Clausen 1

Benjamin Clausen
Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
November 3, 2014

Rectatif Analysis
In the story Rectatif by Toni Morrison, there are two girls, one white and one black,
who during the 1950s became friends with each other during their time in an orphanage their
issue riddled mothers left them for several months. Throughout the story the two girls, Twyla
and Roberta, coincidentally meet with each other several times, with both of them on opposite
points of arguments, including what they may have done to a mute girl named Maggie back at
the orphanage. While Twyla doesnt seem to remember hardly anything about her time at the
orphanage, Roberta insists that they had bullied Maggie. This suggests that Twyla could be
subconsciously trying to remember or think of the abandonment from her mother by using
Roberta and Maggie to substitute the pain her mother caused her. Twylas abandonment by her
mother causes her to suffer in subconscious form, where dream displacement uses Maggie as a
substitute for Twylas mother to represent her anger towards her mother and Roberta is used to
constantly return and force Twyla to think about her abandonment and relationship with
Maggie, or Twylas mother.
The story Rectatif shows many points on abandonment and racism, the two most
important traits of the story. Both Twylas and Robertas mothers leave them at an orphanage
because of their own mistakes, what Twyla described as dancing and being sick. When Twylas
mother did visit, she was embarrassing to Twyla, and forgot to bring a lunch for the both of them

Clausen 2

on the one day she visits her, showing a disregard for her child and her wellbeing (Morrison 3).
Years later, when Twyla meets with Roberta for the second time, Roberta disregards Twyla and
ignores her after she realizes she doesnt know who Jimi Hendrix is. Twylas ignorance is
apparently enough to make Roberta completely ignore her, even though the last time they spoke
they were basically best friends (Morrison 4). The third time they met, Roberta introduced
herself to Twyla, and seemingly got along again at first. However, their relationship became
awkward when they had a disagreement about whether they pushed Maggie down or if she fell
down back at their time at the orphanage (Morrison 7). The next time they met, Roberta and
Maggie were on opposite sides of a protest, in which Roberta accused Twyla of kicking Maggie
(Morrison 10). The final time they both met, Roberta drunkenly apologized to Twyla, saying that
Twyla was right about them not kicking Maggie, and then the story concludes with Roberta
breaking down about what happened to Maggie (Morrison 12). Progressively throughout the
short story, Twyla and Roberta drift apart and continue to meet each other through random
encounters, each time discussing things, such as Maggie, that are very hazy for Twyla.
In Rectatif, there are many points that show Twylas ignorance could be a part of
dream displacement. Dream displacement occurs when a substitute, whether it be a person or an
object, is used to replace a more threatening or undesired person within the unconscious mind of
dreaming people (Tyson 18). Saying that her mother likes to dance all night as a substitution
for prostitution or stripping could be Twylas mind trying to indirectly remind her why her
mother had left her at the orphanage with the Bozo. Similarly, the constant reappearances of
Roberta in Twylas life could represent Twylas shaky relationship with her mother as well.
Twyla claims her mother never stopped dancing, yet she is not seen or heard from since the time
Twyla was at the orphanage. It is likely that Twylas mother had constantly reappeared and

Clausen 3

disappeared throughout Twylas entire life much like Roberta did in Rectatif. Maggie, the
mute woman at the orphanage, could also represent Twylas relationship with her mother. The
miscommunication between the girls and Maggie should be seen as the miscommunication
between Twyla and her family and friends. Maggie could represent Mary, Twylas mother, as
Twyla appeared to like neither of them, Maggie because she was different and Mary because of
her abandonment and dancing problem. Maggie essentially represents the disconnection
between Twyla and her surrounding environment. A different idea regarding Twyla and
Robertas memories could be explained through secondary revision, when people forget certain
parts of the dream or remember those parts somewhat differently from how they actually
occurred(Tyson 19). Twyla likely couldnt recall all of her memories, and likely the events with
Maggie at the orphanage, including Maggies race, how she fell, and who was involved with her,
were forgotten somewhere along the way.
The short story Rectatif has many traits that could be seen with a dream like
repetitiveness, such as the reoccurring theme of abandonment, the many times that Twyla
happened to contact Roberta in the most seemingly random of situations, and the constant
referencing to Maggie throughout the short story despite her seemingly minor role. While
Rectatif shows heavy issues with race and abandonment, within texts could be seen a
subconscious theme with abandonment and ignorance at its core. While it is not immediately
seen on the surface, the idea of dream displacement being used to help Twyla unconsciously
think out her past is not out of the question, and the idea of secondary revision could very well be
a major explanation to the lack of information regarding Twylas memories on her past.