Summary of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Maya was sent from her father in California to her grandmother in Stamps when she was three years old, with her four-year-old brother Bailey. She lived in the back of the store which ran by her grandmother and uncle. The store is the center for local Negro community. Maya started reading and enjoying literature, especially Shakespeare, but her grandmother, Momma, was against with white person. At Stamps, Maya met her uncle Willie who was a poor man because of his disability. She felt sorry to him but she could do nothing to help. Even though Maya is opposite in appearance with Bailey, they got a good relationship with each other and it is important to the growth of little Maya. Momma was always mocked by a few poor white girls. Momma, however, did not do anything instead of standing there and acting politely. Later there was a depression on the economy, and the shortage of goods occurred. To solve this situation, Momma made a new kind of trading system. After the depression, the Christmas came. Both Maya and Bailey got gifts from their parents. Since that they had not heard the message of their parents for years, Maya and Bailey became sad thinking about it.

In the next year, their father came to the Stamps and brought Maya and Bailey with him when he left. Their father took them to where their mother lived, a big city. Maya and Bailey surprised to found that people in the big city are nothing like those in the Stamps. In the big city, Maya and Bailey lived with their mother and their mother’s boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. One day morning, Mr. Freeman molested Maya and he threatened Maya that he would kill Bailey if Maya told anyone about it. Maya had been tolerated both physically and emotionally crushed for times, and later Maya’s mother knew what Mr. Freeman did and send him to the court. Although with helping from a lawyer, Mr. Freeman escaped from the judgment of law, he was beaten to death at the end. When Maya heard this new, she regretted that she lied on the court. After Maya and Bailey went back to the stamps, they were welcomed by the local people because they wanted to know more about the city. While Bailey made up some interesting and exciting stories and told those stories to others, Maya muted herself because of the experience in the city. The appearance of a proper woman, Mrs. Flowers made a difference on this embarrassing situation. She invited Maya to her house to have afternoon tea together, read a book together and then speak to each other.

Later, Maya was willing to talk to others. Maya used to work for a white woman, Mrs. Cullinan, for the period. Because of that Mrs. Cullinan refused to call her proper name, Maya dropped Mrs. Cullinan's favorite dishes and get fired on purpose. On one Saturday, Maya watched a movie and she found that one character in the movie looks like her mother, and she believed that she is her mother. Maya began her first relationship with a girl called Louise, and also Bailey made friend with Joyce. But Joyce left without any indication, and it hurts Bailey’s heart badly. Maya leaned the death when she was forced to go to the funeral by Momma, and the feeling on funeral had a profound effect on Maya. Graduation day was approached. Even though Maya’s competitor got the chance to give the class speech, she did not care about it for overexcited. Mr. Edward Donleavy, a kind of school superintendent, ruined the graduation ceremony through his bad speech, however. But later, people sang the “Negro National Anthem” together even if it should be banned in such a situation. This song made every black people proud of themselves.

Life of black people is hard. Maya had two cavities, but there were no black dentists in the Stamps, so Momma took her to a white dentist. The white people refused to give Maya treatment. Maya describes a fantasy scene, in which Momma gets revenge against Dr. Lincoln and makes him apologize for his insults to her. But, actually, Momma took Maya to another black dentist in Texarkana instead. Since Willie and Momma knew that neither Maya nor Bailey could accustom the life in the Stamps, they send Maya and Bailey back to California, to Maya and Bailey’s mother. Maya had a hard time at one school and then transferred to George Washington High School, which only had three black students. An excellent teacher, Miss Kirwin, treated her without any prejudice. Besides of study, Maya also begins to take dance and drama classes. Maya took the train down to Southern California to spend the summer with her father and her father’s girlfriend, Dolores. They went to a small mountain town. Maya had a good time there, but her father disappeared. When Maya tried to drive the car down the mountain by the force of will alone, she got hurts. So, the rest of the drive home was silent and uncomfortable. They finally reached home, and Dolores and Daddy Bailey had an argument; she said she wants to marry him, but dislikes Maya and doesn't want her around. Dolores was upset and insulted Maya's mother, and Maya slapped her; Dolores cut Maya somehow, and Maya had to run away to protect herself. Later, Maya was token to a nurse by her father. Then Maya is homeless. She had to live in a junkyard car for a while. When Maya finally came back home, she looked much older. Maya decided to get a job. But she was refused only because she is black.

Finally, she was hired as the first black streetcar conductor in San Francisco. She decided to get a boyfriend, so she asked a good-looking neighbor boy to had sex with her, and they did. A few weeks later, she found out that she was pregnant.