What can the Caged Bird be a symbol of?

Angelou uses the metaphor of a bird struggling to escape its cage, described in Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, as a prominent symbol throughout her series of autobiographies. Like elements within a prison narrative, the caged bird represents Angelou’s confinement resulting from racism and oppression.

What is the rising action of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?

Rising Actions Bailey witnesses a victim of lynching, Maya and Bailey move to San Francisco to live with Vivian (Mother) and lastly Maya spends the summer with her father. “I’m sure she began piecing together the details of our California trip that night,”(Angelou,169).

What are the themes of caged bird?

The main themes in “Caged Bird” are freedom and confinement, artistic expression as resistance, and civil rights. Freedom and confinement: As its title indicates, “Caged Bird” is concerned with both imprisonment and the innate urge for freedom.

What time period is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?

The time setting of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is in the 1930s and 1940s, before the civil rights movement, but in the midst of the Great Depression and World War II. Stamps, Arkansas is a segregated Southern town in which Maya is raised by her grandmother.

Who is the protagonist in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?

Maya

Who is Daddy Clidell?

Daddy Clidell Vivian’s second husband, whom she marries after her children join her in California. Although Maya initially tries to dismiss him, Daddy Clidell becomes the only real “father” Maya knows. He combines the virtues of strength and tenderness and enjoys thinking of himself as Maya’s father.

Who is Mr Donleavy?

Donleavy. A white man, he is the guest speaker at Maya’s eighth grade graduation. He puts a pall over the ceremony and crushes the educational dreams of the audience by insinuating that black students are only capable of becoming athletes.

What does Mrs Cullinan call Maya?

Cullinan call Maya “Mary” because “Margaret” is too long. Even worse, Maya notes, her name is Marguerite, not Margaret. When Mrs. Cullinan begins calling her Mary, Maya becomes furious.

Why did Maya lie on the witness stand?

Maya lies on the witness stand because of events that led up to her rape by Mr. Freeman. Mr. Freeman had molested her multiple times leading up to her rape (Chapter 11).

Why does the narrator feel pity for Mrs Cullinan?

A: The narrator feels pity for Mrs. Cullinan because she couldn’t have children of her own. Cullinan couldn’t have children.