Reading Notes W16: Morrison, Part A

Toni Morrison, “Recitatif” (1172-1187)

Toni Morrison:

·         Born 1931

·         Nobel laureate Toni Morrison

·         “Morrison combined depictions of African American experience with a strong sense of the past’s hold on the present” (1172).

·         She invokes magic or supernatural occurrences in order to convey sensitivity to the power of history.

·         She also addresses the role of racial and gender discrimination

·         She was born as Chloe Ardelia Wofford in Lorain, Ohio

·         “Throughout her works, characters find themselves caught in patterns of violence and prejudice that threaten to destroy them, but a few manage to transcend this history and achieve a measure of freedom and self-worth” (1173).

The Story:

·         Her only published short story

·         It examines a friendship between two girls of different races

·         “In the course of the short story, Morrison effectively presents Twyla’s childlike perspective on events at St. Bonny’s and the maturation of her point of view as she grows up, has children, and looks back on half-forgotten events” (1173).

·         The two girls have much in common but are divided by race.

·         If not specified, readers assume the characters are white. The author tries to challenge this.

·         “Envisions the possibility of transcending racial divisions and embracing a common humanity” (1173).

Some quotes:

·         “It was one thing to be taken out of your own bed early in the morning-it was something else to be stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race” (1174). It is just the beginning and we already see a racial divide.

·         “Things are not right. The wrong food is always with the wrong people. Maybe that’s why I got into waitress work later-to match up the right people with the right food” (1177). What is the right food/wrong food? What is considered the wrong people/right people?

·         “Joseph was on the list of kids to be transferred from the junior high school to another one at some far-out-of-the-way place and I thought it was a good thing until I heard it was a bad thing” (1183). Many students were transferred to schools far away from their neighborhood to desegregate racially segregated public schools. This was called busing.