Maya Angelou When I Lay My Burden Down

The real life battles in life are fought between the mind and soul far from comprehension. In When I Lay My Burden Down, Maya Angelou sets the stage in her childhood in the segregated rural South. Maya Angelou and her family, more specifically her grandmother, are continuously humiliated by the “powhitetrash”, or the poor white girls of her neighborhood. Due to the intense segregation that was present at the time in both the nation and in her society, Maya Angelou implies how the “white folk” are of a different human species and are not to be “messed” with. In one instance of interaction between the two “species” in When I Lay My Burden Down, Maya Angelou describes a time when she watched the “powhitetrash” girls harass and humiliate her grandmother.
The fear and knowledge of these conflicts cause Maya Angelou faces two sides, to disobey her grandmother and attack the “powhitetrash” or to obey her grandmother and tradition and stay put. Ultimately, she decides to obey and follow her tradition but this choice leads to her realization of the true harshness of the segregation that was there in her community as well as the real reason behind such harshness. One side of this conflict within Maya Angelou encourages her to listen and obey her grandmother telling her to stay put on the porch, not to attack the “powhitetrash” girls. She ultimately follows this side due to two reason, the fear of death due to segregation as well as the importance of respecting the authority of elders, represented by her grandmother. During this time, America, where this story is set, or more specifically in southern USA,
She followed the advice of her grandmother and did not retaliate no matter how much the desire compelled her. She made a choice but no without the guilt of having her grandmother humiliated. As a result of this choice, her family was not attacked by the white folks and was only mildly humiliated. If she had chosen the other side, she and her family may have been killed due to the high tensions between the whites and the colored. However, due to her choice, Maya Angelou realizes the true harshness of the social tension that exist in her community. Before this incident and choice, Maya just assumed the “powhitetrash” were impudent to all people due to that lack of well upbringing. After she this incident, however, Maya realizes that the girls were harassing her due to her skin color. She realizes the strong social problems and harshness based on color within her community. This fear of the white folks based on segregation, among other fears, led Maya Angelou, just as it did with many people of all time periods, to choose the peaceful path, the one that preserves life, though it may be subconscious, in overcoming