I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
(Maya Angelou)

Chapter One

Maya’s parents divorce when she and her brother Bailey are three and four years old, respectively. It is after the divorce that the children are sent on a train with the aid of a porter from California to Stamps, Arkansas to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson.

The porter only accompanies the children to Arizona and sends them on the rest of their journey with pieces of paper tacked to their clothing that list their destination. When they get to Arkansas, they move in with Mrs. Henderson, whom they call “Momma”, and her son, Willie, who is a disabled adult. Momma is the owner and proprietor of the only store in Stamps and thus a well-respected member of the community.

Maya finds herself immersed in the lives of the cotton-pickers who frequent Momma’s store and is outraged by the desperate and unfair realities of their lives as compared with the stereotypes of “happy” cotton-pickers.

Chapter Two

Willie, Momma’s son, was injured when he was just a child and it left him crippled. Many people in the community poke fun at Willie, not only due to his handicap but also because they are jealous that he lives a comfortable life while they bust their humps in the fields.

One day, Maya notices Willie waiting on customers in the store, and hiding his handicap and she understands that he must do this, so they treat him as an equal; and he must be sick of all the pity he gets for his condition. Maya feels closer to Willie for being able to understand him more than others can. While Maya is living with Momma and Willie, she develops a love for reading.

Maya’s favorite author to read is William Shakespeare, though she feels guilty for reading him because he is white.

Chapter Three

Mr. Steward, a white man who used to serve as Sheriff, comes around one day and tells Momma that they are looking for a black man who supposedly messed around with a white woman.

The white men have formed lynch mobs and are all over town looking for the man. Momma is fearful that the lynch mob may begin to look for a scapegoat when they are unable to find the man, so she tells Willie to hide in the potato and onion bins at the store on the chance they come for him.

Willie remains safe, and the mob never comes for him, but Maya knows he has suffered pain and fear just at the prospect as she could hear him moaning from his hiding place.

Chapter Four

As a child, Maya was very unhappy with her appearance as she found herself grossly unattractive; she was quite large for her age, had very dark skin, and extremely kinky and unruly hair. On top of Maya’s own insecurities, she often heard others speaking of how ugly she is.

Bailey, on the other hand, was a very attractive young boy who was slight in size and handsome in appearance. Bailey would always stick up for Maya when others would say disrespectful things about her, and because of this Maya considered Bailey to be the single most important person in her life.

Chapter Five

Momma raises Maya and Bailey to be very respectful of others, especially their elders, which causes Maya to be quite angry when other children do not show respect to Momma and Willie. Generally everyone does respect Momma and Willie, except the poor white children who often make fun of them and taunt them.

One day when some poor white children approached Momma’s store she sent Maya inside. Maya sat inside filled with rage as the kids made fun of Momma’s stance and mannerisms while Momma just stood there and hummed hymns to herself. When one of the girls did a handstand, and her dress flew up to reveal she wore no underwear Momma walked back into the store, seemingly content and accomplished.

Maya did not understand for some time that Momma just proved how much higher her level of class was than that of the poor white children.

Chapter Six

Reverend Howard Thomas comes into town once every three months to check on the church as it is one of many that he presides over. When he comes to town, he stays with Momma overnight on Saturdays and gives the sermon on Sundays.

Maya and Bailey do not like the Reverend because he eats the best parts of their chicken dinner on Sunday nights and because he takes so long to pray on Sunday mornings that breakfast gets cold.

Maya does not speak to the Reverend because she is afraid of saying something mean though she does enjoy going to church as she loves to read the bible. She especially enjoys it when Sister Monroe is there because she knows it will be exciting, as Sister Monroe has been known to get so excited she needs to be removed from the church. She often sparks riots and bouts of violence, sometimes toward the Reverend, which Maya and Bailey find quite entertaining.

Chapter Seven

Momma is very respectful of all people, especially whites, because she does not feel that anyone deserves disrespect, though she does occasionally refer to white people as “them”. She is not respectful of white people because she is afraid of what they will do to her, but because she is realistic. One day Momma hid a black man in her store who was accused of assaulting a white woman though he was caught later that day after he had left the store.

The man told the judge that “Mrs. Henderson” had helped him, and so she was subpoenaed to court. When she arrived, the judge was amazed to find a black woman standing in front of him as black people are generally not referred to as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” The fact that Momma is treated with such respect is indicative of her place and importance in the community.

Chapter Eight

For Christmas one year, Maya and Bailey receive gifts from their parents, much to their surprise as they had not seen their parents since they had been abandoned and even considered their mother to be dead.

