If I Was You By Mary Maya Angelou Summary

We all as individuals have power in who we are. Whether wealthy politicians, middle class, or impoverished people. But with power comes the possibility of corruption and the greed for power. Which causes the theft of others power. In her short story, Mary Maya Angelou tells the story of a young middle aged maid named Margaret who serves a ugly old women named Miss Cullinan whose unable to bare children and as a result her husband left her for a colored women and as a reaction she projects her anger and ill will on her maids of color by changing their names and stripping them of their power and identity. In addition, Richard Rodriguez in his story Complexion he describes his struggles of having a dark complexion and the depravity of power
In her essay, Angelou states “But the names to long. I’d never bother myself. I’d call her Mary if I was you” (5). This quote depicts the power that Miss Cullinan tries to assert and take away from Margaret and doing so by robbing her of her identity the one thing that was truly hers. It also shows the lengths in which Miss Cullinan will go to assert her corrupted power towards Margaret in retaliatory way for things in which she had no control like her husband leaving. In addition, Rodriguez give an example where his name was changed and his power was diminished when he states “A teenager drove past, shouting, Hey Greaser! Hey, Pancho …Such remarks would be said so casually that I wouldn’t quickly realize that they were being addressed to me. When I did, I would be paralyzed with embarrassment, unable to return the insult” (450). This quote speaks to the effect that the derogatory names had on Rodriguez. How they belittled him and took his power to stand up for himself and is yet another example of the corrupted tactics people use to satisfy their power