Maya testifies against Mr. Freeman in court for raping Bailey Jr. He is found guilty but only sentenced to a year in jail. Soon after being released early, Mr. Freeman is found kicked to death. Maya feels guilty and stops speaking for a while. She is sent back to Stamps with Bailey Jr. where she lives for about a year in depression until Mrs. Flowers enters her life and helps Maya speak again through literature and poetry.

1. CHAPTER 13
At the hospital, Bailey Jr. promises that he won't let anyone kill him—she should
just tell them who did it. Maya believes that he wouldn't lie, but it's pretty
obvious that a nine-year-old boy probably can't take a grown man in a fight.
Maya spills the beans. Mr. Freeman is arrested, and at the trial, Maya testifies
against him. He is found guilty. Mr. Freeman is only sentenced to a year and a
day in jail. He is even released early, but soon after, he is found kicked to
death. This is the beginning of Maya's depression. She feels super guilty about
Mr. Freeman's death, and decides to go mute (i.e., stop talking) so that no one
else will die on her watch. Maya's silence upsets her relatives, and Bailey and
Maya are sent back to Stamps. Way to be caring, guys
CHAPTER 14
Back in Stamps it's the same old same old. Maya and Bailey become mini-
celebrities, and Bailey takes up sarcasm to answer their questions about "up
North." After the rape, Maya can't think very well, but people don't get mad at
her here. In Stamps, she is "tender-hearted" and she feels understood—
especially by Bailey
CHAPTER 15
Maya mopes around Stamps for about a year. Then Mrs. Bertha Flowers enters
her life. Cue the choir of angels. Mrs. Flowers is perfect. She is genteel,
beautiful, sophisticated, and sounds a bit like Mary Poppins. Basically, she is
everything the rest of Stamps is not. Maya has a huge girl-crush on her. One
day, Mrs. Flowers stops by the store to get some groceries and asks Maya to
help her carry them. At her home, Mrs. Flowers gives Maya cookies and
lemonade and the first of her "lessons in living" (15.47). She tells Maya that she
must speak and tells her about the power of the human voice… deep. Basically,
Mrs. Flowers gets Maya to speak again through literature and poetry. Because
this is obviously too much happiness to have at once in her life, when she
returns home, Momma beats Maya because of a misunderstanding about the
phrase "by the way." Well, then.

2. CHAPTER 16
While young white girls in Stamps might have been debutantes dressed up like
Disney princesses, little black girls were doing things old school. As part of her
"finishing school," Maya becomes a maid for Mrs. Viola Cullinan. Mrs. Cullinan
starts calling Maya "Mary," and our girl plans to get herself fired. Maya wins that
battle when she throws Mrs. Cullinan's favorite casserole dish on the floor. The
image of this older woman writhing on the floor, crying over broken pottery is
pretty hilarious, and definitely worth a look.
CHAPTER 17
Saturdays are Maya's favorite day of the week. She doesn't really have any
reason why—they just are. Every Saturday, Maya gives Bailey Jr. her allowance
so that he can go see a movie. In return, he buys her some comics. Win-win.
But this Saturday is different. Bailey Jr. is late. Momma and Maya go searching
for him, and when finally they find him, he seems shaken by something he has
seen. Days later, Bailey Jr. tells Maya that he saw a white actress in a movie
(Kay Francis) that looked just like Vivian. A few weeks later, they go check it out
and Maya totally sees it—this lady really does look like their mom. Bailey Jr.
only gets mopier. He tries to hop on a train to see his "mother dear," but fails. A
year later, Bailey tries one more time to hop on a train to St. Louis, but this time
he ends up lost in Baton Rouge for two weeks. Pretty epic fail, Bailey.
CHAPTER 18
It's just another weekday evening. People are returning from work, tired, dirty,
but excited. Tonight is revival night. Think of the revival as a mega-church
service, outside, under a tent, on a weekday night. Maya gives us a play-by-
play of the service and it is totally worth reading, especially for the Pastor who
seems like he came straight from TBN. The sermon is about God punishing the
mean white people while the black people get to party in Heaven.
Everyone can't wait for their big angel party. But soon enough, reality sets back
in, and their buzz gets totally killed. Maya realizes that the people at the revival
and the people at the less-PC parties in town are all just trying to escape.

