When Twyla and Roberta first meet at the shelter, it is very clear that both girls have been raised in an environment that encourages racial prejudice. Twyla recalls that her mother once told that people of Roberta's race smelled badly, and she initially is hesitant to spend any time with her. However, it soon becomes obvious that the girls have much in common. They both still have their mothers, though they are, for separate reasons, incapable of raising the girls unassisted. The two grow so close that they think it a good idea for their mothers to meet. However, when both come to visit, things do not go as expected. Twyla's mother reaches out her hand in greeting, but Roberta's mother completely rejects the gesture, grabbing her daughter and hurrying away. This prompts Twyla's mother to call her a "bitch" uncomfortably close to the chapel. At the end of the story, years later, it is revealed that their mothers never let go of their racial prejudices, though the two daughters remain amicable.
In Toni Morrison's "Recitatif," Twyla, who is also the narrator, and her friend Roberta are both "orphans" in a home called St. Bonny's. Twyla's mother, Mary, has a big personality and the reason Twyla is in the home is that her mother likes to go dancing and apparently neglected her maternal responsibilities. Roberta's mother is sick. Both girls are excited when they learn that their mothers are going to visit on the same day. According to Twyla,
We had been at the shelter twenty-eight days (Roberta twenty-eight and a half) and this was their first visit with us. Our mothers would come at ten o'clock in time for chapel, then lunch with us in the teachers' lounge. I thought if my dancing mother met her sick mother it might be good for her. And Roberta thought her sick mother would get a big bang out of a dancing one. We got excited about it and curled each other's hair.
Both Twyla and Roberta think that their mothers will benefit from meeting each other, that they can have a positive impact on one another. However, when the mothers arrive, things do not go as the girls had hoped.
When Twyla's mom greets her, she is slightly embarrassed but ultimately is happy to see her mother, so much so that she temporarily forgets about Roberta. Eventually, Roberta comes over to introduce her mother to Twyla and Mary. Twyla, as the narrator, describes the scene as follows:
Mary, simple-minded as ever, grinned and tried to yank her hand out of the pocket with the raggedy lining-to shake hands, I guess. Roberta's mother looked down at me and then looked down at Mary too. She didn't say anything, just grabbed Roberta with her Bible-free hand and stepped out of line, walking quickly to the rear of it. Mary was still grinning because she's not too swift when it comes to what's really going on. Then this light bulb goes off in her head and she says "That bitch!" really loud and us almost in the chapel now.
Roberta's mother refuses to shake Mary's hand and moves Roberta away from Twyla and Mary to the back of the line. Mary reacts (albeit belatedly) by calling Roberta's mother a "bitch" once she understands that she has been rejected. At the end of the story, when the women are reunited years later, they both reveal that their mothers are the same as they were back then. Mary is still dancing and Roberta's mother never got well. We can only imagine that if they were to meet again, they might react in the same way they did in the past.
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