Uncle Willie by Maya Angelo

The society’s judgments of Uncle Willie be crippled Uncle Willie was a cripple man who was seen differently by his appearances. He’s deals with people negative opinions about him being crippled. The narrator says “The tragedy of his lameness seems so unfair to children that they are embarrassed in its presence” (Angelou pg39). Angelou experienced at a very young age that judgments others assume by looking at the appearances of a person. Angelou says: “in our society, where two legged, two armed strong black men were anle at the best of eke out the necessities of life “(Angelo 39). Uncle Willie was not born paralyzed; he had been dropped as an infant. Most important people now are a whole a lot more judgmental on a person’s appearances. They don’t see past the appearance of a person, instead people automatically criticize each other. Uncle willie was a person that the society never gave a chance to prove that him being crippled didn’t affect who the person inside he was. Uncle Willie became grumpy and seen himself as the useless person people said he was. Uncle Willie wanted to just feel needed and appreciated by others. The narrator says:” only once in the years of trying to watch him, I saw him pretend to himself and others he wasn’t lame” (Angelou pg.40). He tried to make the couple in the store see him as a man and not a crippled man. Uncle Willie just wants to respect as another respected man and not as a crippled man. Angelou admired uncle wilie and idealized him as a father figure.

Angelo,Maya. “Uncle Willie”. Thinking on paper: A reading writing process workbook. Fouth edition. (judy mark, Rose Hawkins and Bob Isaacson.ort worth:HarcourtBrace, 1999. 39-41.Print