SUMMARY:

During the past week in class, I have read Maya Angelou's " I know why the caged bird sings" learning that Maya is filled with a sense of inferiority in comparison to the white girls in her town, believing herself to be uglier and just generally less competent than her white counterparts. Her brother, Bailey, a more well-adjusted and confident kid, often sticks up for his sister when others attack her. Eventually, when Maya's about eight, their father reappears seemingly out of the blue and brings the kids to live with their mother in St. Louis. While this might seem like an improvement for the kids, it quickly proves not to be. Their mom, Vivian, works in casinos and is taken up with a man the kids call Mr. Freeman, who will eventually rape Maya. Freeman stands trial and is found guilty, only to end up brutally murdered, most likely by some members of Maya's family or someone acting on their behalf.  As a testimony to the trials of growing up as a Negro facing racial and gender discrimination in a rural community in the 1930’s, Angelou reflected, “It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life.  It was brutal to be young and already trained to sit quietly and listen to charges brought against my color with no chance of defense.

RESPONSE:

Maya Angelou’s tenderness may come from being a woman; the strength and courage conveyed in her narrative emanates from within her heart and soul as a testimony to her own experiences.  The reader can feel that strength, especially from Marguerite and Momma as well as from Bailey and Uncle Willie.  As a young woman finding her way in life, Marguerite defies racism by being the first black conductor of a streetcar in San Francisco. Maya Angelou’s tenderness may come from being a woman; the strength and courage conveyed in her narrative emanates from within her heart and soul as a testimony to her own experiences. Angelou’s writing is reflective of her life and the difficulties she suffered as a young black child. Children feel at times that simply because they are young, they have no control over their. Maya Angelou is so inspirational to many people so reading about her childhood and adolescence was really special. I found her autobiography tragic and also hopeful at the same time. Things have changed a lot since Angelou's childhood, such as segregation, and colorism in the black community (to an extent). The fact that she went through that period of history and was alive to see the first Black president in US history is just wonderful.