I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is a tremendous book. It is the story of Angelou as she overcomes life-changing experiences, confronting them with courage and dignity.
At age three, Maya Angelou and her brother Bailey (four at the time,) take a train ride alone, from Long Beach, California to Stamps, Arkansas. Stamps is the city where Annie Henderson, their grandmother, lives. Maya and Bailey never know the reason why their parents send them away alone at such a young age. “What did they do so wrong?” (Pg. 52) Did they never love them? The memory haunts and torments the kids, they feel rejected and worthless. One Christmas, they receive presents from their parents, but have no actual news of what has become of them. That’s how it is for a long time, clueless about their parents´ existence. Due to the fact that Maya is motherless and fatherless, she becomes extremely close to her grandmother. In fact, since her grandmother is the one who raises her, Maya calls her granny Momma. Maya´s relationship with Uncle Willie is also a very strong one, because she sees him as a fatherly figure. But, the strongest relationship Maya has is with Bailey. Bailey is the one who always listens to Maya and gives her advice, they are inseparable. Her distant relationship with her parents impacts Maya Angelou as she grows very close to the people she does have, Momma, Uncle Willie and Bailey.
Maya Angelou´s family is well known to be a good-looking one, except she doesn´t fit that description. She is teased for having steel like hair and skin the color of poop. This impacts Maya because it makes her feel insecure, and again worthless. She not only feels unworthy because of her looks, but also because of her raise. Maya is a Negro, African American, and in this period of time, there is a lot of racism. This again makes her feel as if she isn´t good enough. Although, when she is bullied, even by teachers, Bailey is the one to invent cruel comebacks and defend her. Reasons like so are why Bailey and Maya have such a strong relationship, because they care for one another and demonstrate it.
Maya´s father mysteriously appears in Stamps. She sees him as a gorgeous, rich man, a perfect man. She is so thrilled to have met her father, that she forgives him for abandoning her and Bailey as well. The father takes both children on a road trip to St. Louis, Missouri so they can meet their mother. The children stay in St. Louis for a while with their mother and her family. Again, the children forgive their mother for abandoning them because their happiness is so overwhelming, that it takes control over them. Not only did Maya meet her mother, but her mother´s boyfriend as well, Mr. Freeman. This period of time is crucial in Maya´s life, because each one of the people she meets changes her life completely. Also, now the way she sees her mother and father changes, she realizes that they do care somewhat for her and Bailey so she feels worth something.
At age eight, Mr. Freeman sexually abuses Maya a couple of times. He not only rapes her, but also tells her that Bailey will be killed if she says anything of what he did to her. After much depression, Maya confesses the incident, which is taken to court. After Mr. Freeman is found guilty, he is found dead in the street a few days later. Maya
feels Mr. Freeman´s death is her fault. That she herself could of prevented being raped, so she becomes very guilt ridden. Due to this awful experience, Maya undergoes shock and becomes mute and reclusive for a period of time. Maya also becomes very protective of Bailey, for example, she worries sick of him when he loses his innocence. Being guilt-ridden and worrying of Bailey were big changes that happened to Maya, but becoming mute is even bigger and more important.
Maya and Bailey are send back to Stamps to live with Momma and Uncle Willie. While working in Momma´s store, Maya meets Mrs. Flowers. Mrs. Flowers becomes worried about Maya´s state in shock. One day, Maya helps the lady bring he groceries to her home. Once there, Mrs. Flowers asks Maya to read a piece of literature, Maya does so shyly and quietly. Mrs. Flowers assigns the young girl homework such as reading books, to improve her English, and reciting poetry, to improve her talking ability. Little by little, Maya starts gaining back her talking ability. Not only does she learn to talk again, but she is also introduced to literature. Reading books and poems that she can relate to, Maya understands how powerful writing can be. This experience is one of the reasons why Maya Angelou is an author, because it is what impelled her adoration and understanding of the art.
Momma takes her grandchildren to San Francisco where Maya´s mother resides now, Momma does so because she is becoming old and at a point soon will no longer be able to care for her grandchildren. This is very important because Maya´s mother actually provides love and support for Maya and Bailey; once again their relationship strengthens. Maya and Bailey have been missing that love all their lives, to gain it back makes them feel better about themselves because they feel worth something. The relationship that weakened was the one between Maya and her father.
