Literature Analysis #2

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

1. This book is about the coming of age of Maya "Mata" Angelou. She is passed from home to home but the most prominent parts of her childhood are spent in rural Stamps, Arkansas living with her brother Bailey and uncle in the back of her grandmother's store. There Maya bore witness to a large amount of racial intolerance. Maya is confused by the mere existence of "the whites" and sees them as another species. A visit from their father reveals that they are to be brought to St. Louis to live with their mother. This is where Maya encounters one of the great tragedies of her childhood. She is first molested and later raped by her mother's live in boyfriend Mr. Freeman at eight years old. After his trial he is murdered which causes Maya a good amount of (undeserved) guilt. After this tragedy she refuses to speak to anyone except her brother and eventually they are sent to live again with their grandmother "Momma" in Stamps. Here is when Maya meets Mrs. Bertha Flowers who acts as a mentor and huge influence to Maya's life providing her with "lessons in living". After scary encounters with racism Momma fears for their safety and arranges for them to live with their mother in California. Here after struggles to find independence and a shocking revelation about her father Maya is able to overcome multiple struggles and obtain a diploma. After hiding her pregnancy the story comes to a close (for now) with a son being born and loved unconditionally.

2. One of the most prominent themes of the book is racism/segregation and it's effect on one's coming in to adulthood.

3. The author's tone is poetically earnest and contemplative.

 "Each year I watched the field across from the Store turn caterpillar green, then gradually frosty white. I knew exactly how long it would be before the big wagons would pull into the front yard and load on the cotton pickers at daybreak to carry them to the remains of slavery's plantations."

"Other than that they were different[white people], to be dreaded, and in that dread was included the hostility of the powerless against the powerful, the poor against the rich, the worker against the worked for and the ragged against the well dressed."

"I couldn't understand whites and where they got the right to spend money so lavishly. Of course I knew God was white too, but no one could have made me believe he was prejudiced."

4. Literary devices/techniques:

• Imagery: "I watched the field across the Store turn caterpillar green, then gradually frosty white."
• Allusion: "...her eyes full of sleep and hair tousled, I thought she looked just like the Virgin Mary"
• Anecdote: the author often takes time to recount times where she and her brother would cause mischief together and paid for it with a good lashing from their Grandmother.
• Conflict: Maya blames herself at first for the rape and for Mr. Freeman's murder.
• Epithet: "Most Beautiful Mother in the World"
• Portmanteau: "powhitetrash" = poor white trash
• Flashback: the entire book...
• Juxtaposition: the lifestyles of whites and blacks in the south. Whites: "But above all their wealth that allowed them to waste was most enviable." Blacks: Although there was generosity in the negro neighborhood, it was indulged on pain of sacrifice."
• Setting: Stamps, Arkansas is a true southern town of the times. Hot, rural and filled with racism.
• Metaphor: "being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat."

CHARACTERIZATION

1.

• When Maya is seeing or talking to people the author uses direct characterization to describe them. This is a biased way of viewing the characters but essentially helps us learn more about Maya based off the important figures that were featured in her life and how she viewed them. Such as her brother who was undoubtedly her favorite person in the world:

"His hair fell down in black curls...he was small, graceful and smooth."

"And the fact that we was my brother...was such good fortune it made me want to live a Christian life just to show God that I was grateful."

• You get to know Maya through  more indirect characterization of using her thoughts and actions. This approach gives us full insight into Maya and how she thinks and reacts the various elements of her life. Maya's thoughts allow us as readers to understand that she is much deeper than what other characters assume.

"If growing up is painful for the Southern black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult."

"I wanted to throw a handful of black pepper in their faces...to scream at them...but I knew I was as clearly imprisoned behind the scene as the actors outside were confined to their roles." (This quote is from a scene where powhitetrash children are mocking and harassing Momma showcasing Maya's helplessness and burning protective side.

2. The authors word choice changes mostly based off of whether the characters involved in the dialogue are black or white. Formalities change within the races as does what is considered the appropriate grammar. For example the conversation between Momma and Mrs. Flowers is very different than the conversations between Momma and white folk she may come across.

3. The main character, Maya is most definitely a dynamic character. Maya faces numerous challenges and hardships including racism and assaults on her body and character. She is forever changed by these events and evolves because of them.  Each event she goes through be it the tragic rape at a young age or meeting Mrs. Flowers who helped shape Maya as a person and writer helps her to change as a person and eventually come in to her own.

4. Coming away from the book I felt as if I had met a person. Maya Angelou has always been one of my inspirations. Reading this story I felt as if there were so many things I could relate to on a personal level. An example of a quote that will stay with me for a long time is "If you're for the right thing, you do it without thinking."