3. CHAPTER 19
Everyone in Stamps is crowded around a radio in the Store. A black wrestler,
Joe Louis, and white wrestler are in a match, and the fate of the world rests on
Joe Louis's shoulders. It feels like that at least. If he lost, they feel like all the
racism would be justified. People are drinking beer and eating snacks—all that's
missing from the scene is a hotdog vendor. If Louis loses, it is all over. Luckily
for everyone, he wins. It's party time in Stamps.
CHAPTER 20
Who doesn't love a picnic? Well, Maya, that's who. It's the biggest event of the
year, and everyone who's anyone in the black part of Stamps is there. But
Maya, since she is still a total nerd, would rather be reading than enjoying the
picnic. When she needs to pee (how many times does she pee in this novel?),
Maya goes somewhere to be alone. Louise Kendricks, a girl from Maya's
school, stumbles into Maya's alone-space. Awkward. At first, Maya wants her
to leave, but after they play together, Louise becomes Maya's first friend.
Friend! When Maya is in seventh grade, she receives a Valentine's letter from
Tommy (ooh la la). After talking about it with Louise, she rips up the letter.
Tommy tries again, but nothing ever comes of it except some awkward giggling.
CHAPTER 21
Bailey Jr. starts playing "Momma and Poppa." In case you aren't familiar, that's
code word for pretending to have sex. He is ten years old. While playing the
game, Bailey Jr. meets his first crush, Joyce. She convinces him to stop
pretending and actually have sex with her. He is ten years old. Joyce hangs
around the Store and Bailey steals food for her (how cute) until one day she
disappears. Bailey Jr. sulks and pretends he doesn't remember her. Eventually
we learn that she eloped with a railroad porter. Hmmm. Bailey Jr. is crushed
and Joyce becomes she-who-shall-not-be-named.

4. CHAPTER 22
There is a storm in Stamps, and a creepy atmosphere straight out of The
Ring covers the town. Maya hears a knock at the door, but when it opens, no
one is there. Dun dun dun. Then we see Mr. George Taylor, a widower who has
been not-quite-alright since his wife died. Momma invites Mr. Taylor to dinner,
but he barely eats anything. Instead, he tells the family that his dead wife,
Florida, told him last night that she wanted to have children. Which obviously
means it is story time—and Maya is not too excited. "Oh, Lord, a ghost story,"
she says. Before Mr. Taylor tells his ghost story, Maya gives us some
background. Mrs. Taylor was super old, so Maya figured she was going to die
soon anyway. When she died, Momma made Maya go to the funeral. Back to
Mr. Taylor and those children his ghost-wife wants. Mr. Taylor said he was
visited in bed by a laughing, fat, cupid-like baby angel. Then he heard the voice
of his wife saying that she wanted children. The end. By now, the children are
scared to death and the adults are worried for Mr. Taylor's sanity. Momma
calmly talks to Mr. Taylor. She convinces him that, of course, what his wife
meant by "I want children" is "I want you to work with children from the church."
Right.He calms down and spends the night at the Store.
CHAPTER 23
Graduation time! Juniors are strutting around town like they are already seniors,
and seniors are walking around with major cases of senioritis. Parents are
excited, people are buying new clothes, and the school is decorated. Once a
graduation, always a graduation. At the Store, Maya is the star. Sure, she is
only graduating from eighth grade, but this is a big deal. It is a fresh start. She is
at the top of her class, she is finally forgetting her rape, and even her hair is
getting nicer. Fancy. When the big day comes, everything is awesome. But then
Mr. Donleavy, a white politician from Texarkana (yep, that's right on the border
of Texas and Arkansas), totally ruins the mood with his speech. The speech is
about how [switch to sarcastic voice] the white high school will be getting
awesome new science sets and famous artists to teach them, but you know,
black people are only good at sports so maybe they'll get a playing field. The
graduation is a bit gloomy after that fiasco, but everyone tries to continue as if

