Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” Essay

Maya Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings chronicles the early years of the occasions life up to age seventeen. In the obligate, Angelou poetically describes the phenomenon that is growth up dimmed, in the south, in the time before and during World struggle II. I believe that you are expected to interpret this as a memoir of overcoming the odds. I believe that you are expected to regard the happenings of this book with feelings of empathy and/or sympathy. You are also supposed to marvel at the dash Angelou persevered to become the woman (and writer) she is to sidereal day.At the end of the prologue, Angelou states that, If growing up is dreaded for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. (4)The razor to the throat is symbolic of authority. To a Southern black girl in the 1930s and 40s, authority is al nigh ein truth maven. adolescent black female was the absolute bottom of the barrel. She must let herse lf be ruled by all sorts. Older black kids, black adults, and anyone bloodless. Likewise, these stack are ready to pounce on her should she do the least niggling occasion wrong. Everyone was reprimanded for one thing or a nonher as a child. No one enjoyed it. Imagine being surrounded by people, precisely waiting for you to slip up so that they can yell at you, punish you, etcetera. Through this, Angelou gaines your sypathy, and you may very well find yourself in awe that Angelou do it through such a childhood with her saneness intact.When a puppyish Maya Angelous grandmother tried to take her to a white dentist who owed her a favor, the dentist said, Annie, my policy is Id rather stick my hand in a dogs mouth than a niggers. (189) This adds upon the point made earlier. The pain of a toothache combined with the pain of wounded pride. Maya Angelou has massive amounts of pride. She spent most of her years in Stamps, Georgia being insulted by one thing or another. Some of the occ asions were insulting (the dentist), while some others were the crossroad of reading too deeply into something, like when a white pol came to speak at her graduation. He spoke of how much new equipment the white school was getting, and how the black community would not be forgotten. Here, her pride was injure because of the way the politicianspoke, like their school came second when in fact, in that time and place, they did come second, and the politician did not mean anything negative he was simply being honest. To have your pride assaulted day in and day out is a horrible way to live.Mayas brother did not return home at once after attending the movies. When they open him, Bailey was talking so fast he forgot to stutter, he forgot to scratch his head and lightheaded his fingernails with his teeth. He was away in a mystery, locked in the enigma that young Southern Black boys start to unravel, try to unravel, from seven years grey-haired to demise. The humorless puzzle of ineq uality and death. (198) solely children learn nigh death eventually. They have to. Death is a part of life. besides imagine aliment where your death is regarded as a burden on society relieved, as opposed to the tragedy that it would be. It makes you wonder why you are viewed as so low, and it makes you wonder if those people who view you as such are correct.I was given blood tests, aptitude tests, physical coordination tests, and Rosarchs, then on a blissful day I was hired as the first lightlessness on the San Francisco streetcars. (270) Triumph Angelou somehow managed to overcome all of societys efforts to hold her tooshie. Such an accomplishment, though little-remembered today, was a great thing back them. Many little wins like that contributed to winning the equality of today.What happened to the moonlight-on-the-prairie feeling? Was at that place something wrong with me that I couldnt share a sensation that made poets gush rhyme after rhyme, that made Richard Arlen brav e the Arctic wastes and speedwell Lake betray the entire free world? . . . .Three weeks later, having thought very little closely that strange and strangely empty night, I found myself pregnant. (283-284) Angelou did not completely understand the connection between sex and love. This in itself is proof of the way she grew up almost like everyone held her at forts length. Her didnt (or I imagine she didnt) conceptualise that she was old bountiful to know these things, and even if she was old enough, her grandmother was too old fashioned to adequately explain it. By the time she moved in withher mother, she was quondam(prenominal) the age that modern kids learn these things. Maybe her mother figured she already knew this stuff, or maybe she figured that anything her daughter needed to know, she would ask her.But needless to say, one would be hesitant to ask their mother about such a touchy subject. Angelou did not even want to verbalise her mother that she was pregnant. This unfortunate situation is not exclusive to minorities, but was and legato is very common. It occurs less frequently now, that one makes a sexual drift out of ignorance, due to people being more open about such topics. The fact that the baby is delivered healthily, despite the fact that she was the only one in the area who knew about it for the first eight months of the pregnancy is amazing. It makes you think about how lucky she is. And she is very lucky.Maya Angelous accomplishments are pretty amazing. All of the things she had to overcome to become until she acheived the ultimate goal equality, and perhaps normalcy. When one is feature of a childhood such as hers, normalcy may be a thing to strive for, and a thing to cherish once experienced. Indeed, she surpassed the point of normalcy to reach the opposite point from where she started. She went from being psyche who was barely noticed, and when she was noticed, regarded with contempt, to one who is admired and revered for her work.