They ran outside and cried with outrage and confusion over their abandonment, struggling with feelings of guilt that it was their own fault. They have a hard time understanding how their mother can live a happy life without them, but knowing they are out there in the world somewhere. Despite the fact that Momma reprimands them for being ungrateful toward their mother, Maya destroys the china doll that her mother sent her as a gift.

Chapter Nine

Maya and Bailey’s father, Big Bailey, shows up at Momma’s house on day unexpectedly. Maya cannot believe the man standing before her is her father because he is very tall, owns a car, and speaks like the white men she has encountered.

Big Bailey tells the kids that he is going to bring them to St. Louis to stay with their mother and Momma lets them go, telling them to behave, but obviously sad at the prospect of losing them. Maya sees Big Bailey as a stranger, though Bailey seems to get along with him just fine; when Maya meets her mother, Vivian, she sees her as a stranger as well, albeit an extremely beautiful one.

Bailey seems to fall in love with Vivian right away which Maya attributes to the fact that they are both extremely attractive and have matching personalities. Big Bailey leaves after a few days to go back to California though Maya is not sad because she simply sees the situation as one stranger leaving her with another one.

Chapter Ten

When Maya and Bailey arrive in St. Louis it is during the time of prohibition, and it is a very different place than Stamps. Vivian is very popular, and works at a gambling joint and her mother, Grandmother Baxter, entertains the men who run the illegal businesses.

Vivian’s brothers are part of the mob scene in St. Louis and they, along with Grandmother Baxter, seem to have an incredible amount of power in the city. Maya’s uncles are violent towards black and white people though they are kind to Maya and Bailey and like to tell them stories about when they were babies, including the story of how Maya, whose birth name is Marguerite, got her nickname.

Maya and Bailey live with Vivian’s parents for a few months before moving in with Vivian and her boyfriend, Mr. Freeman, who is fat, older man that is insecure in his relationship with the beautiful Vivian. Maya is not fazed by all of the moving around as she no longer feels comfortable anywhere, so it is all the same to her.

Chapter Eleven

To take herself out of the real world Maya immerses herself in books, especially fairy-tales. She is confused by the world she is living in and begins to feel bad for Mr. Freeman because he spends all of his time waiting around for Vivian to come home from her night job at the gambling joint.

One day, Mr. Freeman molests Maya by holding her close to him while he masturbates and later telling her that she will kill Bailey if she tells anyone. Maya has no idea where this threat comes from because she does not understand that what happened is wrong, she actually enjoyed having someone hold her for once.

Mr. Freeman ignores Maya for a few weeks after the incident, and she feels rejected, though the cycle repeats itself again soon. Maya spends less time with Bailey as he has made friends that he likes to play baseball with and since Maya has no friends she spends her time reading books at the library.

Chapter Twelve

One night when Vivian does not return home Mr. Freeman sends Maya out to the store, and, upon her return, he rapes her. He tells Maya that should she scream of tell anyone what he has done then he will kill her and Bailey.

Mr. Freeman sends Maya to the library when he is done, but she comes home soon after because there is an excruciating pain between her legs. When she gets home, she hides her bloody underwear under her mattress, so no one will find them and gets into bed. She hears her mother and Mr. Freeman arguing that night and the next morning Vivian tells Maya that Mr. Freeman has moved out. When Bailey comes into Maya’s room to change her sheets he finds the bloody underwear that she had hidden under her mattress.

Chapter Thirteen

Vivian immediately takes Maya to the hospital and Bailey asks her who raped her, assuring her that no one is going to kill him. Upon mentioning Mr. Freeman’s name, he is picked up by police immediately.

An attorney comes to question Maya and asks her if Mr. Freeman had ever touched her inappropriately before, and she feels that in order to keep the respect of her family she must lie and tells the attorney that the rape was the first incident. Mr. Freeman is sentenced to one year in prison, though he is released later that night before he is to begin his sentence.

A policeman comes to the house to see Grandmother Baxter that night, and tells her that Mr. Freeman has been beaten to death, and they speak no more of the matter. Maya feels incredibly guilty over Mr. Freeman’s death feeling that he was killed because she did not admit that he had been inappropriate toward her before the rape. She feels that the only way she can protect others from herself is by speaking to only Bailey.

At first her family thinks that her distance is because of the rape, but, after a while, they start to think she is being disrespectful and get angry and violent toward her.

Chapter Fourteen

Maya and Bailey return to Stamps to live with Momma. Maya is not sure whether Momma asked for her and Bailey to return or whether Vivian and the rest of her family in St. Louis just did not want to deal with her anymore.

