Maya Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Essay

Maya Angelous 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,†¦show more content†¦Freeman sends Maya to buy milk. When she returns from the errand, Mr. Freeman rapes her. He threatens to kill her if she screams, and he threatens to kill Bailey if she tells anyone. Afterward, Mr. Freeman sends her to th e library, but Maya returns home because of the intense physical pain she feels between her legs. She hides her underwear under her mattress and goes to bed. Vivian thinks she might be coming down with the measles. Later that night, Maya hears Vivian argue with Mr. Freeman. In the morning, Vivian tells Maya that Mr. Freeman has moved out. When Bailey tries to change the linens, the bloodied panties Maya has hidden under the mattress fall out. Summary: Chapter 13 Vivian takes Maya to the hospital. Bailey privately urges Maya to name the rapist, assuring her that he would not allow the culprit to kill him. Maya reveals Mr. Freemans name, the authorities promptly arrest him. Maya thinks of herself as a grown woman, remembering that her nurses told her that she has already experienced the worst that life has to offer. Maya feels caught in a trap when the attorney asks her whether there were any sexual incidents with Mr. Freeman prior to the rape. She fears rejection from her family if she admits to the previous incidents, butShow MoreRelatedSummary Of Maya Angelous I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings1363 Words   |  6 Pagescenturies. In fact, progress in general depends on new minds and ideas separating from their ancestors’ â€Å"old-fashioned† ways of living and thinking. Maya Angelou expertly depicted this diversity of progressive thought in her first autobiography, which focused primarily on her childhood. The three generations Angelou portrays in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings--Mommas, her parents, and her own--represent the diversity of progressive outlooks and, despite their obvious divides on accepting circumstancesRead MoreRacism in Maya Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Essay1643 Words   |  7 PagesRacism in Maya Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou, the current poet laureate of the United States, has become for many people an exemplary role model. She read an original poem at the inauguration of President Clinton; she has also appeared on the television show Touched by an Angel, and there read another poem of her own composition; she lectures widely, inspiring young people to aim high in life. Yet this is an unlikely beginning for a woman who, by the age of thirtyRead MoreThe Theme of Racism in Maya Angelou’s Novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 842 Words   |  3 PagesIn this essay I will be talking about how the theme of Racism is developed throughout Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings novel. Angelou on the second page states, â€Å"Wouldn’t they be surprised when one day I woke out of my black ugly dream, and my real hair, which was long and blond, would take the place of the kinky mass that Momma wouldn’t let me straighten? My light-blue eyes were going to hypnotize them, after all the things they said about â€Å"my daddy must have been a Chinaman†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  (AngelouRead MoreOpression in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and James McBride’s Color of Water1965 Words   |  8 Pagesdoom, non-violent actions and a violent response. Overall, he emphasizes community involvement, working together and dropping racial barriers as the solution to oppression. In Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and James McBride’s Color of Water, Maya Angelou and Ruth McBride Jordan face similar challenges; Maya Angelou faces segregation and internal oppression and Ruth McBride faces segregation, gender and religious oppression. Through their struggles, these two women strive to make aRead MoreOppression Due to Societys Misconception in Maya Angelous Autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings597 Words   |  2 PagesThe theme that Maya Angelou incorporates into her autobiography, â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings† is one of imprisonment because of the oppression dictated on the subject through the misconceptions of society. The title itself suggests imprisonment as the overlying theme. Assuming that the bird mentioned in the title is Maya, one can analyze that the cage is the oppressive beliefs of society and the reason why the bird sings is that it wants to combat racism by explaining that the cage cannot confineRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings1482 Words   |  6 Pages Maya Angelou tells of her life experiences and struggles in her book â€Å"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings† that gives us insight about Maya’s life as a young black girl growing up in a time of racism. The novel discusses various forms of oppression that she had to face as well cope with them. Robert A. Gross wrote an analysis for Newsweek about the book and claimed that Angelou’s book is not only an interesting story of her own experience, but also a portray al of a Southern black communityRead More Maya Angelou: A Source of Humanity Essay1329 Words   |  6 PagesMaya Angelou: A Source of Humanity I am human, Angelou said, and nothing human can be alien to me (Shafer). Maya Angelou just may be the most human person in the world. Indeed, with all of the struggles she went through in her early life, her humanness increasingly deepened. Her life was characterized by the instability of her childhood and her family, along with the challenge of being a black woman growing up in 19th century America. The deepness of her humanness is evident in allRead MoreMaya Angelou1001 Words   |  5 PagesMaya Angelou You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness. But still, like air, Ill rise. Have you ever been so influenced by such a small amount of powerful words? This brilliant quote extracted from Maya Angelous own poem, Still I Rise, basically brings out the spirit and nature of each of her publications. Maya Angelous works of poetry are seen as inspiration for those who have been discriminated for their public appearances. AsRead MoreIgnorance And Racism In I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings706 Words   |  3 Pagesstory or novel. The book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou has three prominent motifs which are represented throughout the book. Ignorance and illiteracy, self-esteem, and racism are all present motifs in Maya Angelou’s autobiographical novel. Ignorance and illiteracy are displayed by Momma and Maya, respectively. Momma displays ignorance when she does not understand the new slang of the times and Maya s how illiteracy when she gets pregnant by accident. Maya struggles with being a NegroRead MoreI Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou Analysis1661 Words   |  7 PagesAmendment to The United States Constitution prevents congress from making any law that abides from the freedom of speech. Equally, authors like Maya Angelou have the freedom of speech in our country to write, and in Angelous case, the freedom to write about her life. Maya Angelou, one of the most banned authors in The United States, wrote I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. Her autobiography depicts rape, explicit language and racism. It has been used in educational settings such as high schools and universities