12 Contemporary Literature, 1970 to Present
the beating of wings in the poem? Who or what encourages her to keep striving,
and what inner resources does she draw upon in her persistence to be free?- Angelou has said, “I write for the Black voice and any ear which can hear it”
(quoted in Evans). Yet, in much of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings the narra-
tor confronts her own silence. After she names her rapist and he is murdered,
she takes a vow of silence, because she believes her words have killed him; she
says, “Just my breath, carrying my words out, might poison people and they’d
curl up and die like the black fat slugs that only pretended.” She overcomes the
silence with the help of Mrs. Flowers, “the aristocrat of Black Stamps,” with
whom she reads literary classics. What is it about Mrs. Flowers and her les-
sons that help the narrator speak again? Later, upon learning she is pregnant,
the narrator, unable to tell anyone, again goes silent and must relearn to speak.
What induces silence in this work and why must it constantly be overcome?
Helpful to students interested in this topic are essays in both works by Lup-
ton, as well as those by Johnson, McPherson, Smith, and essays by Selwyn R.
Cudjoe and Sondra O’Neale in Mari Evans’s book. - The end of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings suggests that the narrator will
succeed. Having overcome various obstacles, readers sense that she will be able
to “fly” free. The other volumes of Angelou’s autobiographical series prove her
eventual success but not without revealing further difficulties. The other works
trace her struggles against the same kinds of dangers she faced in the first
book. Threatening her identity, independence, and positive sense of self are
racism, shame, and dependent relationships with men—all present in I Know
Why the Caged Bird Sings. Students may wish to compare the first installment
of Angelou’s autobiography to another in the series. How are the trials in
each of the works similar? What does this suggest about the ease (or lack
thereof ) of overcoming trauma and hardship? What role do family and com-
munity play in this process? What is the role of the individual? The essays by
Cudjoe, Lupton, and Smith would serve as particularly helpful guides. Stu-
dents interested in focusing on racism could consult Johnson, and those inter-
ested in reading Heart of a Woman will find useful the essay by Neubauer.
RESOURCES
Primary Work
Conversations with Maya Angelou, edited by Jeffrey M. Elliot ( Jackson: University
Press of Mississippi, 1989).
Collection of significant interviews with Angelou about her work and life.
Biography
Marcia Ann Gillespie and others, Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration (New
York: Doubleday, 2008).
Focuses largely on Angelou’s private life through pictures and comments from
those closest to her.