During a summer, Maya goes to visit her father; to her surprise she meets his new girlfriend. His girlfriend dislikes Maya very much, and disrespects Maya´s mother. Once again Maya´s father takes her on a road trip, this time to Mexico. On the road trip, her father jokes with a guard asking him to marry his daughter, sort of making fun of Maya´s looks. This offended Maya very much; it was actually her dad´s first action that formed her new opinion towards him. While in Mexico, her father takes her to a party. In this party Maya´s father becomes drunk and has an affair with a young Mexican woman. Even though she hates her dad´s girlfriend, she can´t help but feel sorry for her. This is a second despicable action that her father has committed; she feels he has no respect for others. He returns to her intoxicated and drunk, Maya has the need to get herself and her father out of that place. Maya drives the car through the roads of Mexico; she gets involved in a car crash though. When she arrives to her father´s home, he actually kicks her out. Maya experiences being homeless for a short period of time. After seeing how badly her father behaved with her, how irresponsible and insensitive he is, Maya´s view of him completely changed. Maya now does not see her father as an amazing human being, but is actually ashamed of his behavior. She realizes that she cannot count on her father, because all he did was bring her troubles and a whole lot of pain.
As a senior reading some books about lesbians, Maya worries she might be becoming one. She isn´t for certain though, so she decides to test her attraction to men. She plans sleeping with a guy for the very first time, she concludes that if she likes it, than she is straight. But, if she doesn´t like it, than she will conclude she is a lesbian. The test didn´t only proof she was a lesbian, but also resulted in pregnancy. This has a huge impact on Maya´s life because she now has to be accepted as a lesbian, and she
has the responsibility of a kid. At the end, Maya begins her road to adulthood and accepts the idea of being a mother.
Maya Angelou´s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings title comes from the poem “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The poems states of a bird that even though its hurt it sings, the singing is a prayer or plea to be free from its cage. Like the bird, Maya Angelou wants to be free from all of her misery; her misery is equal to the cage. She keeps moving on from all her difficulties even though they hurt, she confronts them. The confrontation she makes is equal to the singing of a bird; they both represent wishes to be happy and free. With her title, Maya Angelou states that she knows what it is like to fight for happiness and joy, the bird´s wishes to be free from its cage.
“See, you don´t have to think about doing the right thing. If you´re for the right thing, then you do it without thinking.” (Pg. 285)
It sounds like a really simple line, but to me it particularly represents the development that has happened between Maya and her mother´s relationship. At first, her mother abandoned Maya; Maya was still able to forgive her mother. Maya´s mother uses this phrase to assure Maya that she will be a fine mom. After her unplanned pregnancy, Maya´s mother forgave Maya and gave her all her support. Maya´s mother plays her role fantastically, by giving advice, providing love, etc. Also, giving support like she does with this phrase. I love this line because I think back on how their relationship used to be, and how much is has improved. After all, nothing is greater than a mother´s love.
“And in a voice oilier than the one before, he´d answer with a straight face, “From the Uglies.” (Pg. 22)
I love this line so much because it just makes me smile. When Maya is bullied because of her unattractiveness, Bailey always sticks up for her. By making cruel yet funny jokes about whoever has bothered his sister is a way he does so. What makes it funny and cute though, is how young these kids are when its happening. I don´t think I have ever heard a six year old respond to a teacher with a comeback like this, so imagining is pretty hysterical. I can relate to this actually. My brother Franky and me, fight a lot. But, we always have each others’ backs, just like Bailey and Maya do. This phrase not only makes me smile because it is funny, but also because I remember how great it is to have a big brother.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is a fantastic book. Maya Angelou seems to be a natural writer; she uses her God-given talent to the best of her advantage. The novel does have some mature topics, so it is definitely meant for teenagers and adults. Even though the book has mature and complicated themes, Angelou did a fantastic job explaining them in a way the reader can understand. She used normal narratives that were comprehensive, but yet very artistic. I personally love how creative the novel can get without having to use poems and vignettes. The story itself seems almost made up; the amount of troubles she has to face is overwhelming. Each narrative has a lot of detail and thought; they are well written because Angelou is willing to be so open about the topics. I did realize though that like all books it has its boring parts, for example, I did not like the narrative where a man talks about seeing a
chubby angel. Although, those narratives do not make the novel itself bad, because the novel could never be bad. The reason why I think the story is so moving and addicting is because of all the drama there is. For me, I read one confrontation Maya would make and keep reading to see how she would recuperate from it. That is something I don´t like at the end though. Maya doesn´t recuperate at the end, she still has to carry the responsibility of being a mother at 17. I know it was her fault that she became pregnant, and she can´t really change the past, but I was hoping that the poor girl would get a break at the end. Also about her pregnancy, she became pregnant because of the test she ran to discover if she is a lesbian. Well, she has concluded she is a lesbian, I think that perhaps it started because she grew a fear for men, because of what Mr. Freeman had done to her. Maya Angelou is well known for her literature work, so in my opinion I think the moment that impacted her most was when Mrs. Flowers introduced her to literacy. Maya would never be what she is today if she hadn´t found comfort in books and poems. I will forever praise Maya Angelou for writing a masterpiece like I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, and being such a strong woman with such pride.
