People throughout their lives are constantly discovering who they are and who they want to grow into. The same statement accurately describes Maya Johnson, a strong woman who wrote about her life in her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. As a little girl, her mother’s ex-boyfriend raped and she had to rediscover herself whilst navigating through the grim veil of trauma - a process that burdened her for many years. Throughout her life, she encountered many different people, some good, others bad, but they each helped her eventually discover her identity. ‘Identity’ is how people define themselves as a human being, and, therefore, nobody else can dictate it. Maya’s experiences throughout her childhood and “adulthood” convey the idea that nobody can dictate someone else’s identity except the person themselves. Maya’s experiences throughout her childhood show the idea that nobody can dictate someone else’s identity except the person themselves. At only eight years old, her mother’s ex-boyfriend molested and raped her. During his trial, Maya lied about what he had done and denied that he’d ever touched her before he actually raped her. Sometime later, a police officer showed up to her grandmother’s home and announced that Mr. Freeman, her rapist, had perished. This news thoroughly disturbed Maya; she believed that her words had killed a man. On page 87, she explained that “if I [she] talked to anyone else that person might die too. Just my [her] breath, carrying my [her] words out, might poison …show more content…
As a very young girl, her mother’s ex-boyfriend molested and raped her. Her rape took up a big part of her life, as it never really completely left her. Early on in her life, she branded herself as a bad person, but as she grew and matured, she realized she no longer identified as a bad person, but rather a strong, independent, intelligent woman who takes pride in her black