The Autobiography The Caged Bird Sings English Literature Essay

‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’ is an autobiography, written by Maya Angelou.

The book appeared in 1970, and became a bestseller. The main character in the book is the author herself; Marguarite Jonsson also known as Maya Angelou. The book’s main themes are discrimination and getting mature.

The story begins in a village called Stamps in Arkanses. The 7 years old Marguerite and her 8 years old brother live here with their strictly religious grandmother and crippled uncle, Willie. They are all dark-skinned and therefore they belong to the underclass, called the Negro’s. Mrs. Henderson, also known as Momma, runs a meeting place for many years in the village, what gives them still a little respect. They mostly sell food to other blacks, whites partly because they hardly ever visit the shop. This is mainly because they behave themselves superior towards the blacks. Marguerite and her brother Bailey always thought that their parents were dead, because their grandmother never mentioned anything about them. Until Christmas, when their father showes up with some Christmas presents. He stays for a while and then leaves with Marguerite and Bailey to their mother, Vivian Baxter. She is an attractive woman who earns her money by working in nightclubs. Marguerite and Bailey enter a world they are not used to, they get exposed to illegal practices such as gambling and alcohol. They are also getting far behind with school. Marguerite and Bailey can’t get along with the boyfriend of their mother, Mr. Freeman. One day, when her mother is away, he abuses Marguerite. At first she enjoys his attention, but after a while Mr Freeman rapes her. She is forced not to mention this, because he threatens to murder her brother when she speaks about the incident. But Marguerite’s mother discoveres what has happened as she finds semen in her underwear. There follows a process in which Marguerite is asked to testify. She answers the question whether he had ever touched her before with ‘no’, what is a lie. A day later Mr. Freeman is murdered and Marguerite thinks that is because of her lie. She refuses to talk to anyone, except for Bailey. After this incident the kids are send back to Stamps. Marguerite doesn’t tell anyone about her rape, because she is afraid that people think she’s weird and that they will ignore her. She meets Bertha Flowers, a friend of Momma, with whom she gets along very well. She is very happy because she can be herself with her. But still she often reminds the fact that whites see blacks as second-class citizens. She is often discriminated and even a white dentist refuses to help her because of her dark skin. Momma decides to send the children back to their mother, who now lives in San Francisco. Here they will live for the rest of their childhood. Marguerite tries to forget all her problems by focussing on other things, like dancing. After a while they are invited by their father to spend the holiday with him. They are enthusiastic, but they, especially Marguerite, have some problems with their father’s new girlfriend, Dolores. She is afraid that Marguerite is going to interfere in her relationship with their father. After a while Marguerite spends a weekend alone with her father. Dolores stays behind very disappointed. They go to a cosy cafe, but her father is getting so drunk that Marguerite decides to bring him home with the car. Marguerite is now 15 years old and didn’t ever drive a car before. She hits another car. When they finally arrive at home, Dolores is so angry towards Marguerite that she injures her with a knife. Her father decides to bring Marguerite to the neighbours, but she runs away and spends the night in a car demolition. But the place appears to be inhabited by people with certain rules. Marguerite decides to join them. 

After a month she goes back to her mother in San Francisco. Marguerite is trying to find work there as a tram conductor. At first she isn’t accepted because of her skin color, but after 3 weeks of constantly applying she finally gets the job. During the period she lives with her mother, she reads a book about homosexuality. Due to this book she has doubts about her own sexual orientation.  She thinks she is a lesbian because she behaves like a male. She has never been interested in boys, but to prove that she is not a lesbian, Marguerite goes to bed with a boy. She finds the experience disappointing and now thinks she is certain about her sexual orientation. After 3 weeks she appears to be pregnant. She doesn’t tell anyone for a long time, because she is afraid she has to quit her education. 3 weeks before Marguerite graduates, she admits that she is pregnant. It isn’t easy for her to get used to her newborn boy, but after a while she nevertheless is very satisfied with her baby. Marguerite and her baby boy live happily ever after.

Creative Assignment 14: Biography of the author with agreements from the book

Maya Angelou

I have chosen this creative assignment, because the book is an autobiography about the writer herself. So there are lots of agreements with her youth in real life and with her book. Maya Angelou has fought her whole life for equal human rights. She did this because she belongs to the black race herself, and from her own experience she knows what it’s like to be discriminated. In 1970 she published her first novel “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.” Maya Angelou describes the first 17 years of her childhood, in which she as ‘black race’ were discriminated lots by the ‘white’ race.

Maya Angelou was born on 4 April 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up in the village of Stamps, Arkansas with her grandmother and uncle Willie, just as in the book. Her full name is Margaret Ann Johnson. In her youth time, the ‘dark race’ i still seen as an underclass. She knows from her own experience how it feels to be discriminated. Two examples from the book are that a dentist refused to help her because of her skincolor and she is not being accepted as a tram conductor because they belongs to the underclass. The events in the book such as her rape by Mr. Freeman and her confusion about her sexual orientation match exactly with the events in her real life. Three weeks after Maya Angelou finished her study ‘dance and drama’ she gets a son, who she calles Guy. With this happening the book ends. There will be published more autobiographies about her life as an adult. For example “Gather Together in My Name” in which she describes the period in when she is 17 to 19 year old.

In the period 1954-1955, when she was grown up, she traveled around in Europe. She studied modern dance and danced in a few shows on television. In 1957 she recorded her first album. In 1958 she moved to New York where she joined the “Harlem Writers Guild’, where she wrote and performed ‘Cabaret Of Freedom’. In 1960 she moved to Ghana, where she wrote articles for ‘The Ghanaian Times’ and where she thaught at the University of Ghanese School of music and drama. After the years she spent abroad, she returned to America and established the new “American Organization of African Unit’. Accompanied by her friend James Baldwin, she wrote her first book “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.” The book was published internationally and achieved enormous success. There appeared even film version of her book. Her bestselling titles with mainly non-fiction books, counts more than 30 titles.

Maya Angelou reached also huge succes on television, she wrote the script for the movie ‘Georgia’. This was very special because it was the first script ever written by a black woman. She also appeared in movies, and she played a role in a few films like “Roots” and “Poetic Justice”. She also wrote the screenplay for “Down In The Delta”. For her career in the film world she achieved a number of awards. So she received the Presidential Medal of Arts in 2000, the Lincoln Medal in 2008 and three Grammy Awards. She also read a poem once live on television at the request of President Clinton.

By including her words, works and actions, discrimination decreased the last past years. Also blacks have got more respect and are more seen as equals. Because she she meant so much for racial equality in the world, I have a lot of respect for this woman. I think she described her real life very well in “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.” Therefore I recommend this book to everyone.

By Thijs Elands, A5b