I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

First published: 1969

Type of work: Autobiography

Type of plot: Social realism

Time of plot: 1930s–1940s

Locale: Arkansas, Missouri, and California

Principal Characters

• Marguerite (Maya) Johnson,
• Bailey Johnson, Jr., , Marguerite's brother
• Annie Henderson (Momma), Marguerite's paternal grandmother
• Uncle Willie, Marguerite's paternal uncle
• Vivian Baxter Johnson, Marguerite's mother
• Bailey Johnson, Sr., Marguerite's father

The Story

Marguerite and Bailey Jr. are sent by their recently divorced parents to Stamps, Arkansas, when they are three and four, respectively, to live with their grandmother, Momma. Momma, a staid Christian woman, owns the William Johnson General Merchandise Store, which makes a solid living for her and her disabled son, Willie. In her no-nonsense way, she sets about raising her grandchildren to use their minds, mind their manners, and survive in the Depression-era South.

Marguerite and Bailey are bright children. They soon take pleasure in learning to read and to do arithmetic. They also learn while still quite small to deal very carefully with white people. On more than one occasion, the family faces a very real danger of a Ku Klux Klan attack. It is a given that black people are generally powerless against white people.

Marguerite watches her proud stoic grandmother deal with the “powhitetrash” children who sometimes come around the store, trying to goad Momma into some kind of undignified reaction. A group of poor white girls cavort for several minutes one time in front of Momma, who stands at the door of her store, softly humming a hymn. One girl, wearing no underwear, does a revealing handstand right in front of Momma, who does not miss a beat in her humming. When the girls finally tire of the game and go off, saying, “ Bye, Annie,” Momma, with her dignity intact, says good-bye to each one of them by name.

When Marguerite is six, her father comes to Stamps to visit and to take her and Bailey to St. Louis to stay with their mother. Both children are stunned to discover that the parents they assumed were dead are in fact alive. Bailey Jr. falls in love at first sight with his beautiful, vivacious mother. Marguerite, more reserved, holds back her feeling until she is sure that the beautiful creature truly accepts her smart but plain daughter.

In St. Louis, Marguerite and Bailey meet Grandmother and Grandfather Baxter and they learn what it means to live almost like a white family. Grandmother Baxter is a precinct captain in St. Louis politics and has considerable clout. Her three strapping sons, who are as mean as snakes, are as menacing as Grandmother Baxter’s political power. This brings the family a wary and widespread respect unfamiliar to Marguerite.

While in St. Louis, Marguerite, at age eight, is raped by her mother’s lover, Mr. Freeman. When her mother finds out—Marguerite tries to hide it because Mr. Freeman threatens to kill Bailey Jr. if she tells—Mr. Freeman is arrested and tried. Although convicted and sentenced to a year and a day, he is released on the same day. Later that day, he is “found dead on the lot behind the slaughterhouse.” Marguerite’s reaction to his killing is to believe that her talking to and about others is dangerous, so she decides not to speak to anyone except Bailey, for fear that whomever she talks to or about will die. Her continued silence over a period of time finally so exasperates her family that she and Bailey are sent back to Stamps.

Back in Stamps, Marguerite’s continued silence is eventually breached by Miss Bertha Flowers, an acquaintance of Momma. She entices Marguerite to read literary works aloud and to memorize and recite poetry. Marguerite eventually regains her self-esteem. She is able to put her St. Louis experience in perspective: She is not the bad and dangerous person she thinks she is.

By the time Marguerite graduates from the eighth grade, she has acquired her first real friend, Louise Kendricks. Bailey has his first sexual relationship with an older girl, who teaches him to steal from Momma’s store and who ultimately runs off to marry a railroad man.

Momma decides that Marguerite and Bailey, now in their teens, should go to live with their parents, who both live in California. World War II has started, and a number of black Southerners are moving into California neighborhoods recently vacated by interned Japanese Americans. Marguerite and Bailey adapt well to their new life. She spends a summer in Southern California with her father. He takes her on an overnight trip to Mexico, which causes a fight between Marguerite and his fiancé. Marguerite runs away and for a month lives in a junkyard with other homeless children. She finally returns to her mother’s home, none the worse for her experiences.

Bailey becomes so “mannish” that his mother orders him to leave her house. When he does, Marguerite begins to feel the need to be more independent. She gets a job, becoming the first African American conductor on a San Francisco streetcar. School loses much of its charm, but she recognizes the need to finish high school.

At this time, also, Marguerite begins to worry about her femininity. Her body has few of the contours of a sixteen-year-old. She begins to think she might be a lesbian. To prove to herself that she is not, she seduces a neighbor boy and gets pregnant. No one is aware, though, even as she graduates from high school with only about a month before the baby is due. She finally tells her mother about the impending birth. Her family rallies around her and she gives birth to a son.

Bibliography

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