The Struggles in Maya Angelou's Life
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: The Struggles in Maya Angelou's Life
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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The early 1930’s a time where segregation was still an issue in the United States it was especially hard for a young
African American girl who is trying to grow and become an independent woman. At this time, many young girls
like Maya Angelou grew up wishing they were a white woman with blond hair and blue eyes. That was just the
start of Angelou's problems though. In the autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou goes
into great depth about her tragic childhood, from moving around to different houses, and running away and
having a child at the age of 16. This shows how Maya overcame many struggles as a young girl.
At a young age, Maya Angelou’s parents got divorced. After the divorce was final Maya and her older brother,
Bailey, were sent away to live with their grandmother. Angelou’s not so perfect life started when she was a young
girl. “When she was about three years old, their parents divorced and the children were sent to live with their
grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Angelou claims that her grandmother, whom she called ‘momma, had a deepbrooding love that hung over everything she touched’” (Burt). In the first chapter of I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings, the book starts with Angelou talking about her parent's divorce. “Our parents decided to put an end to their
calamitous marriage, and father shipped us home to his mothers” (Angelou 5). After living with her grandmother,
or as Maya begins to call her “momma”, for 4 years Maya Angelou and her brother Bailey are sent back to St. Louis
Missouri. In St Louis they lived with her mother and her boyfriend Mr.Freeman. Mr.Freeman makes a huge impact
on young Maya’s life. When she was only 8-years-old he rapes her, after being raped Angelou becomes mute and
will ...