5. nothing had happened. Henry Reed to the rescue. This valedictorian begins to
sing "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" and the entire mood of the graduation
completely changes. Angelou praises black poets (not Ray Charles) for being
one reason black people have continued to survive.
CHAPTER 24
Maya's many years of stealing candy from the Store have finally caught up to
her. Retribution day has come—she has two gigantic cavities. Since the nearest
black dentist is 25 miles away, Momma decides to take Maya to the white Dr.
Lincoln. Dr. Lincoln, like many people in Stamps, borrowed money from
Momma during the Depression. When they arrive, Dr. Lincoln refuses to treat
Maya because she is black. This is not off to a good start. Even though he shuts
the door in their faces, Momma tells Maya to sit tight, and she goes inside the
office to talk to him. Now comes Maya's hilarious fantasy about what went down
in the office. Yep, she imagines that Momma beats up Dr. Lincoln and nearly
kills him with her secret magical powers and strength. Please read this. We half
expected Momma to start yelling "This! Is! Sparta!", but it never happened. Still,
this is definitely the product of youthful imagination and delirious pain. After
Momma comes out, they head to the black doctor in Texarcana by bus. Maya
even gets to eat ice cream afterward. Not bad. When she gets home, Maya tells
Bailey Jr. about the epic and bloody battle that just went down. But shortly after,
they learn the real truth. Momma made Dr. Lincoln give her ten dollars as final
payment for his debt, and she used that to pay for the other dentist. Maya is sad
because that is significantly less awesome than what she imagined. So are we.
CHAPTER 25
One day, Momma drops a bomb. She tells Maya and Bailey Jr. that they are
getting older and that it's time for them to go live with their parents. They call
shenanigans on this—there must be some other reason she is sending them
away. Ding ding! They're right. About a week earlier Bailey Jr. had come back
visibly shaken from doing a chore in the white part of town. Turns out he saw a
dead black man who had been killed by white men. A white man also made
Bailey Jr. and the other black men around carry the corpse to a police wagon—

6. and then he threatened to lock them up with the corpse. Shortly after, Momma
says it is time for them to go. Coincidence? We think not. It takes a while to get
the transportation settled, but eventually Momma and Maya leave for Los
Angeles.
CHAPTER 26
Maya is thinking about all the sweet stuff she can do in California when she
remembers that she will be seeing her mother. That changes things.
Remember, last time she was with her mother, she was raped and Mr. Freeman
was killed. But when Maya arrives, Vivian is even more beautiful than she
remembered. Apparently that's all it takes. A month later, Bailey Jr. joins the
family in Los Angeles, where they live for six months while their living
arrangements are determined. Once they have a place to live, Momma returns
to Arkansas, and Bailey Jr. and Maya move in with Vivian in a small house in
Oakland. In the middle of the night, Vivian wakes up Maya and Bailey Jr. and
ushers them quietly into the kitchen. Everyone is thoroughly confused until
Vivian tells them it's a surprise party. Woo! Desserts and dancing can only
make things better, and sure enough, the two kids become more comfortable
with their mother after the festivities. Vivian supports her family honestly—
through card games and gambling, of course. She takes pride in being fair, but
she has no mercy. Time for a story. One time, one of Maya's partners (business
and romantic) cursed at her and called her a "bitch." She responded by
shooting him several times with a gun. Slight overreaction, don't you think? But
apparently they're still friends. Suddenly, World War II begins. Maya runs all the
way home because she's worried about being bombed on the way. Her
grandmother laughs at her when she gets home. We kind of do, too. Shortly
after the war begins, Maya gains a stepfather in Daddy Clidell. He is her first
real father.

7. CHAPTER 27
With the war, Japanese people begin to disappear from San Francisco. They
are replaced by black people drawn from the South to San Francisco looking for
fame and fortune. No one really pays attention to the Japanese displacement—
the black community is too focused on the prejudice against themselves. For
the first time, Maya feels at home. The city is crazy and so is she—it's a match
made in heaven. At the same time, racism is growing in the city. White and
black people from the South live together in the city, each with their own
prejudices and loads of skepticism. Time for another story. Maya tells us about
a white woman who would not sit next to a black man on a bus even though he
made space for her. The lady said that she refused to sit next to a draft dodger
and that he should go to war like her son. You might want to look before you
leap next time, lady. Turns out this guy is an injured veteran. He tells her, "'Then
ask your son to look around for my arm, which I left over there.'" Aw, snap.
CHAPTER 28
The girls at Maya's new school are way too tough for her. Luckily, she is
transferred to a rich school on the white side of town. She is one of three black
students there, and she is shocked to find out she's not the smartest kid in
school or even her class. Major reality check. Miss Kirwin makes things a little
better—she never treats her differently because of the color of her skin. Maya
loves this teacher so much so much that she comes to visit her even after she
has graduated. Maya receives a scholarship to the California Labor School
when she's fourteen, and she studies drama and dance.
CHAPTER 29
The house that Daddy Clidell bought is huge. It has fourteen rooms, and they're
all filled with random tenants. Daddy Clidell is the polar opposite of Daddy
Bailey. At first, Maya thought he was just like all of Vivian's other boyfriends and
tried to ignore him. But it turns out he was just too cool to ignore. Daddy Clidell
takes Maya under his wing and introduces her to the black underground so she
can learn how not to get tricked by conmen. Sounds important. Then we get to

