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This is a really interesting viewpoint! My response focused mainly on the subject of disability in the story, so your statement is really eye opening. I agree that there are some similarities in the way Maggie is treated to how Twyla is treated. In the scene where Twyla’s car is rocked, Roberta watches; she does not participate, but she does not stop it either. She looks down on Twyla in the same way that they both had looked down on Maggie.
Recitatif by Tony Morrison highlights prejudice of mental and physical illnesses as well as racial prejudice. It was a really interesting story to explore; both Twyla and Roberta have mothers who are ill in some way; Twyla’s mother “dances” ceaselessly, while Roberta’s mother is just described as sick. It is not really clear how Roberta perceives her mother, but Twyla clearly views her mother with some disdain. As far as mental illness goes, this is a common theme throughout the story. She seems to dislike her mother and wishes her dead because her mother is forgetful and inattentive of her surroundings. It was interesting to notice that she makes the comparison of her mother to Maggie in that neither of them could really defend themselves against the cruelties of their surroundings and more importantly Twyla harbored such hatred towards the both of them.
Another thing that stood out to me was the fact that neither Roberta nor Twyla could mention any defining features of Maggie other than her disabilities. Even though Roberta tries to make Twyla feel badly by telling her that Maggie was black and that they had participated in kicking her, she later recants her statement when they meet in the last scene. Roberta also admits that she had wanted to participate in kicking Maggie. The hatred that the both felt for Maggie likely stems from their own experience with the illnesses of their mothers. It was because of their illnesses that they had been left at St. Bonny’s, and they may have wished to take out the hurt they felt on a person they viewed as similarly afflicted.In reading this short story, I immediately made the connection to the HIV/AIDs epidemic, although this story could really be applied to any crisis. In this story, there is a plague called the Red Death circulating Prince Prospero’s kingdom, but, instead of taking any action to help his citizens, he gathers 1000 friends of his, shuts himself up behind his palace walls and throws parties as entertainment. Similarly, during the AIDs crisis, not much national attention was given because those who were in the elite class or believed themselves to have the “right lifestyle” (a heterosexual lifestyle) thought that those affected were being rightfully punished for their actions. Thus, they closed the proverbial palace walls and largely ignored the suffering of others. However, with time, AIDs found its way to those who deemed themselves innocent. In class, we talked about two intances of this in which a woman who was white, conservative and in a heterosexual relationship got the disease. Similar to the Red Death, when AIDs made its way to the halls of the elite class, only then did they begin to take any action. I also can see some similarities to our current coronavirus pandemic; the problem, in this case, is not that there is little coverage of the spreading of the virus. The issue is that certain groups, such as undocumented people, people with low incomes or those who ar typically marginalized by society run a high risk of catching the virus but have a lower chance of surviving. They often can not stay home, as they need their income in order to survive, but if they contract the virus, they will not have proper access to medical care. Since these people make up a sizable portion of the US, it stands to reason that protecting these people would ultimately protect us all. However, little is being done; the guidelines for reducing exposure to the virus does not take into consideration people’s circumstances and whether they can follow them appropriately. There is little finnancial help especially for undocumented people. Those who are well off will be able to lessen their chances of exposure, but those who are not are left outside of the gates of safety to suffer.
