Childhood Memoir - Maya Angelou.

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Alanna Le Sueur

H. English

Period 4

Dec. 17th, 2003

Childhood Memoir Essay

Throughout Maya Angelou’s childhood, major obstacles do not cease to be thrown at her. This includes the obstacle she was born with, which is being a black female, in a harsh world of Jim Crow laws, racism and sexism, a real world existing during the 1930’s-1940’s in southern America. She depicts this world to us through the eyes of an innocent, confused little girl searching for her place in a hard world that is reluctant to accept her in it. Overall, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an honest, heartfelt depiction of the struggles of racial and gender discrimination endured by a southern black girl.

In this childhood memoir, Maya Angelou vividly describes herself as a child through many different events and experiences that shape her character. Between the ages of 3 and 16 years old, Maya is moved around from 7 different homes. This leaves her with a deep sense of displacement and causes her to remain shy, introverted and reserved throughout her childhood; she puts up a shield, constantly repeating to herself the phrase “I didn’t come to stay”(p.58), trying to remind herself not to get too close to people because she will just be moved again soon anyhow. Besides Bailey, her big brother who never leaves her side until adolescence, Maya does not give in and make her first friend until the 7th grade. Another reason why Maya is so reserved is because of her extreme physical insecurities. Before her insecurity metamorphosizes into pride, Maya does not appreciate being African American for its typical physical qualities; she describes herself as “big, elbowy, grating…my head covered with black steel wool” and painfully recalls, “I was described by our playmates as being shit color”(p. 117). Young Maya’s strong sense of displacement and physical insecurities lead to her profound longing for physical affection. Her innocent ignorance and confusion upon the subjects of affection and sexual relations, and her failure to recognize the difference between the two brings only trouble to Maya as she is molested several times and later raped at age late, and as she gets pregnant at the age of 16. Overall, I would say that describing herself as a child, Maya Angelou creates a portrait of a girl who feels extremely displaced, introverted, and independent, almost alienated from the world, insecure and confused. She is in need of love, guidance and some confidence, all of which she eventually gains by the end of her teens as a result of many hard experiences.

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Though Maya Angelou didn’t spend her childhood in one set environment, different elements from each helped Maya evolve into a strong and confident woman. Maya spent most of her childhood in Stamps, Alabama, with her brother Bailey and her grandmother whom she refers to as “Momma”, since she doesn’t meet her mother until later on. Maya describes: “In Stamps, the segregation was so complete that most black children didn’t really absolutely know what whites looked like…I remember never believing that the whites were really real. I couldn’t force myself to think of them as people”(p.21). The “whitefolks” and the “powhitetrash”, ...

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