Comparative analysis and contrasting perspectives

¶ … Power of Preconceived Notions in "Everyday Use" and "Recitatif"

Preconceived notions lead to trouble most of the time. People often allow themselves to fall victim to preconceived notions rather than to consider things and arrive at their own conclusions. Two stories that illustrate how preconceived notions can lead to trouble are "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker and "Recitatif" by Toni Morrison. Each story reflects upon how society perceives certain things about race. In "every day Use," Walker uses two very different sisters to inspire a life-changing epiphany with the mother. Walker also proves that racial differences may be limits imposed by society but they can also be self-imposed by individuals that lack confidence. In "Recitatif," Morrison uses conventional ideas toward race and forces readers to come to conclusions by examining their own beliefs. She does not allow us the privilege of knowing what race Roberta and Twyla are and this forces us to fall back on what we have learned in our own experiences. More often than not, preconceived ideas about race are not accurate and they are also so subtle that we often miss them in the business of life.

In "Everyday Use," Dee and Maggie could not be any different from one another. Dee is bright and motivated. She is confident to a point that even her mothers finds puzzling. She pursues a life that is much different from the one Maggie and her mother share. In fact, she leaves the two of them behind as she goes to college to pursue an education. Dee appears to be the more successful of the two girls. She has goals and has every intention of reaching them. Her goals include separating herself from her heritage and one significant thing she does is change her name to "Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo" (Walker). She explains the change is the result of her not wanting to be "named after the people who oppress me" (Walker). This changes seems at odds with the change of leaving ones heritage to chase after a better life because she wants "nice things" (Walker). Maggie, on the other hand, is the character we pity. She is compared to a "lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person" (Walker). Maggie is "not bright" (Walker) but she turns out to be more authentic than her smart, worldly sister is. Maggie, the lame sister, turns out to be the more practical person. She also turns out to be the most compassionate. She would have appreciated the quilts far more than Dee and when her mother realizes this, she is astounded at who turns out to be the most authentic person. Maggie was not ashamed of her race not her heritage with her mothers. Dee, on the other hand, wanted the mystical heritage thousands of miles away in Africa -- a place she had never been. It was not real to her and she was feigning her love for culture. She speaks of a new day and criticizes her mother and sister for not embracing it but what she fails to see is that she is running faster from her race than her mother or her sister ever could. She wants to recreate her race and embellish it with hanging quilts and African names but all she is actually doing is covering up who she is and from where she has come.

In "Recitatif," readers are presented with two very different girls but they are separated by the color of their skin. From children to adults, we see how their world is colored by preconceived notions. When Roberta declares that she is "Mrs. Kenneth Norton," we realize she has "arrived." Twyla understands what it means to take on such a name and immediately assume that Roberta is wealthy. She is correct in her assumption when Roberta confesses that she has two servants. Roberta has no interest in what her husband does as all she knows about his work is that it involves "Computers and stuff. What do I know?" (Morrison). While they are reminiscing, Roberta says, "Oh, Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black-white. You know how everything was." (Morrison). This statement causes Twyla to admit that she did not know what Roberta was speaking about but it also demonstrates how children are instilled with preconceived notions. The girls were not aware of the reasons behind their behavior. However, they did judge other people by their race. When Roberta makes the comment about how race issues used to be, we see awareness but no real reconciliation. Here we see how time and memory are playing tricks on Twyla. She understands the direction Roberta's life has taken and she also realizes that it has changed Roberta from the girl she once was. Morrison plays tricks with readers with these girls as she never divulges who is black and who is white. If Roberta is African-American, we perceive her differently than is she was white. Her status would be elevated in the community as a wealthy African-American. Should Twyla be the white character in this tale, we see how jealousy could factor into the equation. These presumptions are based upon preconceived notions and by keeping the girl's race secret from readers, Morrison demonstrates how dependent we can be on these notions. She proves how much our notions affect our everyday lives in this story with the girls of mysterious race.