Innocence In Maya Angelou's I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

One’s self reflection on his or her self comes from an inner source of confidence. This self assurance many times stems from a sense of beauty. When one feels beautiful inside and out, then he or she is more willing to voice his or her opinion and be confident. This theme is portrayed in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as Marguerite struggles with her inner source of beauty, becomes secluded upon losing her childhood innocence and confidence when raped, and is picked on when attending an all-white school, thus losing her assurance. At the beginning of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya as a child is shown in a church surrounded by friends and family. These people were not kind, loving members, but those that nitpick every detail of another person. They push this idea onto young Maya, otherwise known as Marguerite, as she stands at church in the beginning of the novel. She condescends herself into thinking she is not a pretty girl.

According to A. A. R. D. V. A. R. C., this low self-esteem is what provokes sexual offenders to act out violently in ways to exhibit their “...control and power to enhance their own self image, to feel powerful, and to dominate others…” (http://www.aardvarc.org/rape/about/whowhy.shtml 9 mar 16). This then gratifies their search for power, but makes their victims helpless. Marguerite felt this way. After the raping, she hid the evidence under her bed and tried to cover up the feelings that surged through her body. She felt it was her fault the raping happened and thusly that she had done something wrong. Even after the incident was proclaimed, Marguerite still felt she was disconnected from the world (Angelou #). Her childhood innocence was replaced by a silent persona that refused to talk to others besides her brother Bailey (Angelou 73). This persona perceived the world in a different view that understood a life beyond Marguerite’s