This short story is about two girls who met and despite the differences, they become good friends. They find comfort in each other and the things they have in common is stronger then what separates them.
We know one of them is black and one of them is white because they “looked like salt and pepper” (p. 204). But they narrator(Twyla) never let’s us know who’s white and who’s black. Maybe that is something the author wanted. But the author gives mixed signals. Like when Roberta came to the cafeteria where Twyla worked and she was talking about Jimi Hendrix, a black famous singer and Twyla didn’t know who he was. But, on the other side, Twyla’s name sound more exotic. So, who smells weird? And is it the black mothers or the white ones who doesn’t want a mixed school for their kids?
It’s annoying, but I couldn’t find the answer. But still, they both were at St. Bonny’s forthe same reason: their mother couldn’t take care of them. And they both made Maggie to the scapegoat for their mother’s actions. They saw the older girls kick Maggie down and they knew she couldn’t scream, but they still didn’t help her. Was this a way to punish their real mother? You know, they were only eight and this was maybe the only way they could handle if it. To feel some control or just so they would feel better with themselves. Their mothers didn’t want them and the older girls was chasing them, I think it’s a normal reaction to want to see someone who has more problems then yourselves. It’s like the bullies who make others life miserable because that make themselves to feel better, at least for å while.
The title means "The title alludes to a style of musical declamation that hovers between song and ordinary speech; it is used for dialogic and narrative interludes during operas and oratories" (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitatif). So, the title refers to the dream and reality? How the two girls hovers between the truth and their imagening?
Whoa, I can’t wait to see the discussion of this book and maybe get some answers.
