I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Quote Analysis

“Oh yes, the past can hurt. But, you can either run from it, or learn from it.” Although this quote was taken from a Disney animation of a talking lion, the meaning behind and within it can make you revise your thinking towards life. The quote above makes a statement of which that the past holds great responsibility towards the present you, shaping you into the person you are today. This statement can be supported with the book, “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings”, the author Maya Angelou draws on social context to develop the main theme of the past lays the foundation of the person’s values and point of view in the future.

Beginning her life story, Maya Angelou talks about the childhood that shifts her lifestyle. Maya at the age of three, was

Another area where Angelou starts laying the foundation for the setting is “He must have tired of being crippled, as prisoners tire of penitentiary bars and the guilty tire of blame.” (23). Uncle Willie is the focus of this quote. As a Black crippled man, he has two identity markers that negatively impact his place in society. Maya says earlier in the book, being an able-bodied Black man is already a struggle. Uncle Willie’s disability adds a new aspect to his struggles. In this quote, Maya creates an assumption that perhaps Uncle Willie grew tired of being “the cripple” in his community and so when the Store has customers from out of town, he pretends he doesn’t have a disability. This is significant that Maya compares Uncle Willie’s life to that of a prisoner or a guilty person because it suggests that Uncle Willie feels trapped in his body and ashamed of his situation. Also that perhaps society treats him the same way they treat criminals with scorn, fear, and righteous anger. Throughout the book, Maya discusses many aspects that people of the 2000s

A couple of the aspects are the effects of rape, segregation, and self acceptance. The statement Maya is black seems simple enough. But the word black holds a stronger meaning than just a descriptive word for the physical appearance of an individual. The title of the book mentions a cage, in which one could interpret that racism is the cage around the caged bird. Limiting the freedom in social aspects and political as well, African Americans birds that the rights they should have been born with.But by the end of the book, Maya learns how to fight back in her own way at her own time“It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life.” (301), these are heartfelt and bitter words torn from Maya’s soul during her school graduation. This sentence sums up the lives of Black Southerners during the early to mid-1900s. Maya feels this when her teacher reminds the Black students of Stamps that they are expected to be athletes or hired help. Because of Donleavy’s speech, Maya feels that she has no control over her life choices and is incapable of achieving her dreams. Slowly bringing the metaphorical cage into reality. Maya is raped when she is eight years old as mentioned above. From that moment on, her abuse pushes her sexual identity into question. She confuses sex with love, she feels torn between womanhood and girlhood. Throughout the