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Sarah Nelson
English 101: Rhetoric
Mr. Newman
14 November 2014
Gender, Storytelling, and Race in Recititaf
In Toni Morrisons short story, Recititaf, the main characters races are ambiguous,
forcing the reader to find clues and decipher the girls races. Although the races are important to
the story, causing the girls to act the way they do, their races are never clearly identified.
Goldstein-Shirleys essay Race and Gender examines how the elimination of gender and the
storytelling affects how the reader deciphers the race of Twyla and Roberta.
Morrison almost completely eliminates the aspect of gender in the story. One way she
does this is by using either gender neutral or female pronouns throughout story. According to a
study referenced by Goldstein-Shirley, a readers gender, which may or may not be consistent
with their chromosomal sex, plays a role in the way they interpret pronouns. Morrison denies the
audiences ability to interpret pronouns differently than her intent. She used mostly feminine and
gender neutral pronouns rather than both masculine and feminine pronouns. Goldstein-Shirley
says Morrison wishes to confound preconceptions of race; splitting readers by gender would not
further this purpose. She accomplishes dividing the audience by race by not allowing men and
women to read pronouns and therefore interpret the story differently. She does not only exclude
the ability to decipher pronouns differently, but the gender aspect of the piece. Morrison denies
the audiences ability to interpret pronouns differently than her intent. Morrison does not mess
with societys stereotypical gender roles. Instead, she makes the employees at the orphanage

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women and the only parents in Twylas and Robertas lives are their mothers. Twyla and Roberta
have been raised by women, whether it be at the orphanage by the employees, themselves or at
home by their mother. This put them under the influence of traditional womens ideals, assuming
the women lived rather stereotypically, when they were young and very easily shaped by
everything they encounter. The traditional gender roles are portrayed not only when the girls are
in the orphanage and young, but after they are married. Roberta and Twyla meet up at the
grocery store, they go to lunch and Roberta talks of her husband who works with computers and
stuff. She knows very little about what her husband does and doesnt mention anything about a
career of her own. Her husband is the sole breadwinner of the family. It is the cliche role of a
man to provide for his family while the wife stays at home to raise the children. Twyla also falls
into these stereotypical duties. She is the person who raises her son making her the typical
housewife. Her husband is mentioned only a few times, making the reader believe he is at work
to provide for his family as he should be.
Morrison incorporates storytelling into her writing to further focus on Twylas and
Robertas races. In an interview, Morrison has stated that storytelling was a shared activity
between the men and women in her family and she wants to write in that oral quality only
storytelling can deliver (Goldstein-Shirley 3). Instead of merely writing the story, Morrison
accomplished storytelling. There are stories within the single story. Twlya is telling the story of
Roberta telling a story. Also, Morrison is telling the story of Twyla telling the story of Roberta
telling a story. Recititaf is a Type B story. The storys primary narrator is a novice teller, and
the black master teller is fully present as the teller of the storys tale (Goldstein-Shirley 3).
Twlya is the primary and novice storyteller of the piece. She is telling the story from her point of
view. She is telling the story of recently becoming a master listener. When the girls meet up at

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the Howard Johnsons, Twyla doesnt truly listen to Roberta. By the end of the story at the diner
on Christmas Eve, Twyla finally proves that she has become a master listener. While Twyla is
telling the story of becoming a master listener, Roberta is telling her autobiography. Although
Twylas story about her enlightenment about race is important, Roberta is the master storyteller
of Morrisons piece. Roberta tells the story of coming from illiteracy to being literary competent
and affluent. She also tells her story of Maggie and what had happened at St. Bonaventures.
Robertas story holds more significance because of Twyla becoming a master listener. As the
story progresses, Twyla learns to become a better listener which she does through Robertas
autobiography. At the new grocery store, Twyla and Roberta fight about Maggie. However, by
the end, Twyla finally listens to Robertas story and accepts it. It shows how Twyla has grown as
a listener. The storytelling is an important clue in the girls races. Storytelling is an important
tradition in African and African-American cultures. Since Roberta is the master storyteller, not
the listener, it would seem to be that she is African-American. Roberta would have been taught
storytelling from her family and grown up about it whereas Twyla would not have been around
storytelling for much of her life except for the time she spent with Roberta in the orphanage,
making her recently learn about storytelling.
When the audience first reads Morrisons story, it is clear that the conflict is about race.
Although Twylas and Robertas races are never clearly define by Morrison, there are indications
throughout the piece that help the reader decipher the race issue. To focus on race, Morrison
eliminates everything having to do with gender, such as pronouns and gender roles. The races
can also be determined based on the storytelling within the story, as storytelling plays a huge role
in African cultures.