- Share thoughts on Twyla and Roberta's relationship with at least one quotation to support your interpretation.
- Pose an open-ended interpretation question to the next blogger.
- Respond the question offered by the last blogger.
- Optional: Respond to questions posted by other bloggers that weren't necessarily right before you but that interest you.
Looking forward to your thoughts!
Their relationship is really complicated because of the difference in race and the fact that Roberta's mother is/was racist. Their relationship had a lot of ups and downs, like any relationship, after Roberta left St. Bonny's. I think Roberta was confused about her identity and didn't want it tarnished by being around a black person, but at the end it seemed like Roberta realized she wanted to be friends with Twyla, because she confessed that they hadn't kicked Maggie. She also was a better person a the end of the story because she said at the end, "What the hell happened to Maggie?", which means she's a lot nicer now if she's worried about some old lady she wanted to hurt long ago. My question is why did Roberta and Twyla want to kick Maggie so badly?
ReplyDeleteThis is the second time I am retyping this to post to this blog because this website is bushleague. Anyway a quick version of what I just had. They like each other at the beginning. They see each other at Howard Johnson's, Roberta calls her an "asshole" for not knowing her Jimi Hendrix is and it's almost at though she is taking it personally because she is black. Then they see each other 12 years later at a store and they pretend they are friends again even though Twyla is clearly still mad about the asshole comment. Then at the end of the story they don't like each other not only because they are protesting for different things, but Roberta is still mad about when they were kids and they kicked Maggie. Twyla doesn't remember doing it and Twyla is still mad about the time in the Howard Johnson's. So clearly their relationship is difficult for the time being. For why they wanted to kick Maggie, I have no idea, they were kids and they were young and naive. I want to know why they pretended to be friendly with each other when they were both clearly upset? - Jamie Wilkinson
ReplyDeleteWell i see them as good friends at first but later they get into a fight over the comment "asshole". They are mad at each other and 12 years later they see each other and act like their friends when they may actually still be tendtion there. Jamie i think that they pretended to be friends because it had been shuch a long time since they have toalked to each other. Maybe they felt uncomfterable if they brought up their childhood. But what i am concerned about is Why actually happend to Maggie? this is stated in the last sentance.
ReplyDeleteTheir relationship seemed to go from good to bad- They got along in the beginning, they were pretty young and both had mom's that were sick. Some time passes, they have grown up a bit and run into each other at the H.J.-Twlya is somewhat excited to see her while Roberta is very happy to dismiss her quite quickly. It seems to affect Twlya more than Roberta, when they run into each other again at the grocery store,it is the first thing in her head. Roberta seems to be doing well for herself, nothing really is resolved and the issue of Maggie comes up. They go there seperate ways, only to run into each other again two more times. Maggie always seems to come up in the conversation, with the accusations of who did what to Maggie. At the end when Roberta is crying and says "Oh Shit, Twyla, Shit, shit shit. What the hell happened to Maggie" I think that they have twisted the story so many times that they can't remember. I think Maggie just tripped and fell, no one helped her up, they all just laughed at her and later on felt guilty. What I am wondering is this: Will they ever be friends?
ReplyDeleteRoberta and Twyla were kind of forced to becoming friends in the beginning becuase of their situation. "We didn't like each other all that much at first, but nobody else wanted to play with us". After being stuck together, they were able to become friends. When they were split up they started to have or lead seperate lives. When they did run into each other it was very ackward, they would have forced conversations. I don't think that they would ever become friends, if they really did like each other, the Maggie accusations would not come up and they would make an effort to see each other more than they did. My question is this: Does anyone ever figure out what race Twyla is?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the story ever says what race Twyla is or Roberta for that matter. However in the beginning of the story I noticed that these two didn't seem to like Mrs. Itkin or each other. " My mother won't like you putting me in here" said Twyla. "Good," said Bozo.(Mrs.Itkin) "Maybe then she'll come and take you home. If Roberta had laughed I would have killed her...." Does it seem like they truly get along throughout the story?
ReplyDeleteWhen they were both youger they had a good realationship. As they got older it seemed that it kinda faded because they remembered there childhood as they wanted to.They remembered Maggie as they wanted to and argued about her race. " I really did think she was black... We didint kick her.. but,well, I wanted to". Do you hink part of the reason they fought was because they might of thought they would end up like their mothers?
ReplyDeleteI agree with some people here, They hand SUCH a tight relationship when they were little, but subjectively brought up past memories, which hurt them lightly.
ReplyDeleteI think that Twyla and Roberta's relationship was strongly based on their history together and not really because they had anything specific in common. Question to next blogger: Why do you think Roberta and Twyla didn't always get along when they kept bumping into eachother? Response to classmate's question: I think it's possible that they bumped heads because they feared they would end up like their mothers. This is a great possibility because that fear was very apparent.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with kristina, that there was no way that Twyla and Roberta could have ever been friends if it were not for their history because they are just too different from each other, which was probably why they didn't get along to answer kristina's question.
ReplyDeleteNext blogger: To discuss a point earlier in class, give your opinion on Twyla and Roberta's races, and give all of your evidence for thinking in that way. This way all the possible opinions and interpretations can come to light for discussion.
