I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Reading Journal
Prologue
From the prologue it’s easy for me to see that the tone of this book is going to be
anything but happy. I know that the protagonist (Maya Angelou as a child, as I
found out from the back cover) was a very insecure child, who through no fault of
her own never felt content or safe. Incidents like the one in the prologue will be
all too frequent, I think.
Page 2 holds a clue about the setting (Arkansas). I can deduce the time setting
from the name of the church Maya is in (Colored Methodist Episcopal Church).
This means the story is taking place during the period of racial segregation.
The two final paragraphs of the prologue strike me as significant. In particular,
the word “displacement” makes me think. What displacement is she talking
about? Her insecurity? Being somewhere she shouldn’t be? My previous feeling
about Maya never feeling content or safe is confirmed by the razor simile.
Chapters 1-8
In the first paragraph of Chapter 1 I find out one source of the displacement
mentioned in the Prologue. I wondered what was preventing either parent from
taking custody of the children.
The rest of the chapter is mostly about establishing the setting more clearly.
Once again the chapter ends with a profound statement about the plight of black
people at the time.
Chapter 2 simply depicts some “snapshots” of Maya’s childhood life. Again we
are shown the cruelty of the family’s life in Uncle Willie’s experience. We also are
given a clue that both Maya and Bailey were unusually smart children, as they
read and even tried to memorize Shakespeare.
Chapter 3 shows in vivid detail the kind of danger black people constantly lived in
during that time. The sheriff warned the family that because of one black man’s
infraction in white society, all black men in Stamps are in danger. It is a mark of
the injustice they all face.
In Chapter 4, Maya tells of the love she has for Bailey, who was one of her few
comforts during her childhood. He defended her loyally, and supplied some
humor and amusement as well. I see a pattern: this chapter also ends with a
significant quotation that is clearly coming from Maya Angelou as an adult, not a
child. It shows how complete the segregation of races was in Stamps. Maya did
not fully believe that white people even existed. Echoing the sentiments of whites
for blacks, she thought of the white people as aliens. They weren’t considered
folks, but whitefolks.
Chapter 5 contains a demonstration of what a strong-willed person Momma is.
While Maya was crying with rage at the way the poor white girls were treating
Momma, Momma stood and hummed hymns. This probably made Momma a role
model for Maya in terms of resisting racism. I can sense that resisting racism will
be the central theme of the book, not racism itself.
Chapter 6 shows how much Maya disliked certain faults of people, in this case
Reverend Thomas. She hated his gluttony and the way he never bothered to
remember her name. Bailey and Maya also discussed sexuality in a way typical
of small children. By this time I’ve noticed that both Bailey and Maya seem
unusually perceptive and analytical for their age.
Another thing I notice is that the book seems to be filled with characters like
Reverend Thomas. They are introduced, Maya describes them and then they are
gone. I suppose that this is so we can gain insights into Maya’s personality
through “show”, not “tell”.
This chapter is also a demonstration of how the children were brought up. They
did get into mischief, but they were beaten for it. It is also a demonstration of the
fact demonstrated in Chapter 4: Bailey gives Maya’s life some much-needed
amusement.
Chapter 7 confirms my earlier perception that Momma was a role model in
Maya’s eyes. Here she describes Momma in detail, talking about how she was
the only black person in Stamps who was ever addressed as “Mrs”, even if it was
by accident. She did not hold with the belief, ground into black people, that white
people were superior in some way. It seems like Momma will become a very
important figure, not just in the memoir, but in Maya’s life.
Chapter 8 describes another aspect of racial segregation. Maya couldn’t
comprehend how white people could have so much money and blacks couldn’t.
The financial situation became so desperate that Momma had to allow trade
items as currency in her store to keep the business going.
The rest of the chapter is critical. Maya had been thinking that her parents are
dead, yet she and Bailey received Christmas gifts from them. For some reason
this upset them both. This was probably a result of the bitterness they had left
from their displacement (another source) from their parents.
Chapters 9-18
At the beginning of Chapter 9 I wonder why Maya and Bailey were so upset over
the arrival of their father. After seeing the effects of their displacement from him, I
would have thought they would be happy. However, I’m already a bit annoyed at
Big Bailey for his strange mannerisms. I have to read his dialogue a few times
before I understand it.
I now understand it more as Maya balked at seeing her mother as well. I also
understand her anger at her father for simply knowing how to speak Pig Latin.
She seemed to be able to find any reason to dislike or even hate her father.
Another thing that must have upset her greatly was Bailey’s reaction to seeing
his mother. He had “never shared the icy wind of solitude with me”. I think Maya
felt almost betrayed at that point. The person she was closest too was suddenly
miles away.
