Maya Angelou’s stunning memoir details her life as she grows up in the small town of Stamps, Arkansas, with her brother and grandmother, who she calls Momma as her true mother wasn’t able to take care of her and lives in sunny California with her boyfriend. Momma runs the only Store in the African American community of Stamps, providing Maya with warm memories with her town and family. As she and her brother, Bailey, grow, they struggle with the dull pain of having been abandoned by their parents and Maya begins to grow self conscious of her appearance as she believes she isn’t as pretty as the “white girls”. As Maya faces harsh racism in rural Stamps, she is met with her father and taken to live with their mother, Vivian, in Missouri. Vivian, a beautiful woman, is known to be highly respected by Maya as she believes part of a woman’s power comes from her beauty. Later, Vivian’s boyfriend, Mr. Freeman, rapes Maya and taken to court. After, Mr. Freeman is brutally murdered but Maya soon begins to feel guilt as she believes it was her fault and ties it back to various religious themes. She soon begins to stop talking as she believes she is the messenger of Satan and only talks to her brother. However, later they soon return to Stamps to live with their grandmother again, who breaks Maya’s silence by allowing her to meet Mrs. Flowers, an educated woman who teaches Maya the wonders of literature and poetry to regain her voice after the traumatic incident that she went through. As Maya grows, she is faced with blunt racism as well as spiritual strength through her community in Stamps, Arkansas. I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings details the determination of a young girl to fight the chains that tie her down and find her own inner voice.
WOW. Maya Angelou sure knows how to write a memoir. The writing style flowed well and it was an overall easy read. Her descriptions of the various places felt incredibly real and the way Maya conveyed the guilt that she felt was done in an intricate but simple manner. Maya Angelou is an incredibly strong woman who is able to communicate all the injustices that had happened to her and how she was able to overcome them with finding her voice. She has a distinct voice that echoes throughout the novel and provides the reader with a feeling of comfort. I’m glad that I was able to choose this book to read for in school as it was probably the best book that I’ve read in my academic career. I know it may sound like I’m overselling it, but this book really was that good! Usually, when I read school books, I slowly begin to zone out during each chapter but this memoir kept me hooked from the beginning to the end. 10/10 would recommend this book (even though it’s technically not 10 stars because this website makes you do 5 stars but I believe this book exceeds the average).