8. hear Mr. Red Leg's favorite con story, which is told in his voice—it sounds just
like an old conman talking. Here's how it went down: There was a white man
conning a lot of black men, and Daddy Clidell's friends decided to check him
out. Apparently, this guy hated black people and Native Americans like crazy,
which made him a perfect mark. Daddy Clidell's friends told him that a half-
black, half-Indian man had some land that a Northerner wanted to buy. But they
asked him if he wanted to buy the land instead since they could trust him. Of
course he wanted it. They led him on until he got anxious about the whole thing,
and then they took his money and ran. After hearing this story, Maya reflects on
the ethics of the whole thing. These black men were put in a tough situation, so
we can't judge them by the same standards
CHAPTER 30
Daddy Bailey invites Maya to spend the summer with him in southern California.
Sounds nice, right? Wrong. When she gets there, she meets her father's
girlfriend Dolores, who is a bit disappointed that Maya is a tall, skinny teenager
instead of a cute little kid. Dolores is also uptight and persnickety. She and
Maya don't get along very well, to say the least. One day Daddy Bailey
announces that he is going to take Maya along on one of his trips to Mexico to
get groceries. Maya is psyched, Dolores is not. When they arrive in Mexico,
everyone is excited to see Daddy B. He's a total celeb.Maya also sees a
different side of her dad here. Before he was, you know, that guy. Now he's
super chill. It's fiesta time. Maya dances, eats pork rinds, and drinks Coke.
Sounds like a pretty swell time. But after a while, she realizes she hasn't seen
her dad, and she panics. Maybe he's sold her into slavery, she thinks. Gulp.
Okay, so he didn't sell her—turns out he's just drunk. After she finds him, he
passes out in the car. Maya panics again because she doesn't want to sleep in
Mexico. Her solution? Drive home. Oh, the only problem is that she has never
driven before, and doesn't even know how to turn on a car. Also, they are on a
mountain. In Mexico. This may not be the best idea ever. Unsurprisingly, Maya
crashes into another car. The people in the car threaten to call the police until
Daddy Bailey wakes up and, as usual, sorts everything out. On the ride home,
Maya is upset that her dad wasn't impressed with her awesome driving skills.

9. CHAPTER 31
Maya and Daddy Bailey get home late, smelling like alcohol. Oh, and they don't
have any groceries. This is a problem. Unsurprisingly, it leads to an argument
between Dolores and Daddy Bailey. After the argument, Maya feels guilty and
tells Dolores that she is sorry. Somehow, this ends with Dolores calling Vivian a
whore and Maya slapping her in the face. You should stop and read this
section—and the next couple of chapters—because things become pretty
unreal in Maya's life from now on. Go on, we'll wait. Anyway, Dolores goes
crazy and attacks Maya. In all of the frenzy, Maya is injured. She runs outside
and locks herself in her father's car while Dolores runs around with a hammer in
her hand trying to attack her. Since she is bleeding, Maya is pretty sure she's
going to die. She doesn't die. (Which we figured, since she's writing the book,
after all.) Her father takes her to a friend to get her cut treated. It's pretty small
and Maya is disappointed that she won't have a sweet battle scar. The next
morning, Maya wakes up in her father's friends' house and cannot remember
their names. She is so embarrassed, and she can't go back to Vivian because
she doesn't want to cause trouble between her and Daddy Bailey—she already
feels she's caused enough trouble in her life. She decides that the best answer
is to run away and be homeless. This is not a chapter for good ideas.
CHAPTER 32
Maya's new home is a junkyard car. She falls asleep in the car, and the next
morning she's surrounded by other homeless people. They take her in, and she
lives with them for a month. During that time, she learns to drive (for real this
time), curse, and dance. She also starts to appreciate the diverse world around
here—she's surrounded by blacks, Mexicans, and whites, all getting along
together. This is a big deal. Finally, she feels confident. Nothing a little time on
the streets can't cure, right? (Wrong!) When she's ready to go home, Maya calls
her mother, and Vivian welcomes her as if nothing strange has happened.

