In society, most people like to believe they are without prejudice. Whether it's gender, race, disability, or religion, everyone has preconceived notions about certain groups of people. While this may be difficult to admit, Toni Morrison constructs her short story, Recitatif, in a way that forces her readers to confront their own prejudices and stereotypes. Through the use of tools such as non-standard English, intentional pronouns, unusual sentence structure, modals, unique punctuation, and direct speech, Morrison depicts social challenges based on race, socioeconomic status, and disability, supporting the importance of understanding and protecting people. different from ourselves. The word recitatif refers to speech and is considered a medium between singing and the ordinary spoken word. Morrison emulates this concept of oral storytelling through the use of non-standard English in the form of fragmented sentences. This colloquial structure creates the illusion that the narrator is talking, recounting his past and reflecting on the events that occurred. Additionally, the use of snippets breaks up paragraphs and draws attention to the information contained in these snippets. Since it is not traditional to use fragments in professional writing, these sentences stand out and indicate important material. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first time Morrison introduces the character of Maggie, Morrison writes, "Maggie fell once. Kitchen women with legs as brackets" (2). The fragment "Women in the kitchen with legs as brackets" identifies Maggie symbolizes disability and her character describes how individuals with disabilities can be overlooked and marginalized by society. Another example where Morrison uses fragments to portray the theme is in the quote, “How to believe what you have to believe” (10). The use of the fragment accentuates the statement and illustrates the key idea that individuals are capable of justifying actions of cruelty or injustice, be they events that occur or actions individuals perpetrate, Morrison implies that humans are capable to mentally compensate for events by believing in everything they can to make personal and social sins acceptable. A final example where Morrison uses fragments to highlight the theme is when Twyla explains that “Maggie was my dancing mother. Deaf, I thought, and mute” (18). Parting: “Deaf, I thought, and dumb.” underlines these words and indicates their importance. Although Twyla's mother is not literally deaf or mute, this is the moment where Twyla is finally able to admit why she holds contempt for Maggie. Twyla is never able to tell her mother the pain her mother's lack of attention has caused her, so she takes it out on a person who portrays her mother's internal traits, externally. The recitatif is often studied because of the racial ambiguity it presents. Morrison introduces two characters, Roberta and Twyla and states that one is black and the other white, but does not specify which girl is of which race. One strategy that Morrison employs to hide the races of his characters is the use of pronouns. When Twyla first meets Roberta, Twyla states that her mother told her that "They never washed their hair and it smelled funny" (1) when talking about people of Roberta's race. Morrison's use of the pronoun allows her to talk about a group of people without suggesting to her readers what race she is referring to. Furthermore, after Roberta and Twyla are reunited after years of separation, Twyla sees the immense wealth that Roberta has earned andjustifies that “Everything is so easy for them” (9). In this quote Morrison uses the word "they" to refer to a group of people, but is able to limit further detail about the race he is referring to. Hiding the girl's races invites readers to guess which girl belongs to which race. By doing this, Morrison asserts the idea that all people believe some sort of racial stereotypes. Throughout his story, Morrison will begin sentences with conjunctions. This unusual sentence structure indicates that crucial information is contained in this sentence. Generally sentences do not begin with conjunctions, so the use of conjunctions almost baffles the reader and leads him to pay attention to the following statement. Near the beginning of Twyla and Roberta's stay together in the orphanage, Twyla explains that, "So for the moment it didn't matter that we looked like salt and pepper standing there" (1). In the future, the fact that Twyla and Roberta belong to different races will distance them, but at the moment this is considered unimportant. The girls share a room and each belong to a family unable to care for them. This similarity overcomes their racial difference and connects them for life. Later, when Twyla reflects on the emotional abuse she inflicted on Maggie, Twyla explains that, “And I'm ashamed even now to think that after all there was someone in there who heard us calling her names and couldn't tell us” (3 ). Once again, Morrison begins a sentence with a conjunction to create an almost disjointed sentence that grabs the reader's attention. It's strange that Twyla has to realize that "there was someone in there." This language suggests that, as a child, Twyla viewed Maggie as somehow less than human due to her disabilities and only now sees her actions impact the life of another human being. As Twyla recounts the events of her life she seems to interrupt the telling of the story