I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Identity

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a memoir written by Maya Angelou where she recounts the many details of her life, and how people treated her as a child. It is a very touching story where Maya grows and changes along the way. She had many different hardships she encountered that left her broken down and hurt, but she still managed to overcome them time and time again, which changed her identity along the way. Maya’s identity has changed because of events like her sexual assault experience, which changed her into a more scared and timid little girl, her time with Mrs. Flowers, which made her realize the true power her words held, and her experiences with extracurricular activities at school, which changed her into a more independent and free

When Maya transferred to a new school, she was allowed to begin doing extracurricular activities, which gave her all sorts of new opportunities and freedom. This is shown in the quote “At fourteen I accepted a scholarship and got one for the next year as well. In the evening classes, I took drama and dance, along with white and Black grownups. I had chosen drama simply because I liked Hamlet’s soliloquy beginning “To be, or not to be ''. I had never seen a play and did not connect movies with the theater. In fact, the only times I had heard the soliloquy had been when I had melodramatically recited it to myself. In front of a mirror” (Angelou 217). This demonstrates that Maya was given the choice of what she wanted to do, giving her more independence than she usually was given. This quote also demonstrates that she was also able to do things that she was not usually done with other people, making her more social as well. Another example of this is in the quote “My shyness at moving clad in black tights around a large empty room did not last long. Of course, at first I thought everyone would be staring at my cucumber shaped body with its knobs for knees, knobs for elbows and, alas, knobs for breasts. But they really did not notice me, and when the teacher floated across the floor and finished in an arabesque my fancy was taken” (Angelou 218). This quote shows how Maya was afraid to try to dance at first because she was afraid that others would judge her, but soon she was able to let go of her fear and learned to love dance. This demonstrates that Maya had been inspired to try something new, and even though she was afraid of what other people would think of her, she was able to let those feelings go. Therefore, Maya’s identity changed throughout