10. CHAPTER 33
When Maya returns home to San Francisco, she sees that she was not the only
one who grew up. Bailey Jr. has also had his share of experiences. Basically,
he has become a gangster. He tries to imitate the conmen around his mother
and ends up a sad sixteen-year-old in a cheap zoot suit with a white prostitute.
This is not a good look for him. Vivian, not surprisingly, isn't happy about the
whole situation, and she argues with Bailey Jr. constantly. Finally, in a majorly
tense scene, he is kicked out of the house. He says that—at sixteen—he is a
man, and it's time for him to live on his own. Right. Later, Maya goes to see him
in his apartment, where he says he'll work on the South Pacific Railroad. Maya
doesn't think this is a good idea. We don't either.
CHAPTER 34
Life is too boring for Maya now. (Reality TV hadn't been invented yet.) That
means it's time for her to get a job. She decides that she wants to be a
conductorette, but her mother tells her that they don't accept black people for
that job. Guess what? She doesn't care. She visits the office every day for about
a month, until they finally give up. She becomes the first black conductorette in
San Francisco. After all that work, Maya only keeps the job for one semester.
Hmmm. Before going back to school, Maya imagines that she will have a ton of
friends now that she's all grown up. Turns out, though, that she's too grown up
for everyone at school. She begins to cut classes, at least until her mom finds
out. She's too much of a goody-two-shoes to keep skipping for long. Another
important revelation in this chapter: black female teenagers not only have to
deal with everything that comes along with being a teenager, but also with
sexism and racism. In the end, though, it just makes them stronger.
CHAPTER 35
Maya is reading again. We like this girl more and more every chapter. This time,
she reads The Well of Loneliness, which is about lesbians (who she thinks are
also hermaphrodites) who have horrible lives full of persecution. She feels sorry
for these people. At the same time, Maya realizes that at sixteen, she still

11. doesn't have a very womanly body. Oh, and something strange is growing on
her body. What is it…? She wonders how someone becomes a lesbian, and
then worries that she is turning into one. She asks Vivian about the growth on
her vagina, which turns out to be her vulva. (Gentleman, that's normal.) Vivian
laughs and tells Maya that she's not turning into a lesbian. Apparently, this
doesn't convince her. A few weeks later, Maya is having a sleepover with a
friend, and she sees her breasts. She thinks that they are beautiful. She also
thinks this means she's a lesbian. She decides that the answer to this problem
is getting a boyfriend. Because then, you know, she can't be a lesbian. Duh. So
she makes a plan and has sex with one of the most popular boys around. Even
that doesn't work. It isn't romantic and she doesn't enjoy it—she still thinks she
might be a lesbian. Then, in one little sentence at the end of the chapter, she
lets us know that she is pregnant.
CHAPTER 36
Maya's sadness over getting pregnant is only slightly lessened by feeling that
she can't be a lesbian since she is having a baby. Great. She decides to keep it
a secret (on Bailey's suggestion) so that she can finish high school. In those
nine months, Bailey Jr. comes home, their mother goes to Alaska, and Maya
graduates. She leaves Daddy Clidell a note saying that she's pregnant and due
in three weeks. Her parents are actually pretty cool about it—they don't even
get angry. The baby boy is born with no problems. Maya, always a worrywart, is
scared to hold the baby because she is afraid that she might hurt him. When the
baby is three weeks old, Vivian makes Maya sleep with him. She wakes her up
later to show her that she didn't crush the baby, but was actually protecting him
in her sleep. Aw.Yep, that's the end.