of the past to add comments regarding her thoughts in the present. Morrison's use of modality illustrates how Twyla's life events unfolded as opposed to how Twyla wished her life event had occurred. When Twyla first mentions Maggie, she recounts an event where Maggie falls and the older girls laugh and tease her. After explaining what happened, Twyla seems to detach herself from the narrative and introspectively admits that “we should have helped her up” (2). The use of the modal should distinguish events that happened from actions that Twyla now believes should have taken place. A similar breakup occurs after Roberta reminds Twyla that Maggie didn't fall by herself, but rather was pushed by the older girls at the orphanage. Twyla's narration is interrupted when Twyla wonders, “I wouldn't forget something like that. Would I do it?” (14). Morrison uses a modal verb to indicate that the narrator is reflecting. It would depict a breach of trust and show that Twyla is unsure of the reliability of her memory. One of Morrison's most powerful uses of modal verbs comes at the end of her story, when Twyla thinks back to her time in the orphanage. Twyla remembers yelling derogatory names at Maggie and admits “I knew she wouldn't yell, she couldn't – just like me and I was happy about it” (18). Twyla seems to correct herself by changing her language from I wouldn't to I can't. These two modes have strongly different connotations. It does not indicate a choice and suggests that Maggie decided not to scream, but it fails to convey the truth that Maggie had no choice. She was unable to scream despite the abusive treatment she was subjected to. An additional way Morrison adds introspective thought as Twyla narrates is through the use of hyphens. Often the speaker doeshe interrupts to insert a thought that conveys truth. When Twyla talks about her relationship with Roberta she explains that they are “Two little girls who knew what no one else in the world knew: how not to ask questions” (10). Both girls come from a difficult family situation and belong to their mother who is unable to take care of them. Instead of asking questions, Roberta and Twyla silently understand each other's situations. This lack of questioning is something that strengthens their friendship, but also unites them as perpetrators regarding Maggie's treatment. Roberta and Twyla's hesitation to ask questions prevents them from understanding Maggie and helping her as she faces abuse and marginalization. Instead of interceding on behalf of a disabled woman, they ignore and even support the torment Maggie is subjected to. Another example where Morrison uses the hyphen to interrupt a thought with a truthful reality is in the sentence “It was just that I wanted to do it so badly – ​​to want it is to do it” (19). Roberta is talking about how the older girls in the orphanage would kick and tease Maggie, and although Roberta and Twyla never engaged in this, each of them wanted to. Roberta admits that these feelings of malice, even if unsupported by action, are just as harmful as the physical actions Maggie suffered. Twyla and Roberta did nothing to help Maggie and even mentally encouraged the other girls' actions. This lack of action proved to be just as damaging as the older girl's physical actions. Morrison's use of punctuation emphasizes key elements of his story. Morrison uses colons in his writing to denote important concepts. Introducing the character of Maggie, Twyla recalls that "The kids said they cut out her tongue, but I think she was born that way: dumb" (2). Morrison stutters the colon to separate the silent word from the rest of the word. This separation draws attention to the words and introduces the importance of the idea of ​​being silent throughout the story. Maggie is physically mute, but Twyla and Roberta both feel emotionally mute not being understood is a significant concept in the Recitatif, and Morrison notes this by assigning the word from the sentence Morrison uses the colon similarly in the sentence, “Oh Twyla, you know how 'it was in those days: black-white. "(13). Race is another important topic in Morrison's short story, and this separation of race from the rest of the sentence indicates its meaning. Morrison uses direct speech to highlight important dialogue. In particular, he directly quotes questions that the characters pose by emphasizing the meaning of their speech. Morrison's use of questions to convey the theme is particularly interesting because Twyla states several times that she and Roberta don't ask questions and that's why they get along. When Twyla realizes for the first time about Maggie's situation she asks Roberta "What if she wants to cry? Can she cry?" and then the question “Can't he scream?” (3). These questions are important because they not only delve into Maggie's condition, but they also reflect the emotions that Roberta and Twyla feel. They both feel secret satisfaction at Maggie's inability to express her pain because neither girl believes she can express her pain. Both Roberta and Twyla were abandoned by their mothers and do not belong to a family. At the same time, orphans do not accept girls because they are not true orphans since their parents are still alive. Twyla and Roberta have been disowned in every way but have no outlet to express their pain. They are unable to scream and cry just as Maggie is unable to express her torment. Morrison ends his story with a question.