Character Analysis: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

In the novel “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” Maya Angelou describes her life as a young awkward black girl in the American South during the 1930s and subsequently in California during the 1940s. when Maya is only three her parents divorce and ship Maya and her older brother, Bailey, to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, in rural Stamps, Arkansas. Annie, who Maya and Bailey call Momma, runs the only store in the black section of Stamps and becomes the central moral figure in Maya’s childhood. It is actually interesting how much clout she has in the town for a black woman.
In this novel you really get to see how bad racism once was. And how Maya dealt with it. Smart and imaginative, Maya nevertheless feels that people judge her unfairly due to her awkward appearance. Feeling misunderstood, she always puts herself in a nice mind set. She imagines she is an attractive blonde hair blue eyed girl. Maya describes her social and familial displacement as “unnecessary insults” on top of the general difficulties associated with growing up as a black girl in the segregated American South. The South presents Maya with three tremendous obstacles:
white prejudice, black powerlessness, and female suppression.
In addition to these broad societal obstacles, Maya endures many personal traumas in her lifetime as well. Her parents abandoned her and Bailey and her sense of abandonment and her need for physical affection lead to further struggles. Five years later, she must leave the only home she has known and live in an unknown city where she seeks comfort in Mr. Freeman, who molests and rapes her. At age ten, having already witnessed callous whites mistreating the people she loves most, such as Momma, Maya begins to experience racism directly. Mrs. Cullinan tries to rename and demean her, and the racist, white dentist Dr. Lincoln says he would rather stick his hand in a dog’s mouth than treat Maya’s problem. Angelou’s autobiography documents her victories and successes as well.
With Bailey’s and Momma’s unwavering love and later encouragement from Vivian her mother she later meets that she adores, Daddy Clidell, and numerous role models and friends, Maya gains the strength to overcome difficulties and realize her full potential. Momma insists that the children observe rules and respect their elders. The only children who do not respect Momma are poor white children. It pains Maya to see them disrespect Momma and Willie by addressing them by their first names. One day, when Maya is ten, three poor white children approach the Store. Momma sends Maya inside. The children mock Momma by mimicking her stance and gestures and Maya cries with impotent rage. This obviously makes her stronger and makes her confront
racism.