I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Group
Question:
In chapter 15 of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings could you describe Mrs. Flowers using the text from page 93-94?
Why is the narrator so embarrassed by her Momma's speech in the presence of Mrs. Flowers (Chapter 5)?
Answers:
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eNotes Editor
Posted by julikiyomi on Wednesday October 24, 2007 at 11:22 PMThe narrator considers Mrs. Flowers "the aristocrat of Black Stamps" a "gentlewoman", and "our side's answer to the richest white woman in town". Mrs. Flowers is thin, and her skin a rich black color. She wears "printed voile dresses and flowered hats"; she doesn't laugh much but smiles easily, showing "even, small white teeth", and she has a "soft, yet carrying voice". Mrs. Flowers is educated, and the narrator's mother is not, and the narrator is embarrassed by her mother's incorrect grammar and colloquial speech because she feels it betrays her mother's ignorance. The narrator doesn't realize that although she has had the benefit of formal schooling, Mrs. Flowers does not look down upon those who have not had the same advantages, and that she and the narrator's mother are really "as alike as sisters".
(All quotes from Chapter 15)
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Posted by dreams on Friday November 2, 2007 at 2:43 PM
Mrs. Flowers is thin, and her skin a rich black color. She wears printed voile dresses and flowered hats she doesn't laugh much but smiles easily, and she has a soft, yet carrying voice. Mrs. Flowers is educated and the narrator is embarrassed by her mother's incorrect grammar and colloquial speech because she feels it betrays her mother's ignorance. The narrator doesn't realize that although she has had the benefit of formal schooling, Mrs. Flowers does not look down upon those who have not had the same advantages.