12. Maya is black. Seems simple enough, right? Not so much. Racism is the cage around
the caged bird, and it means not getting jobs, not getting medical treatment, and even
the risk of lynching. The incidents of racism in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings are
illogical and seem at first like insurmountable obstacles. But by the end of the book, our
main squeeze learns how to fight back in her own way. Standing on the shoulders of
black women before her, Maya is able to lay the path for the Civil Rights Movement to
come.
Questions About Race
 Is racism more of an issue for Maya than sexism? How are the two related?
 How do Maya's family members experience and react to racism? Do different
races interact differently in Stamps and St. Louis?
 When race and racism appear, is it only between black and white people? What
about when the Japanese people disappear from San Francisco in Chapter 27?
What about Maya's experience in Mexico? How are these experiences of racism
different from white-black racism?
 In the prologue, Angelou writes, "If growing up is painful for the Southern
Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens
the throat. It is an unnecessary insult" (Prologue.11). What do you think she
means by this?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Racism is the biggest obstacle that Maya faces in her childhood—even more than
sexism or poverty.
Even though many black people resent the impact of racism on their lives, they don't do
much to change things.
From the very first page of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya lets us know that
she isn't here to stay ("'I didn't come to stay…'" [Prologue.1]), and she sure doesn't
break her promise. She moves from place to place, meets tons of new people, and grows
as a person. At first, all of this change leads to insecurities. But in the end, our girl
embraces it. And she's a total role model, because she's struggling with questions that
we all face: What does change mean in our lives? How do we deal with it? Should we
ever fight it? This is pretty tough stuff for a middle-schooler, but her experiences—
along with the reflections of adult Maya—set a great example for us all.
Questions About Change
Is change a good thing or a bad thing in Caged Bird? What examples can you point to
as evidence?
Is there anything that doesn't change in this novel? People, places, things? Lion, tigers,
bears?
The novel begins with the lines, "What you looking at me for?/ I didn't come to stay…"
(Prologue.1). How do these words reflect Maya's attitude toward life?

13. Chew on This
Try on an opinionortwo,start a debate,orplay the devil’sadvocate.
When things in life are a bit topsy-turvy, that's when Maya has a real chance to grow.
Change isn't good or bad in Caged Bird—what matters is how the characters deal with
it.
It's what's on the inside that counts, right? Well, it takes Maya thirty-six chapters of I
Know Why the Caged Bird Sings—oh, and sixteen years of life—to figure that out. This
girl thinks she's just plain ugly. Chalk it up to young girl insecurities, a lack of parental
love, or a culture that praises white beauty, but Maya just doesn't see herself as
attractive. But once that baby is in her tummy, everything changes.
Questions About Appearance
1. What does it mean to be beautiful in Caged Bird? Are there any good characters
that are ugly? Are there any bad characters that are beautiful?
2. Do you think Maya is exaggerating the beauty of her family? Why or why not?
3. Why is Maya so obsessed with her and other people's looks? Why are
appearances so important to her?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Beauty is a symbol of goodness in the novel—everyone who ugly is also a bad person.
No wonder Maya wishes she were beautiful.
Maya's change in appearance during her pregnancy is a metaphor for her newfound
independence and self-acceptance.
How many times are the words "I love you" written in I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings? Go count 'em, we'll wait. Back so soon? Yeah, we thought so. Love definitely
isn't oozing out of the pages of this book. And because of that, our characters go
searching for it—in sex, in religion, in acceptance. By becoming a mother, Maya will be
able to give the love she never received—and we're pretty sure she'll finally feel it in
return.
Questions About Love
1. How are love and sex related in Caged Bird? How does their relationship cause
problems for our girl?
2. Who loves and is loved in this novel? Is love always reciprocated?
3. What kinds of love are depicted in Caged Bird? Familial? Romantic? Sexual?
All/none of the above?

14. 4. Maya has a whole bunch of moms and dads in her early years. Do each of the
mother- and father-figures in Maya's life love her? In what ways?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Momma is unable to express her love for Maya and Bailey in words, but it is apparent
in her actions.
Love and sex are mistakenly conflated in this novel, but there's never really any sex
with love in Caged Bird.
Maya is raped when she is eight years old—that's about as messed up as sex and
sexuality can get. And from the moment she's abused, her sexual identity comes into
question. She confuses sex with love, she feels torn between womanhood and girlhood,
and she doesn't know which way is up. Sex is only for bad people, right? Or married
people? Or perverts? Throughout the course of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
Maya works her way through an understanding of sex. In the end, even if she's a bit
misguided in her actions, she takes charge of her sexual identity.
Questions About Sexuality and Sexual Identity
1. How is sex characterized in the novel? Are any of the sex scenes positive? What
kinds of people have sex?
2. Bailey Jr. begins playing "Momma and Poppa" when he is eleven years old.
What does he think sexuality means? Does Joyce change that for him?
3. How do the different characters think differently about sex? Can that tell us
something about them?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
In Caged Bird, sexuality of any kind is a bad and dirty thing. It only leads to pain, and
it's best to stay away from it.
By showing her the beauty that can come from sex, Maya's baby helps her heal from her
sexual abuse as a child.