Toni Morrison's short story "Recitatif" portrays two women growing up knowing each other. As they pursue their separate lives, they continue to intertwine and see each other, each at a different stage in life. In "Recitatif," Morrison juxtaposes the mothers' relationships with the characters, uses a chronological timeline, and integrates the unreliability and manipulation of memory to show the complicated boundaries of friendship. The reactions each has of seeing each other—especially in the situations they find themselves in—can be boiled down to their mothers. Each mother is a stark contrast to the others while simultaneously having intriguing relationships with their daughters. Although the mothers are not constant characters throughout the story, the impact they leave on their daughters can be seen throughout the entire work.
Although Twyla later finds herself in a socioeconomically disadvantaged position relative to Roberta, her mother, Mary, similarly derives pleasure from fleeting moments, a trait that ultimately renders her unreliable in Twyla's childhood. During a visit to St. Bonny's, Twyla experiences envy upon observing Roberta's mother provide her daughter with food, while Mary arrives empty-handed: "We were supposed to have lunch…but Mary didn't bring anything…" (Morrison 242). As a dancer of the night, Mary's inability to fulfill the basic expectation of bringing food is symptomatic of her broader incapacity to confront the reality of her situation—namely, visiting the child she has effectively abandoned in favor of a capricious lifestyle. Though the experience negatively shapes Twyla's perception of Roberta, shown by arguing with herself over who deserves the food, the fault does not lie with Roberta herself; she, too, is an eight-year-old girl left in institutional care. The previously harmonious relationship between the girls, fueled by their survival amongst each other, begins to fracture as a result of these maternal dynamics. Roberta's mother is presented as an ideal, Bible-devoted figure, yet she is also depicted as rude and overtly disdainful toward Twyla's mother: "Roberta's mother looked down at me and then looked down at Mary…grabbed Roberta with her Bible-free hand and stepped out of line…" (Morrison 242). As Roberta prepares to leave the orphanage, her mother's attitudes and behaviors leave a profound impression, shaping Roberta's expectations of herself and her interactions with others. Subsequently, when Twyla and Roberta reunite at the diner where Twyla works, Roberta's "private laugh" (Morrison 243) serves to exclude Twyla, symbolizing the lingering effects of their divergent upbringings. Notably, although Roberta describes a life spent following musicians, her experiences mirror those of Twyla's mother in their unpredictability and pursuit of transient pleasures. Morrison reiterates the contrast between the women, with Twyla relegated to a low-wage job that visually and socially distinguishes her from Roberta.
Within "Recitatif," Morrison constructs the chronological timeline with gaps between each scene. Each scene either lasts a couple of weeks or just a moment, but they highlight the interactions between Twyla and Roberta throughout life. During the part of their life they were at St. Bonny's shelter together, the two girls found solace in each other, avoided being bullied, and relied on each other to power through the time. Towards the end of their stay together, Twyla thought she "would die in that room of four beds without [Roberta]..." (Morrison 243). The girls were friends, close ones, who spent all of their time together but in the end, had to separate. Their friendship was created, and the next time they saw each other, something had changed. Morrison creates an unconventional narrative that exaggerates the girls' fragmented relationship, which can be shown through their individual scenes. Over years, it is often difficult to feel the same connection one might have with a friend, but when Roberta sees Twyla at the diner, she is rude and dismissive. They have both grown up, with their respective mothers, and seen how each side settles as an adult, so they flip—Twyla becoming reliable and Roberta going off with a musician. With the disrespect from Roberta, it's questionable why Twyla would care, after all of the years apart, but it is more complex. Twyla is not happy with herself yet, but it is only when she sees Roberta that she realizes, immediately taking herself in, with her "knees showing out from under that uniform…" and "the blue and white triangle on [her] head…" Twyla experiences a lack of self-worth and doubt, compared to the adjacent Roberta who was on her way to see Hendrix. With the push of being ignored, Twyla hurts Roberta in a way she knows will personally irk her. The relationship between the two, once sweet, turned sour in an easy escape to hurt each other's feelings, as they saw others do before.
Morrison conveys an unreliable memory when Twyla questions what she really knows about Maggie's bullies. During the scene when she was eight, Twyla recalls that Maggie fell down, the big girls laughed, and Roberta and herself called the woman names (Morrison 240). The mention of her fall clarifies off the bat what happened, at least what younger Twyla thinks happened, to give a precursor to an issue between the girls later in life. When they meet again and have coffee, Roberta tells Twyla that Maggie never fell, that the big girls pushed her (Morrison 247). The use of setting during this lie—sitting at the same table, talking joyously about their current lives—portrays a sense of accomplishment between them. They are both married, each have kids; although Roberta is wealthier, and Twyla's child is her own blood, they can be considered equals once again; however, they do not. Roberta lies to Twyla, and Twyla questions herself. More time passes, they meet again, and Roberta pushes another lie onto Twyla, who has thought about the situation once more. Her disbelief is shown through her own questioning, the entire situation repeating itself. Roberta does not like Twyla during the scene, switching back and forth between wanting to be friendly and irritating her. When she later apologizes, it brings a sense of unease and fear during the lying. She may have wanted to be truthful but felt as though, because Twyla seems more genuine than her—without the diamonds and chauffeur—she was threatened. They work it out, though, like sisters (Morrison 252).
The complexity that delves deep into the relationship between Roberta and Twyla is shown interwoven through their lives, causing reactions, creating tension, and forging bonds. Although their mothers acted one way in their younger years, the girls were able to depend on one another through connection but also for reactivity. They juxtapose each other through life choices, their wealth, husband, children, careers, and every other way. The differences between them always bring them to meet again, to push each other's buttons in ways they may have only thought their mothers could. Introducing unreliable memory into the mixture, Toni Morrison curated a story to do similar things to the reader.