Student Question
In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, how did Margaret feel after Mrs. Cullinan called her "Mary"?
Quick answer:
After Mrs. Cullinan called her "Mary," Margaret felt insulted and recognized it as an act of racial dominance. Renaming black helpers was common, reflecting white supremacy. Despite Miss Glory's attempt to console her by sharing her own renaming experience, Margaret saw the name change as a symbol of white control over black identities. To resist this, she "accidentally" broke a dish to get fired, thereby preserving her personal dignity and identity.
This incident occurs in Chapter 16 of this great autobiographical novel and concerns the author's first experience of working as hired help in a white household. Although her job starts off alright, when her employer starts calling her "Mary" instead of her proper name, Margaret, the author recognises that this represents an insult that cannot go unchallenged. Renaming your black helpers is presented as being a perfectly normal practice in that time and place, as Miss Glory tries to console the author by saying that she used to be called Hallelujah before her employer called her Glory, but even so, Margaret recognises that this name change is a symbol of the absolute power that whites have over blacks, and she refuses to let her identity be shaped in such a way. Note how she responds:
I had to quit the job, but the problem was going to be how to...
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do it. Momma wouldn't allow me to quit for just any reason.
The author therefore recognises that her only response to being given another name is to leave her employment, and she therefore "accidentally" breaks a favourite casserole dish of Mrs. Cullinan's so that she can be fired and leave with a perfect excuse.
In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, why does Mrs. Cullinan call Margaret "Mary"?
The answer to this question can be found in Chapter 16, which details the author's first foray in to the world of working as a black "help" in a white house. Mrs. Cullinan, her employer, is quite happy calling her Margaret to begin with. What changes this however is when she has some of her friends over and one of them suggests that she starts calling Margaret a different name that might be more manageable. Even though Mrs. Cullinan describes her, rather patronisingly, as a "sweet little thing," note what her friend advises her to do:
Well, that may be, but the name's too long. I'd never bother myself. I'd call her Mary if I was you.
Mrs. Cullinan therefore changes Margaret's name because of the recommendation of her friend, who thinks that the name Margaret is "too long." Clearly, she cannot be bothered to expend so much energy uttering the three syllables of Margaret when she could merely say two syllables instead. It is of course yet another example of white supremacy and racism that the protagonist in this autobiographical novel encounters in her life.