I would say that the purpose of this great autobiography is two-fold. Firstly, it allows Marguerite Johnson, later known as Maya Angelou, to make sense of the breathtaking series of events which characterizes her young life. Maya endures remarkable trauma in these early years, from being raped to ending up living in a junkyard and later triumphing when she becomes the first black person to be employed by the San Francisco streetcars. Secondly, the purpose of this autobiography is to provide a sense of solidarity for other survivors of rape, racism, and homelessness.
In writing her powerful autobiography, Maya Angelou adopts a tone that is best described as down to earth, conversational, and easy to read. This makes the serious passages far easier to read and relate to than they may otherwise have been.
I would argue that the meaning of this book is that there is hope in...
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all situations and that positive change may not be as far away as one might think. In my mind, this message is most powerfully driven home when Marguerite becomes the first black employee on San Francisco's streetcars. It would have once appeared impossible for a black person to secure employment here, but through her tenacity and hope of a better future, Marguerite overcame the odds.
Tied to this, the message of this great autobiography is to never give up, no matter what life throws at you. The metaphorical caged bird never stops singing, even in the face of the wide range of atrocities that Maya Angelou faced during her formative years.
Maya Angelou wrote her autobiographical novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as an attempt to expose the discrimination that pervades society. It is also Angelou's way of coping with the distress and trauma associated with her life in a racially divided, male-dominated community which resulted in her, and many others, suffering as innocent victims of abuse.
Due to a developing self-awareness and an intuition that saves her from being overwhelmed by her circumstances, the young Marguerite (Angelou's original name) or "Ritie," overcomes all her obstacles and, with positive female role-models, she matures into a confident, determined and accomplished adult. Education is very important to her and, upon her graduation, Marguerite comes to a realization that, "I was no longer simply a member of the proud graduating class of 1940; I was a proud member of the wonderful, beautiful Negro race."
There is a light-hearted, self-deprecating and very down-to-earth tone to the book which defies the serious and sometimes demoralizing content and which ensures that the reader is not overwhelmed by the circumstances surrounding Marguerite. Angelou's use of a title which came from a poem, Sympathy, by Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African American poet, who inspired her writing, helps the reader to come to terms with the restrictive, bigoted and unjust society from which people like Angelou manage to emerge as stronger, more resilient people with a huge contribution to make to society.