Maya is a black young girl who lived in the racist and
segregated time periods of 1928 and 1945. Maya and her brother, Baily, have
been sent from home at the very young age of (I think) 4 to go live with their
grandmother in a place called Stamps. In stamps, white persons and black
persons are so separated, that Maya used to believe that white people were just
make believe. Anyway, Maya comes to Stamps and lives with her grandmother (she
calls Momma), her crippled uncle Willy, and her brother Baily for the years of
her early childhood life (I think up to about 8-10ish). She grows very attached
to everyone and everything there, although she is not sure if she likes it and
always feels a sort of emptiness within her. Suddenly out of nowhere, her
father comes to get her and bring her back along with her brother. She doesn’t
feel close to her father at all. They take a car home, and after a long ride
they meet their real mother and-
chapter ends. This is roughly the first half of the book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
This book clearly states the problems and issues about
growing up. Maya is feeling insecure, curious, non-ignorant, and many other
common symptoms of growing up. I would praise the author on creating such a realistic
story, however it is an autobiography. Branching off of the insecure part, she
has been feeling more and more insecure as the story progresses. In the
beginning she was just a bumbling child who felt dumb, but wasn’t worried about
it or troubled at all. However, her insecurity has been rising and rising. As
she began to grow up, she compared herself and her brother. She described their
two very similar features (noses, skin color, eyes, etc.) and underrated hers
and overrated his. For example, she describes her skin as being “Sh*t” colored,
and his skin being the color of black velvet. They have the exact same colored
skin. Her insecurity got to the point that the slightest tremor might make her absolutely
despise herself. That slight tremor came when her father arrived. He was Awestruckingly
(I believe that’s a word :P) tall, wore fancy clothes, spoke perfect proper
English, and was incredibly handsome. Baily immediately warmed up to him, and (subconsciously)
began imitating his actions. Maya however was to shy and was always distant
from him. She began suspecting that she was just an orphan who was picked up
off the streets to keep Baily company.
I have yet to see if her insecurity grows alongside her age,
and I’ll post another post when I finish this book.