The significant final statement at the end of the chapter is another mark of
Maya’s displacement. What else could it be, if both of her parents were like
strangers to her?
Chapter 10 is an introduction to life in St. Louis. Maya describes Grandmother
Baxter in a neutral manner. As she goes through the descriptions, I reflect that
this is another example of displacement. She has to adapt herself to the new
environment, for example, learning to say “Yes” and “No” rather than “Yes,
ma’am” and “No, ma’am” (pg. 63).
Maya began to love her mother again, acknowledging the unbreakable
connection between mother and daughter (pg. 67). Also, knowing how she has
come by the name “Maya”
In Chapter 11, Mr. Freeman sexually molests Maya. At this point I stop to reflect
that this is not a work of fiction. The word “atrocity” floats in my head. At first
Maya did not mind what Mr. Freeman does to her, even starting to feel lonely
without it, a mark of her innocence at the time, amplifying the atrocity.
In Chapter 12, Maya was raped. This is probably the most poignant part of the
entire book. It is not related to displacement, but it is still a very important part of
what the book is about: indignity, cruelty and oppression. At the end of the
chapter, she learned that one cannot hide such an act for long.
In Chapter 13, Maya was horrified at the consequences of her telling Bailey that
Mr. Freeman had raped her. I could not tell what her feelings were about the
death of Mr. Freeman. At the end of the chapter, I realized that despite Bailey’s
distancing himself from her, she still loved him.
In Chapter 14 I realized how separate the cultures of Northern and Southern U.S.
were at the time. I take this as a sign of discrimination and prejudice. It is
distressing to see that the people of Stamps take Maya’s silence to signal a
“reluctant return to the South” (pg. 91), having no idea what happened to her.
Chapter 15 is a critical one: Maya is introduced to Mrs. Flowers. She appeals to
Maya’s love of literature (a theme of the book) to break her silence. It brought
back my own memories to read these lines: “With the unbalanced passion of the
young, I hated her for showing her ignorance to Mrs. Flowers.” (pg. 91). I
remember feeling that way when I felt my parents were acting inappropriately.
Mrs. Flowers probably joins Momma in the list of Maya’s role models and adults
she loves. This is probably a connection to Maya Angelou’s later career as a
poet.
At this point, I reflect on the title of the book. It is a perfect metaphor for what has
happened in this chapter. Maya is the caged bird, trapped within her own fears of
being the voice of the devil, and she sings (speaks) because of a love for
literature that conquers her fear.
Chapter 16 recounts Maya’s experience with Ms. Viola Cullinan, a white woman.
She insulted Maya by shortening her name to “Mary” for her own convenience. In
keeping with the theme of the memoir, Maya broke Ms. Cullinan’s fine china in
resistance to racism. This is the first of a few such incidents.
Chapter 17 reminds us how much Bailey loved his mother. He stayed out late at
the movies to watch one repeatedly. That movie starred an actress who
reminded him strongly of his mother. He took Maya to see another Kay Francis
movie, and it made Maya happy instead of lonely like Bailey. It was a sign of a
good relationship that had developed between Maya and her mother.
Chapter 18 carries on the theme of resistance to racism with the church revival
meeting. The black preacher’s sermon implicitly criticized white society, stirring
up strong racial pride and happiness in the listeners. The scene was made more
powerful as honky-tonk music heard on the way home from church, neutralizing
the uplifted mood of the churchgoers.
Chapters 19-27
In Chapter 19 the people of Stamps were listening to the Joe Louis boxing
match. This falls under the theme of resisting racism because Joe Louis, to them,
represented racial pride. When he wins, “Joe Louis had proved that we were the
strongest people in the world.” (pg. 132). There is a double meaning to the word
“strongest”, which I find interesting and very clever.
Chapter 20 recounts how Maya found a friend in Louise Kendricks. This natural
childhood event was rendered more significant in Maya’s case, since it was the
first time in her life she had bonded with someone her own age, apart from
Bailey. She says, “…after being a woman for three years I was about to become
a girl.”
When she received a Valentine from Tommy Valdon, she immediately grew wary
and cautious. When Louise mentioned to her that a Valentine has something to
do with love, the powerfully negative connotations of the word in Maya’s mind
drove her away from it without hesitation. This is a sign of how she had been
badly abused, since love should have been a very positive idea for her.
Chapter 21 focuses more on Bailey. We are told of how Joyce transformed his
innocent games of sexual curiosity into actual intercourse. This is a less poignant
reflection of Maya’s experiences: a child is taken advantage of sexually. Again
we see Bailey in a state of sadness and loneliness (the last time was after the
Kay Francis movie).
I do not fully understand Chapter 22. George Taylor brings the news that his wife
has died. Perhaps an indication of racial pre-conditioning is the fact that the
“devilish angel” he saw had blue eyes.