When Twyla, and Roberta first met Twyla didn't want anything to do with Roberta, but then they both realized that they were more alike then they thought, because they were both "dunped," and didn't have "beautiful parents in the sky." When they met later on in the story it seemed like Roberta was to cool to talk to Twyla, even though they use to be like sisters. I think when Roberta saw Twyla it reminded her when they were younger, and when someone pushed down Maggie the kitchen lady. Roberta said "she wanted to kick her," and now that she's older she felt bad for even thinking that,and when she saw Twyla it brought back those memories, and thats why she was kind of mean to her when she first saw her. My question is why did Roberta change her story about Maggie every time, was it because she could have potentially been loosing her mind like her mother, or could she really just not remember what happened? To answer Jack's question, I think that Twyla is black, and Roberta is white, because when they meet up one of the times Roberta talks about how back then it was all black, and white, and i dont think she would have said that if she was black. Another reason is because it talks about how these police men get drunk, and they shake Twyla's car or something like that, and I think they did that, because she was black, and they were taunting her.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the the story, both Twyla and Roberta were good friends. It was a relationship that began out of coincidence(growing up in the same orphanage), but grew into a friendship where they shared a lot in common. However, as they spent time away from each other, they became two very different people. Roberta was always a liitle judgmental of Twyla and was hesitant to remain a good friend to her. Roberta was always willing to talk about the memories they shared and remain friends. Their first conversation after being seperated for several years involved Roberta making Twyla feel insignificant and embarassed: ""Roberta? Roberta Fisk?" She looked up. "Yeah?"
ReplyDelete"Twyla." She squinted at me for a second and then said, "Wow." "Remember me?" "Sure. Hey. Wow."" Obviously Roberta's reaction was in a dissmisive way that made Twyla regret even saying hello to her. However, the next time they saw each other, Roberta greeted her with more than a "...stingy "wow"." My question is, why does Roberta act so differently every time that they see each other? Basically, why does Roberta act so inconsistantly? In response to Ashley's question, there is the potential that she was showing some characteristics of loosing her mind, similar to her mother. I truly don't understand why else she would start blabbing away about things that did not make any sense to Twyla. Then later on, she apologized saying that what she previously said may not all have been true. In response to Jack's question, Twyla is definitely black, and Roberta is white. Twyla seemed less upset or opinionated about the issues between blacks and whites: "Oh Twyla, you know how it was in those days:black-white. You know how everything was." But I truly didn't know. I thought it was just the opposite." Another quote that showed how Roberta is probably white was when Tywla thought about how whites think they can achieve anything they want. "Easy, I thougt. Everything is so easy for them. They think they own the world." Another example is how a black women would probably be at the lower end of society, working at jobs that pay less. Well, when Twyla and Roberta first met, Roberta was going off to a Jimi Hendrix concert and Twyla was working as a waitress.
I believe that Twyla and Roberta become friends due to their similarites of doing bad in school and being the only two that are "dumped" by their mothers. I feel like they were those friends that kept coming together and it was as if nothing had changed. However, I didn't notice that in their second reunion. I don't exactly understand why Twyla keeps saying she wants to kill her mother.
ReplyDeleteTwyla and Roberta's relationship was difficult mostly because they're difference in race and they're mothers opinions on the other. I feel that because of they're hard times in school they became friends through that. However overtime and as they spent less time together they grew apart and they shared different views and became two very different people. So I ask the next blogger why are Twyla and Roberta's mothers treat them so poorly? And to respond to 'Arnold Friends' comment I would have to point out that that is just plain sick.
ReplyDeleteLolololololololololol I didn't do either of those! To answer your question Garrett, I believe that the mothers are not fit to take care of their children (I believe they are mentally incapable?). I don't think that Twyla and Roberta's relationship is a healthy one. Roberta seems to think that she is a little more mature than the incompetent Twyla. Also Twyla and Roberta are going off in different directions in life. My question to the next blogger is "Do you think Twyla and Roberta's relationship is a healthy one?"
ReplyDeleteWell Danny I am happy you asked that question. I think that personally they do not share a healthy relationship because as the story progresses they seem to grow apart from each other. Like Meredith said, Roberta seems to act inconsistent when she sees Twyla. In a way she makes it seem like they were never friends. For the next question I would like to propose, How do you think Twyla and Roberta have grown over the years?
ReplyDeleteWhoever is posting the random comments that are not related to the thread needs to stop doing so. I have enough work without having to erase what you deem to be jokes, which are actually starting to head into the realm of inappropriate. I don't appreciate the disregard for my time and the integrity of this assignment.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question. It seems to me that Twyla and Roberta haven't grown much at all over the years. The way the acted during their arguement about the schools showed that they haven't become very mature. The signs "HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?" and "IS YOUR MOTHER WELL?" show this particually. The way they let their differences turn them into enemies shows that they did not grow enough to keep a heathly relationship as craig said. I would like to know what Twyla and Roberta could have done to stayed friends? Or if you think there was no way to get passed their differencs, why?
ReplyDelete