Maya Angelou Analysis

 Quotes that stuck out to me during this written piece by Maya Angelou: 

    “‘Thou shall not be dirty’ and ‘Thou shall not be impudent’ were the two commandments of Grandmother Henderson upon which hung our total salvation” (p.41). The cleanliness and dirtiness were mentioned a lot throughout this passage. I believe that her family did not have a lot of control over their lives because of their race and being a minority. Cleanliness is something that they were able to control. The cleanliness helps to keep them in high spirits. As Maya states “Momma convinced us that not only was cleanliness next to Godliness, dirtiness was the inventor of misery” (p.42). She refers to the “powhitetrash” families as dirty because they treat others badly by imitating and mocking them. 

    I believe that when Maya Angelou titles this writing, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, she is talking about the symbol of birds being vulnerable. The “caged bird” in this situation is her grandmother due to her age, race, and gender. The metaphor implies that she is being admired in a cage and is trapped with the oppression of society. While their grandmother is being taunted and mocked by young “powhitetrash” children she stands strong and stable. She continued to sing through the terrible way these children were treating her. Their grandmother was strong enough to take the high road and even said bye to each of them individually with a “Miz” in front of their names which shocked Maya (p. 45). She is being admired in a cage singing with no control over how society sees her. This is a terrible way to get treated in society but her strength through these situations was a great example for her granddaughter, Maya. Maya Angelou went through her life collaborating with others to make positive changes to impact society as a whole and especially help people of color.

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