Saturday, June 6, 2015

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Review

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Written on 6/1/2015
Maya Angelou's main characters are just like all of us, they are complex. They cannot be summed up with a single phrase or idea. Her writing reveals layers of overlapping identities that make us all who we are. They highlight the complicated and confusing intersections of our identities. No one person's identity can fit into a single box, and Angelou's truthful interpretation of life confusing events is inspiring.
Marguerite Johnson, the main character of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, is complicated. Her trials and tribulations take the reader on a path of what it was like to grow up as a young black woman in the 1950s. But its not just that simple, in the 200(ish) pages of this novel, Marguerite survives a sexual assault, struggles with the confusing time of puberty, questions her sexuality, lives with a group of homeless teens for a month...the list could go on and on. I think every person reading this novel would grasp on to something different.
For me, the main idea of this novel was this struggle with identities. The identities we are connected to, the ones we wish we had, and the ones that were forced upon us. As the chapters float by, Marguerite is discovering her identity one page at a a time, and the reader is right in the confusion of who Marguerite is with her. This novel was about the inevitable experience of growing up and discovering who you are.
And, as we all know, its not all rainbows and butterflies. It takes a lot of strength and perseverance to grow up and become yourself. Angelou puts it fairly perfectly into words;
"To be left alone on the tightrope of youth unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision. Few, if any, survive their teens. Most surrender to the vague but murderous pressure of adult conformity. It becomes easier to die and avoid conflicts than to maintain a constant battle with the superior forces of maturity"
Growing up, sometimes you succumb to the boxes we are told to put ourselves in so we make more sense to the world. When, we all know, who are are doesn't make any sense. But even within the boxes, like a bird in a cage, we can still find hope to express ourselves. We can still sing.



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