Why I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings?

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the autobiography of Maya Angelou, an African American woman raised in the early 1900s, and an inspiration to all. As a child, she knew her parents had sent Bailey and her to live with their grandmother, and believed it was her fault. At the young age of six, she meets her father again who takes Bailey and her to meet their mother in St. Louis. For the first few years of her life, she suffered from the guilt of being sent away and worse believing that her mother had died, therefore she would never see her again. If this was not enough for young brain and heart to cope with, her life took a plunge downhill in St. Louis due to the actions of her mother’s boyfriend, Mr. Freedman. Once upon arriving in St. Louis, her brother, Bailey is enamored by the city and their mother Vivian Baxter but Maya could not feel any less welcomed. The bustling of the city was foreign and uncomforting and no one, not even Bailey could help her causing her to sink in this feeling of loneliness and
Eventually, she goes to work for Mrs. Cullinan and meets Miss Glory, a subservient African American who attempts to find the best in everything, even losing her identity and dignity. Her birth name was Hallelujah but Mrs. Cullinan renamed her Glory and she accepted this quietly with the excuse that it sounds better and is shorter. This incident occurred with Maya as well but instead of remaining quiet, she retaliated and finds a way to be fired. Maya shows herself in this chapter (Chapter Sixteen) to have a hidden fire. She valued her dignity and esteem therefore she does not sugarcoat the situation and immediately leaves. Miss Glory, in Maya’s eyes, was a fallen woman, who had nothing left, not her self-respect or independence and fears to be like her. This leads to her pity toward Miss Glory, who is unable to see that life for her could be better without servicing Mrs.