Maggie and Race in Recitatif

¶ … Memories are what define a person. They are the bits of past and time that stick even after the passing of several years. Twyla and Roberta share a memory of a racially ambiguous woman named Maggie. This memory explained through these encounters by Roberta, characterize Twyla as a shame-filled person who is slightly weak of character who tries to disassociate from Maggie by not identifying her as black. At first Twyla remembers Maggie fell down and they (Roberta and Twlya) never tried to help her.

However, when she recounts that memory, deep down she feels ashamed. Roberta and Twyla have different lives several years later. Roberta appears to take the 'well-off' route whereas Twyla takes the 'lower-middle class' route. Twyla is first a waitress and then she is married to a firefighter. This other encounter at the gourmet grocery store is where the Maggie memory comes up. Essentially, Twyla remembered it wrong. Roberta mentions the big girls knocked her down. This jars Twyla and she feels uncomfortable by the mere mention of something different.

The next encounter while Roberta is picketing reveals even more information about the Maggie memory. Roberta states Twyla is "the same little state kid who kicked a poor old black lady when she was down on the ground." (Hubel and Brooks 218) Twyla denies doing such thing and even denies Maggie was black, referring to Maggie as a liar. This event truly bothers Twyla. It was not so much because of the idea that she kicked her, but that she feels confused about the idea of Maggie being black.

Roberta in their next encounter confirms that the whole 'kicking Maggie' memory was fake and that Roberta really thought Maggie was black. (Morrison) Roberta later admits she wanted to kick Maggie and that the desire to kick her to her, was the same as doing it. This revelation makes Roberta cry and Twyla appreciates the confession. Overall, the various encounters feel like a puzzle waiting to be solved. Each encounter reveals parts missing from the memory.

What Twyla felt is not so much as important as what Roberta feels and later confesses. This is where they begin to realize each other's true personality and some mistakes that they may have kept hidden. It is an odd occurrence that Roberta felt the desire to kick Maggie and Twyla felt uncomfortable with the whole event. At first she felt shame, then she felt uncomfortable, and then she felt confused over Maggie's race.

This confusion further demonstrates that Twyla is unsure of herself and perhaps ashamed in general of several things. Her mother embarrassed her by how she dressed and acted. Also, she did not marry someone wealthy. These things add to the development of her personality. By her feeling uncomfortable and ashamed of what happened to Maggie, this could mean she in some way felt like her or that is just part of her personality. She was also very sure that she never kicked Maggie even though Roberta stated they did. Twyla.