In Chapter 23, at Maya’s eighth-grade graduation, Mr. Edward Donleavy speaks
and implies that black people can only achieve success through athletics, never
through academics. This is an obvious mark of racial prejudice. After his speech,
in keeping with the central theme of the book, Henry Reed uplifts the audience
again, speaking clearly and proudly, then leading the graduating class in a song
known as the “black National Anthem” (Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing). The chapter
ends with a powerfully joyful feeling, as Maya feels proud of her racial
background again.
In Chapter 24 we see yet another example of racial discrimination. The white
dentist Momma took Maya to refused to treat her because she was black. In
another example of resistance to racism, Momma made Dr. Lincoln, the dentist,
pay interest on a loan from her retroactively. She admitted that this was a sin, yet
she felt the dentist deserved it.
The pattern continues in Chapter 25 as we are presented with another critical
turning point and an example of racism. Bailey witnessed a dead black man
being dragged from the pond, and a white man’s joy and jokes at the sight. He
feels threatened, and Momma begins making plans to have both the children
shipped off to California to be with their mother.
In Chapter 26 the children were in Los Angeles with Momma. Maya was once
again apprehensive about meeting her mother, especially after the death of Mr.
Freeman. Maya also described her mother’s honesty, and recounts their surprise
night-time party. Maya regained her love for her mother and was no longer afraid
of anything repercussions from the Mr. Freeman incident. This is reassured by
Vivian’s marriage to Daddy Clidell at the end of the chapter. Already I can tell that
Maya will like him.
In Chapter 27, another form of displacement is seen, as the steadily arriving
Negroes in San Francisco displaced the Japanese who were already there. The
chapter is mainly description of San Francisco, although at the end another form
of racism is seen in the white woman who would not sit next to a black man on a
streetcar.
Chapters 28-36
In Chapter 28 Maya experienced resistance to racism again in the form of Miss
Kirwin, a teacher who treated her the same as any other student, even in a
predominantly white school.
Chapter 29 is the bonding between Maya and Daddy Clidell. This is a chapter
with a happier tone than others. It is a mark of how Maya has been abused and
disappointed in the past that she is surprised when Daddy Clidell turns out to be
a very likeable person. She had been prepared to write him off as just another
one of her mother’s partners. Another form of resistance to racism appears here
as Maya, a devout Christian, does not consider Daddy Clidell’s team of con men
to be unethical, as long as they swindle white racists.
In Chapter 30 Maya went off to her father’s house for the summer. He had a
girlfriend: Dolores. It is a somewhat indirect example of displacement when
Dolores’ and Maya’s expectations of each other’s physical appearance (from
their correspondence) turned out completely wrong.
During the visit, Maya’s opinion of her father deteriorated as they went to Mexico
on what he said was a “shopping” trip. He disgraced himself and showed no
emotion at her accomplishment of driving a car. This, to me, explains why Maya
saw Daddy Clidell as her first real father figure.
Chapter 31 concluded the relationship of Maya and her father, as she and
Dolores fought. It seems Maya still feared that somehow she had done wrong,
because she still felt guilty at Mr. Freeman’s death, which is why she did not go
back to San Francisco immediately.
In Chapter 32, Maya noted that her time spent in the junkyard taught her a lot
about diversity and tolerance. The different races of teenagers coexisted together
easily enough, and Maya and Juan overcame a racial barrier as they finished
second place in a dancing contest together.
In Chapter 33, Maya had made the first real independent action of her life in her
return to San Francisco. She showed her love for Bailey in her apparent concern
that he had aged dramatically in her absence, and again when he left and she
was left feeling lonely, despite the other, loving people in the house.
In Chapter 34, perhaps the biggest example of resistance to racism appears in
Maya’s struggle to become a streetcar conductor despite restrictions against
hiring blacks for the job. Through determination and perseverance, she
eventually wins through, once again proving to herself that her people were the
strongest people in the world, as Joe Louis had proved years earlier.
In Chapter 35, Maya displayed a lack of education of a certain type through her
concern that she was a lesbian, due to her sexual development that she knew
nothing about. I consider it a sign of innocence that she felt she had to sleep with
a man in order to prove she wasn’t lesbian. This did not reassure her, and made
her pregnant into the bargain. Another example of displacement, I think.
In the final chapter, Maya confessed her pregnancy to her parents (a bit late).
This is a critical step in her coming of age: she became more open to other
people, especially her mother, who she had not spent her early childhood with.
She worried constantly about her motherhood after she gives birth, and her
mother, in a mark of the bond they shared again, reassured her that her heart
would guide her right every time. Maya goes to sleep again, content and secure
even after all the displacement and discrimination she has faced.