I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1969

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapters 13-15

Chapters 16-18

Chapters 19-21

Chapters 22-24

Chapters 25-27

Chapters 28-30

Chapters 31-33

Chapters 34-36

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

The Store

The General Store, which Momma Henderson owns, symbolizes her perseverance even under the most unfortunate circumstances. While in the 1930s and 1940s, many Southern Black people struggled to make enough money to feed their families, Momma Henderson establishes a successful business, which helps her stay afloat during the Great Depression. Because of the earnings from the Store, Momma supports not just her family but also other residents of Stamps, Black and white, who come to her to borrow money when the Depression hits. Apart from this, Momma’s store represents a place of safety, where the Black people of Stamps feel welcomed and protected. When the Ku Klux Klan threatens to come after Uncle Willie, Momma hides him in the Store, and when on a stormy night, Mr. Taylor feels lonely without his recently deceased wife, he also comes to there. This demonstrates that for the Black population of Stamps, the Store is not merely a place to buy goods but a safe harbor.

Joe Louis

Joe Louis is a famous professional Black boxer whose 1935 fight with Primo Carnera Maya watches with other residents of Stamps in the General Store. In this match, Louis represents all Black people who suffer from white oppression and maltreatment, while Carnera is seen as a symbol of racial dominance. While listening to the match broadcast, Maya thinks of all the deep-rooted stereotypes that were supposed to serve as proof of the inferiority of Black people, such as laziness and dirtiness. By winning the match, Louis has a chance to challenge these long-standing assumptions and to help Black people maintain their sense of dignity. For Maya, as well as for other neighborhood people in the Store, Louis symbolizes not just a chance for revenge but also a hope that despite discrimination, their people can prevail and triumph over oppression.

San Francisco

When Maya arrives in San Francisco, she admires its beauty and diversity. For her, the city comes to symbolize acceptance and independence, and she sees it as “a state of beauty and a state of freedom" (212). In her narrative, Maya tends to personify the city and describes it as a woman in wartime who “gave what she couldn't with safety withhold, and secured those things which lay in her reach" (211). In Maya’s eyes, San Francisco comes to symbolize freedom, because Maya doesn’t experience the same racial segregation prevalent in Stamps. Although Maya’s stalled attempt to get a job as a streetcar operator reveals that racial discrimination still exists in San Francisco, it’s still not as common and as apparent as in rural Arkansas.

The Caged Bird

The title of the autobiography comes from Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s poem “Sympathy.” In the poem, the author tells the story of the caged bird that strives to be free but can’t escape from her cage. Maya Angelou uses this imagery in her memoir to depict her own struggle for freedom. For Maya, the bars of the cage are the racism, self-doubt, and discrimination that limit her opportunities in life. And the caged bird represents not just her, but also Uncle Willie, who strives to be free from being seen only as disabled, as well as many other Black people who want the opportunity to become their most authentic, realized selves.