failed. The above is what I think after finish reading the story.
Toni Morrison is famous for her fine manifestation of racial issues in her work as an African-American female writer. In this story, there are four classes in the orphanage. Big bozo, the supervisor of the orphanage, is the most powerful. And the real orphans, whose parents are dead, are superior to the narrator, Twyla. Twyla and her friend, Roberta, are ignored by the real orphans. Last, Maggie who is crippled, mute, deaf and old woman works in the kitchen. She becomes a target to the other children. It reveals the black side of human beings. Just like our real society also has many racialism and classes. Are we used to bully the weaker surrounded us? Does the weaker make us feel superior? Maybe it is part of cruel fact. I think Maggie is representation of traumatic memory in Twyla and Roberta’s childhood. When they have grown up, the memory was still obsessed with them. They may feel guilty and shameful what they have ever done to Maggie. And the guilt hides in their heart deeply and usually makes them uncomfortable. Toward the end of the story, Twyla says Maggie was her dancing mother. I think the implication of this remark is that Maggie was pieces of her. Twyla see the some characteristic like herself on Maggie. Maggie’s weak and meekly accept humiliations make her think of herself and her mother. She is afraid of seeing herself weak, so she also bullies Maggie in order to differ from her.
The crippled, mute, deaf old man might be a symbol of the lowest level of the whole society. In my opinion, she is also the dark, dirty and evil area in these two girls’ mind. Losing warmth from family, Twyla and Roberta must have some complains to their life. However, under the stress from big girls, they can’t do everything they want. Therefore, when the scene of bullying this old man was presenting in front of these two girls, they were scared, however, I think they were little excited, too. To revenge for this unfair society, bullying others who were in weak side is a good way to reach the goal. So, that is the reason why these girls’ memories were collide. One might doesn’t want to remember this real happened bullying, another might doesn’t want to hide the real truth. From the content of this story, we can understand how different situation and status now between these two girls. Rich and Poor, bright and dark. Maybe, I guess, to the rich woman, the bully event happened in the past time is just a piece of cake to her now. She is so rich and look down upon those poor guys now. However, to another poor girl, she can’t accept that she ever looked down that old man – the poor old man- whose situation like hers now.
To another question, I think the “dancing mother” is a symbol of crazy men and poor guys. Twyla’s mother danced because of money. It can’t decided by herself. Just like little an ant in the huge environment, if you don’t work hard, then you would die.
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