I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Critique

I Know Why the Caged fowl Sings is the account of Maya Angelou. I adjust it to be a rather interesting sassy, since it is base on a true story. It in any case helps the reader understand how dim people lived and felt during that period. In the novel, there is a wide browse of themes, from family ties, to rape, and even literacy. In Maya Angelous I Know Why the Caged snicker Sings, the three main themes are racism, prejudice and the roll of stark women. The prototypal and well-nigh visible theme in the novel is racism. During 1969, it is common to gather up a desolate somebody as inferior to a duster person.In the novel, Angelou shows the crudeness of ovalbuminness Southern attitudes toward Afri whoremaster Americans. For type, in chapter 24, marguerite goes to the dentist and Dr. Lincoln, a white man, refuses to treat her because she is dusky. He says Id rather stick my hand in a dogs mouth than in a niggers. (Angelou 189). Not even because of indispens qualifie d medical attention does a white person leave apart the race and treat a dingy patient. Putting aside her satisfying feelings against racism, Angelou demonstrates how she develops the understanding of the rules for surviving in a racial society.For example, in chapter 5, when the powhitetrash scoff milliampere, she stood humming while Marguerite is filed with rage, indignation and helplessness. Momma instead shows her how to bear lordliness and pride while dealing with racism. With her indifference towards the disrespectful white girls, Momma serves as a role model to all black people in her community by being the bigger person in a situation like this. The second theme in the novel is prejudice. Maya, her friends and her relatives will always be subject to prejudice plainly because they are black.For example, in chapter 23, during Marguerites graduation, Mr.Edward Donleavy gives a speech in which he mentions how blacks only achieve greatness through with(predicate) sports , not through academics One of the first-line football tacklers at Arkansas Agricultural and Mechanical College had have from full old Lafayette Country Training School One of the exceed basketball players at Fisk sank his first ball right here at Lafayette Country Training School. (Angelou 179) The fact that Mr. Donleavy expects that students from this school are only good for sports, simply because of their race, shows how he speaks based on prejudice beliefs.Prejudice in the novel is seen from both sides in white people and black people. Since most white folks in Stamps mistreat blacks, black people assume all whites are the same, which means they are also prejudice against white people. For example, in chapter 2, Marguerite mentions her passion for literature, especially for Shakespeare, a white writer. She says how Bailey and she cant mention Shakespeare to Momma shed question us just about the author and wed have to tell her that Shakespeare was white, and it wouldnt matt er to her whether he was dead or not. (Angelou 14).Shakespeare is a great writer, but Momma doesnt know this since she is prejudice against white writers and doesnt give herself the chance to find out about this writers greatness. The third theme presented in the novel is black womens roll. Angelou presents womens condition during this period and describes their lives in a male-dominated society. She also shows how its even laboriouser being a black adult female, having to overcome this coerce of sexism and racism. Some women are able to do so and become great.For example, Momma is a sure-fire black woman, who owns a store and is considered to be wealthy. She is able to overcome the condition she is submitted to by society and become the most successful black woman in Stamps. Marguerite also serves as an example for black womens roll during 1969. She lives in a hostile military personnel defined by beauty in terms of whiteness Wouldnt they be surprised when one day I woke out o f my black ugly dream, and my real hair, which was long and blond, would take the place of this kinky sess that Momma wouldnt let me straighten?My light-blue eyes were deviation to hypnotize them (Angelou 2) Marguerite believes the only way to be a pleasing and successful woman is by being white. With the help of strong female person role models in her family and community Momma, Vivian, Grandmother Baxter, and Bertha Flowers, she is able to overcome her racist and sexist beliefs, succeed in her life and become the great woman she is known to be today.Maya Angelous I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a true story about the authors hard life during the 1960s, a time in which black people are seen as inferior in many different aspects by society. The novel shows how they fight against racism, sexism and prejudice, and how white people also experience prejudice from black people. These themes are presented in the most realistic and crude way possible. In the end, Maya transforms from a victim of prejudice and racism with an inferiority complex to a self-confident young woman who is able to react to racism with dignity and pride.