Dulski 1

Zack Dulski
Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
13 November 2014
Socio-Economical Status Determining Gender
Economic statuses are a controversial aspect of our society and is present in Toni
Morrisons Recitatif. Many believe your life depends on how much money a person makes and
what is done with it. In Recitatif, Roberta and Twyla started off as lower class. As they got
older, Roberta moved to high class and Twyla rose to low-middle class. When reading this story,
I could not help but wonder what race these women were, since Morrison did not directly state
the race. Through Marxism, Morrison reflects on Roberta and Twylas socio economic status and
makes their development a focal point in Recitatif while using their status to hint at their
respective race.
In Recitatif, Roberta and Twyla are orphans that are dumped off at St. Bonaventure.
Their mothers were not fit to take care of their respective child since one was sick and the
other just likes to dance all night(Morrison 1). These girls were not in a situation where they
were considered high class. They spent the next few years at the orphanage and then went out
into the world. Twyla got a job working behind the counter at a Howard Johnsons and Roberta
moved on to bigger and better things, even having a meeting with Jimi Hendrix. Twyla saw
Roberta one day while Roberta was on a business trip to meet Jimi Hendrix. Roberta was
described to have hair so big and wild I could hardly see her face (Morrison 4). Twyla noticed
that Roberta had a lot of high class makeup on also. When they finally talked to each other,
Roberta and her associates were very rude to Twyla, even calling her an a**hole, and left her

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without a proper goodbye. Twyla and Roberta had a few more encounters after that and were not
much better. In the end, they found common ground and talked about their experiences as
children.
Marxism relates to this story greatly and is a main topic in Recitatif. The girls grew up
together and thought nothing of social class or money. As they grew older though, these views
were different. One girl thought of money as how successful they were and the other believed
money was just a material object. Marxisms viewpoint is defined as getting and keeping
economic power as the motive behind all social and political activities, including education,
philosophy (Tyson 54). Once Roberta got the wealth, she did not want to lose it and wanted
to flaunt it around. By wearing all the makeup she wore and having her hair done she wanted to
make sure people knew she had money. When she met Twyla, she wanted to make it clear she
was important and made sure Jimi Hendrixs name was spoken. Lois Tyson wrote in her journal,
Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide, that Marxism economics is the base on which
the superstructure of social/political/ideological realities is built, this relates to Roberta and her
wealth since her appearance and actions reflected her economic status. Twyla on the other hand
used her economic status as her driving force. She knew she was not in the position that Roberta
was in but that did not hold her back. She kept moving forward through her life, even though this
experience with Roberta was a negative one.
With Morrisons writing, there were many questions left to be answered. No reader knew
which one of the girls were white or black since Morrison did not state it. Through my reading, I
used the method of reader response. Tyson defines this as a ...readers responses to literary
texts. Relating Marxism to this method, I concluded that Twyla was black and Roberta was
white. Through my experiences, I believe that Twyla is black because she does not have a steady

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job early in her life. She has to find multiple jobs to take care of herself and find money
wherever she can. In the end she finds a way to support herself and her family and becomes true
middle class. I believed Roberta was white for the opposite reasons. She became successful and
morphed her personality and beliefs just to be accepted as high class. She ended up in the same
position as Twyla in the end and supported her family properly.
Recitatif has many interpretations and that is what Morrison wanted. She wanted the
reader to believe one thing but another to think another. She was successful in this regarding
their race and their social class. Morrison reflects on Roberta and Twylas socio economic status
and makes their development a focal point in Recitatif while using their status to hint at their
respective race. Morrison created a story that revealed things to the reader about themselves. The
many topics incorporated in this story made the reader reflect in depth on this story, especially
social class and how it relates to Twyla and Robertas gender.