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Roberta
Introduced as a minor character, Maggie comes to take on a central—if mysterious—significance within the story. The children at St. Bonny’s refer to her as the “kitchen woman,” and Twyla’s initial description of her emphasizes the fact that she is old, “sandy-colored,” and bow-legged. Maggie cannot talk, and while some children claim her tongue was cut out, Twyla suspects that she has simply never been able to speak. She and Roberta test Maggie’s ability to hear by calling her “Dummy!” and “Bow Legs!”. While she doesn’t react, Twyla is left feeling guiltily certain that she could hear them. Over the course of the story it becomes clear that the children feel angry toward Maggie on the basis of her helplessness and vulnerability. Twyla fixates on the fact that she wears “a really stupid little hat—a kid’s hat with ear flaps.” Later, she comes to understand the similarities between Maggie’s unusual way of moving (caused by her physical disability) and Twyla’s mother Mary’s problem of “dancing all night.” Like the other children, Twyla wants to hurt Maggie because Maggie represents both Mary’s and Twyla’s own vulnerability. Maggie becomes a point of contention between Twyla and Roberta when Roberta claims that the two of them kicked her in the orchard along with the gar girls. Roberta also claims that Maggie is black, a fact that Twyla disputes (along with the memory of her and Roberta kicking her). Roberta later rescinds her claim that the two children pushed Roberta, but at this point both women have been forced to confront their desire to hurt Maggie, even if they didn’t actually kick her themselves. Meanwhile, Maggie’s racial ambiguity reflects the women’s own complicated relationship with race, including their resistance to being identified as racially oppressive or bigoted while simultaneously wanting to distance themselves from Maggie’s helpless, pitiful existence.
Maggie Quotes in Recitatif
The Recitatif quotes below are all either spoken by Maggie or refer to Maggie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Recitatif
Quotes
I used to dream a lot and almost always the orchard was there. Two acres, four maybe, of these little apple trees. Hundreds of them. Empty and crooked like beggar women when I first came to St. Bonny's but fat with flowers when I left. I don't know why I dreamt about that orchard so much. Nothing really happened there. Nothing all that important, I mean. Just the big girls dancing and playing the radio. Roberta and me watching. Maggie fell down there once.
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She wore this really stupid little hat––a kid's hat with ear flaps––and she wasn't much taller than we were. A really awful little hat. Even for a mute, it was dumb––dressing like a kid and never saying anything at all.
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I didn't kick her; I didn't join in with the gar girls and kick that lady, but I sure did want to. We watched and never tried to help her and never called for help. Maggie was my dancing mother. Deaf, I thought, and dumb. Nobody inside. Nobody who would hear you if you cried in the night. Nobody who could tell you anything important that you could use. Rocking, dancing, swaying as she walked. And when the gar girls pushed her down and started rough-
housing, I knew she wouldn't scream, couldn't—just like me—and I was glad about that.
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"Did I tell you? My mother, she never did stop dancing."
"Yes. You told me. And mine, she never got well." Roberta lifted her hands from the tabletop and covered her face with her palms. When she took them away she really was crying. "Oh, shit, Twyla. Shit, shit, shit. What the hell happened to Maggie?"
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Get the entire Recitatif LitChart as a printable PDF.
Maggie Quotes in Recitatif
The Recitatif quotes below are all either spoken by Maggie or refer to Maggie. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Recitatif
Quotes
I used to dream a lot and almost always the orchard was there. Two acres, four maybe, of these little apple trees. Hundreds of them. Empty and crooked like beggar women when I first came to St. Bonny's but fat with flowers when I left. I don't know why I dreamt about that orchard so much. Nothing really happened there. Nothing all that important, I mean. Just the big girls dancing and playing the radio. Roberta and me watching. Maggie fell down there once.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
She wore this really stupid little hat––a kid's hat with ear flaps––and she wasn't much taller than we were. A really awful little hat. Even for a mute, it was dumb––dressing like a kid and never saying anything at all.
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Explanation and Analysis:
I didn't kick her; I didn't join in with the gar girls and kick that lady, but I sure did want to. We watched and never tried to help her and never called for help. Maggie was my dancing mother. Deaf, I thought, and dumb. Nobody inside. Nobody who would hear you if you cried in the night. Nobody who could tell you anything important that you could use. Rocking, dancing, swaying as she walked. And when the gar girls pushed her down and started rough-
housing, I knew she wouldn't scream, couldn't—just like me—and I was glad about that.
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Explanation and Analysis:
"Did I tell you? My mother, she never did stop dancing."
"Yes. You told me. And mine, she never got well." Roberta lifted her hands from the tabletop and covered her face with her palms. When she took them away she really was crying. "Oh, shit, Twyla. Shit, shit, shit. What the hell happened to Maggie?"
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