Maya Johnson

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a memoir written by Maya Angelou, discussing her life after being sent, by her mother, to her grandmother at three years old with her brother. As a child, she was a witness and a victim of the atrocities of society. Throughout this book, the readers will see many types of tone in many different parts of the story while reading.

The characters in the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings were affected by both society and family. In the south at the time, African-Americans were defined as housemaids/servants, unintelligent, and barbaric. Maya Angelou stepped outside of the negative stereotype by using her intelligence and persevering through tough times. While Maya lacked the physical appearance of the rest of her family, she excelled at school and in her studies. During the novel, Maya realized that she did not need to conform to society’s ideals to be successful. Bailey Johnson Jr. faced pressure from society to be a supportive brother even though he really wanted to be more like his masculine father.

In the memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou presents the theme: coming of age. This theme is shown throughout the book many times, especially when something big happens to her, changing the way that she reacts to things and the way that she sees things. Another way that this theme is shown throughout the book is the way that she words things in the beginning, vs the way that she words things in the end. The change in her writing style and her language shows this. Not only was she growing up mentally but she was also growing up physically, I believe that even though she was older when she wrote this book she did a good job portraying her younger self at the beginning and her older self at the end. Maya Angelou shows the theme coming of age in her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, through the wording and structure of her writing, the events that happen to her in the book, and the way that she reacts to them.

In Maya Angelou’s I know why the caged Bird Sings Maya goes from being a very young and sporadic girl to a loving and nurturing mother. Throughout Maya’s life she goes through many trials and tribulations. By finding refuge and strength in her family she surpasses racism, rape, and displacement issues.

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, a bird sings because it has a song.” This is a quote stated by Maya Angelou herself. Marguerite Ann Johnson was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1928. As a child she grew the nickname Maya from her brother who was her closest friend. As children they both moved around a lot with they’re family and mid childhood ended up in Stamps, Arkansas, where they would live with they’re grandmother. Maya’s grandmother, “Momma” as they called her, helped Maya as best as she could to have the best life she could, but Maya faced many different obstacles that shaped her to who she is. “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” is a memoir about Maya and these obstacles and cages she overcomes. Angelou encounters an array

The minute someone loses innocence, it is lost forever. That is why growing up and becoming an adult is one of the hardest and most vital times in a young persons life. Maya’s innocence is forever lost after being left by her parents, oppressed by racism, and raped. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a captivating novel written by Maya Angelou who uses a poetic tone and an abundant amount of similes and metaphors in order to convey that growing up in the South oppressed by racism steals innocence and leaves an indelible mark on a young girls life. Angelou creates a beautiful and touching autobiography about a lost black-girl in Stamps, Arkansas that shows the readers the struggle of growing up as a black child in the South

The novel, I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings, is a touching story. It is mainly about a young woman named Maya and it is about her life. Maya isn’t like other girls. She grew up much different that most people; for instance, instead of growing up with her birth mother she has been raised by Momma Henderson. Momma Henderson is Maya’s paternal grandmother. Maya and her brother, Bailey, were sent to Momma Henderson when they were young. She might have well been there birth mother because she was there more often for them, than, their actual birth mother. Maya had an extremely difficult life and her ties with Momma Henderson, Bailey, and her birth mother altogether played an important role in her upbringing.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou is an autobiographical coming of age story set in the midst of the racially charged era of the Jim Crow Laws. Angelou’s novel explores the enormously influential first seventeen years of her life, as she struggles to overcome the seemingly insurmountable personal and societal adversities such as rape, race, instability, and insecurity. Angelou’s powerful depictions of the events of her early life immediately immerses her readers in the fact that life as a black woman in the 1930’s and 1940’s, meant forging a place in society that was not created for you. Angelou depicts her young life lacking stability and having a revolving door of people, both good and bad coming in and out of it. However,

Maya Angelou was an African American woman who wrote about standing up for oneself and the people who have been oppressed. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou talked about a free man and an oppressed man. She went into detail that the difficulties that the written about the oppressed man was forced to face. Two aspects was presented to the reader, Maya Angelou presented the success of a free man and obstacles and difficulties that the oppressed man. “A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky.”

“If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat” (Angelou, 4). In the novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, the readers see a six-year old Southern Black girl who hopes to fit into society and to be a “long and blond” (Angelou, 2) haired, “light blue” (Angelou, 2) eyed, White girl, transform into a mature adult who is proud to be an African American. From a shy and insecure little girl, she transforms into a self-confident young woman who despite going through many struggles, triumphs. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, one sees Marguerite Johnson’s ability to mature and grow by dealing with the matters of prejudice, rape, and abandonment.

In Maya Angelou’s autobiographical book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she reveals stories from her life. From humorous, to tragic, to inspiring, these stories reveal Angelou’s life to readers. Throughout the book, readers are taken from place to place learning about how Angelou grows from a small child hates herself to a young woman who has found where she belongs in the world. Through her life experiences, Maya Angelou finds her identity by not allowing life to overpower her but to empower her.

Maya Angelou’s classic novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a tale of an African American family facing racism, oppression and prejudice acts in the deep south of Stamps, Arkansas in the 1930’s and 1950’s. Throughout Maya’s early childhood she suffers from traumatizing events, that leads to her powerful voice of inspiration that challenges the dominant ideology of racism. Throughout Maya’s novel her tone can be summarized as personal, scorn, and serious. Her purpose of writing I know Why the Caged Bird Sings was to tell her and her family's story of survival; resilence. To grace the world with enlightenment on how strong the African American community could be if we were to work together.

Stephen Butterfield, a critic of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing by Maya Angelou, encompasses the gravity of motherhood and the impact it holds on a child through a single statement: "Continuity is achieved by the contact of mother and child, the sense of life begetting life that happens automatically in spite of all confusion—perhaps also because of it" (213). Marguerite Johnson, the protagonist in Angelou’s literary autobiography, experiences a consistent yet changing motherly connection—with her mother, Vivian Baxter, both of her grandmothers, and Bertha Flowers, an aristocrat in Stamps, Arkansas; these relations contribute to Marguerites development of self-confidence and self-awareness in the early stages of her life. Through these relations

Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya shields herself against the confusion of St. Louis by reading fairy-tales and telling herself that she does not intend on staying there anyway. Vivian works in a gambling parlor at night. Maya pities Mr. Freeman because he spends his days at home waiting for Vivian to return. Maya begins sleeping at night with Vivian and Mr. Freeman because she suffers from nightmares. One morning after Vivian has left the bed and the house,

The feeling of displacement leaves a painful hole in one's heart. Whether a person is a male or female, white or black, lives in the North or South, or young or old, displacement takes a toll on their character and personality. Maya Angelou creates a theme of displacement in her novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou's novel has been critiqued by many notable scholars for being a classic autobiography. The critics note the importance of the setting to show universal displacement and the use of characterization to display the influences in Angelou's life. The critics also note that Angelou's diction and tone allow her pain and suffering to be evident throughout her novel and into her life. Angelou's use of setting shows how she was personally affected by displacement. She also uses characterization and tone to personalize her childhood experiences. Maya Angelou’s autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is critiqued to have a theme of displacement based on the setting, characterization, and tone.