After reading this short story, I am curious to know what happened to Maggie as well. I believe the gar girls pushed her down and everything, but the ending question Roberta said, "what really happened to Maggie.” I really enjoyed the story, Morrison portrays the incidents were racial conflict was going on in society. From Roberta’s mother not wanting to meet Twyla, when Twyla saw Roberta with the young guns, and when Roberta and Twyla were going through problems moving their kids to different schools. I also enjoyed the story because in St. Bonny’s the girls stuck together even after Roberta’s mother would not shake hands with Twyla and her mother. I liked how Morrison, “weren’t real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky, we were dumped.” It just shows how important St. Bonny’s was to the girls. I loved how the narrator described them not leaving each other’s side in the orphan home; it was a great visual to see their friend relationship. Out of both Roberta and Twyla I felt the worse for Twyla because she had to have wondered why was dancing more important to her mother than she was. I am sure when she got older or if the gar girls ever talked to her about her mother she realized what she was doing with her life. It was neat in the ending, how both of the girls questions to each other were about their mothers and nothing else really mattered to them. Their mothers is what connected them together through all the racial discrimination.
Rachel, I agree with you about how this story is a good depiction of the racail tension that was going on at the time. The thing that struck me the most was that none of the girls could really remember what color Maggie was. At first, Roberta says she was black but Twyla insists that she wasn't. I think it is really important to the story that these girls failed to really notice color. Also, they didn't really beat Maggie up, but they are just as guilty as the other girls because they secretly wanted to. Maggie represted their mothers whom they were mad at. I feel so sorry for Maggie and I also wonder what became of her.
I can honestly say that, along with “A Jury of Her Peers,” “Recitatif” was my most favorite work we have read thus far. Perhaps it is because I absolutely history, or because the beginning reminded me of a really great French movie, “The Chorus.” Nevertheless, from the first paragraph I was absolutely intrigued.
Like Forrest Gump, this story sped through several different decades. It really allowed there to be emphasis on the evolution of civil rights and acceptance. In the beginning, both girls were apprehensive of each other; however, they quickly became good friends. After they were free from St. Bonny’s, they girls’ relationship was one of several ups and downs. The confusion about Maggie seemed to simply reflect the confusion about the girls’ own races.
“And it shames me even now to think there was somebody in there after all who heard us call her those names and couldn’t tell on us.” This is one of the two lines in the story that absolutely broke my heart into pieces. I think this line defies this story as well as life in this era. How many movies and stories have I heard, and accounts that I’ve witnessed, when the underdog is mistreated and couldn’t speak out against the abused because they have been silenced by fear? We know Maggie is a mute, but are there not occasions when we might as well have been dumb?
Wow, this story creates so many different trains of thought for me. The Maggie situation, the situation at Howard Johnston, and the ending dialogue caused me to really think. Toni Morrison is a talented woman who wrote to make people think. Astounding.
After reading this short story, I am curious to know what happened to Maggie as well. I believe the gar girls pushed her down and everything, but the ending question Roberta said, "what really happened to Maggie.”
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the story, Morrison portrays the incidents were racial conflict was going on in society. From Roberta’s mother not wanting to meet Twyla, when Twyla saw Roberta with the young guns, and when Roberta and Twyla were going through problems moving their kids to different schools. I also enjoyed the story because in St. Bonny’s the girls stuck together even after Roberta’s mother would not shake hands with Twyla and her mother. I liked how Morrison, “weren’t real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky, we were dumped.” It just shows how important St. Bonny’s was to the girls. I loved how the narrator described them not leaving each other’s side in the orphan home; it was a great visual to see their friend relationship. Out of both Roberta and Twyla I felt the worse for Twyla because she had to have wondered why was dancing more important to her mother than she was. I am sure when she got older or if the gar girls ever talked to her about her mother she realized what she was doing with her life. It was neat in the ending, how both of the girls questions to each other were about their mothers and nothing else really mattered to them. Their mothers is what connected them together through all the racial discrimination.
Rachel, I agree with you about how this story is a good depiction of the racail tension that was going on at the time. The thing that struck me the most was that none of the girls could really remember what color Maggie was. At first, Roberta says she was black but Twyla insists that she wasn't. I think it is really important to the story that these girls failed to really notice color. Also, they didn't really beat Maggie up, but they are just as guilty as the other girls because they secretly wanted to. Maggie represted their mothers whom they were mad at. I feel so sorry for Maggie and I also wonder what became of her.
ReplyDeleteI can honestly say that, along with “A Jury of Her Peers,” “Recitatif” was my most favorite work we have read thus far. Perhaps it is because I absolutely history, or because the beginning reminded me of a really great French movie, “The Chorus.” Nevertheless, from the first paragraph I was absolutely intrigued.
ReplyDeleteLike Forrest Gump, this story sped through several different decades. It really allowed there to be emphasis on the evolution of civil rights and acceptance. In the beginning, both girls were apprehensive of each other; however, they quickly became good friends. After they were free from St. Bonny’s, they girls’ relationship was one of several ups and downs. The confusion about Maggie seemed to simply reflect the confusion about the girls’ own races.
“And it shames me even now to think there was somebody in there after all who heard us call her those names and couldn’t tell on us.” This is one of the two lines in the story that absolutely broke my heart into pieces. I think this line defies this story as well as life in this era. How many movies and stories have I heard, and accounts that I’ve witnessed, when the underdog is mistreated and couldn’t speak out against the abused because they have been silenced by fear? We know Maggie is a mute, but are there not occasions when we might as well have been dumb?
Wow, this story creates so many different trains of thought for me. The Maggie situation, the situation at Howard Johnston, and the ending dialogue caused me to really think. Toni Morrison is a talented woman who wrote to make people think. Astounding.