I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Research Paper

Jackson Gage

1 June 2023

Period 1

Option #1

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Essay

Imagine living every day knowing that you could be slaughtered for something as simple as the color of your skin. What may seem like a horror story was an everyday reality for Maya Angelou in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Some have argued that growing up in Stamps was difficult for Maya due to her trauma. However, others believe that growing up in Stamps was difficult because of the racist nature of the town. Therefore, while her trauma was a real problem, in I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou uses the theme of racism and civil rights to represent the challenges of growing up in Stamps because of the town's racist population and structure. To begin,

While Edward Donleavy gives his speech at graduation, Maya decides, “We were maids and farmers, handymen and washerwomen, and anything higher that we aspired to was farcical and presumptuous” (Angelou 180). In Stamps, the entire town is segregated into the white and colored sides. The white side is given far better opportunities than the black side because of the racist foundations the city was built upon. Maya is given the worst school in Stamps, but nonetheless, she works to succeed at the top of her classes. However, despite this effort, it is all for nothing because of the racist town she lives in. Even if Maya goes to college her only option in Stamps is a college that teaches colored people to be maids, farmers, and carpenters. With little to no opportunities in her town, Maya feels routinely out of place. Hence, due to the very few opportunities for colored people growing up in Stamps is nearly

When Maya left Stamps at a young age to go to St. Louis, she was sexually assaulted by her mother's boyfriend and she “Had to stop talking” (Angelou 87). Since Maya experienced life-changing trauma she stopped talking. Therefore, some may believe that when she moved back to Stamps her struggles were caused by this past trauma. However, despite their claims it is still racism that has hindered Maya’s journey in Stamps because the racism in Stamps is not something that Maya can control. After describing the dead black man he saw Bailey asks Uncle Willey why white people hate them and he responds, “They don’t really hate us. They don’t know us . . . They mostly scared” (Angelou 197). Uncle Willie's words perfectly encapsulate the racism inside of Stamps. Since the town is set up in a way where the white people and black people are separated into different sides, they do not understand each other. This lack of understanding and fear is what causes the racism that Maya is forced to deal with. Because of how the town is set up, racism is almost inevitable. Maya alone can not change the fact that the town is racist, but with the proper mindset and time she can overcome her former trauma. As a result, racism is the true root of the struggles Maya faces growing up in