I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Book Review It is not an unknown fact that the world has seen many accounts of racial prejudice and how that prejudice leads to purification. The way visible differences make men turn upon one another. It is a thought provoking idea, for if men turn on each other then what would be the fate of females, for the behaviour of women is far crueler. Set in the 1930s, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, gives a personal, yet honest look at racial prejudice in the United States of America towards the black minority. Born Marguerite Annie Johnson, Maya Angelou, the young protagonist, is sent with her older brother Bailey, to live with their grandmother in the racially segregated, southern town of Stamps, …show more content…
Louis, in which she gets molested by a man who is much older than her. Many years later, now in San Francisco, Angelou learns how to love herself and finds her own courageous and strong spirit to fight for her rights and dreams. It is a story of a girl who when weak the world laughed at and when strong the world marveled, for how could a black women be strong. Angelou challenges the boundaries placed on her and that is shown in this autobiography through her identity, the challenges she faced and the outcome of said challenges, turning her into a women that history will never forget. First, to understand a person’s achievements and reasons behind their success, one must understand where that person comes from. A major part of Angelou’s triumph is because of her upbringing, her personality and her aspirations. Angelou grew up in a small racially segregated town in Stamps, Arkansas. She lived with her devoutly Christian grandmother Momma, her uncle Willie and her older brother Bailey. Being sent away by her mother at such a young age, impacted Angelou’s mental state. She thought herself not good enough whether it be because of her personality or because of her looks. Her background in such a community in which she had to