Maya is very happy to be returning to Stamps, but Bailey is not as he liked being near Vivian. When people in the town ask about St. Louis, Bailey describes the “big city” to them with sarcastic wonderment, which no one picks up on other than Maya. Bailey is mean to everyone, with the exception of Maya, as he understands why she remains silent; likewise, Maya understands why Bailey is so frustrated with life.

Chapter Fifteen

Maya meets a woman in stamps named Mrs. Bertha Flowers, whom she sees as a character straight out of literature. Mrs. Flowers is on a mission to get Maya speaking again and decides to do it through literature. Mrs. Flowers reads aloud to Maya and Maya is very impressed by her oratory skills.

Mrs. Flowers gives Maya a poem to practice reading aloud, asking her to read it the next time she visits. When Maya returns to the store later that day, she is excited about the time she spent with Mrs. Flowers and finally speaks, telling Bailey that she has brought some cookies that Mrs. Flowers baked for them.

Momma hears Maya use the phrase “by the way” and beats her for it, though Maya does not know why. Momma explains that the phrase refers to Jesus and Maya will not reference Jesus in such a way. Maya tries to explain that it is just an expression but Momma will not listen.

Chapter Sixteen

When Maya is ten years old, Momma makes her get a job working for a white family to learn some manners. The family she works for is the Cullinan family and their cook is an older black woman named Glory. Mrs. Cullinan’s rich friends watch Maya work and suggest that Mrs. Cullinan call her “Mary” because “Margaret” is too long of a name, though her name is not “Margaret” but “Marguerite.”

Maya does not appreciate the way that she is treated, especially when Mrs. Cullinan actually begins to call her Mary, but she knows she cannot quit because Momma would not allow it. Maya knows the only way out is to be fired, and Bailey tells her to break some of Mrs. Cullinan’s china and she will surely fire her.

Maya takes Bailey’s advice, and Mrs. Cullinan is furious. She bursts into sobs, and when her friends ask if “Mary” is responsible Mrs. Cullinan throws a piece of the broken china in Maya’s direction and yells, “Her name is Margaret!”

Chapter Seventeen

One night Bailey does not return home though it is well after dark. Momma and Willie say nothing in front of Maya but Momma takes Maya with her to find Bailey. Bailey seems morose when they find him and accepts his reprimand and punishment without a word. He tells Maya that he watched a movie with a white actress named Kay Francis in it and she reminded him of Vivian, which Maya finds funny, and he stayed to watch it a second time. When another Kay Francis movie comes out Maya goes to see it with Bailey, and though she enjoys the movie tremendously, it makes Bailey sad.

On the way home, Bailey jumps onto the train tracks, narrowly missing an oncoming train and Maya worries that one day Bailey will jump on a train and be gone forever. One day Bailey really does jump on a train though he only makes it to Baton Rouge and strands himself there for a couple weeks.

Chapter Eighteen

Every year in Stamps there is a revival meeting where people of all the different churches come together for a sermon. This year the reverend preaches about the injustice of false charity. He does not say it outright, but Maya knows he means the charity that comes from the white people who expect the black recipients to feel belittled and grateful for them after.

The preacher asks people who are unidentified as far as religion to come forward and join any church they would like. Later that night as the people are passing the honky-tonk they seem sad and ashamed at the presence of sin that lives in the black community though Maya understands that the people at the honky-tonk and the people who attended the revival are all trying to escape from the harsh realities of life.

Chapter Nineteen

The people of Stamps, along with the rest of the black community, consider the boxer Joe Louis an icon. One afternoon all the people of Stamps gather in the store to listen to a fight on the radio in which Joe is fighting a white man. For the black community, Joe’s win is important as if he loses it justifies the poor treatment of black people, such as lynching, rape, and violence at the hands of the white population.

Louis succeeds in winning his fight and everyone at the store celebrates joyously. Maya feels as though Joe Louis has proven that black people are the most powerful in the world.

Chapter Twenty

Every summer in Stamps there is a fish fry, where men catch the fish and women show off their baking and cooking skills. Maya goes off and sits by a tree to stare at the sky where she meets another girl her age named Louise Kendricks. Maya and Louise become good friends quickly and spend a lot of time together. When Valentine’s Day comes around, Maya gets a letter from a boy named Tommy Valden, a year older than her and in the eighth grade, asking her to be his Valentine.

Louise explains to Maya that a Valentine means love and Maya tells her she is not going through that again, though she does not elaborate. The girls rip up the note together, though the next day Maya gets another note from Tommy telling her that he saw her rip up his note but considers her his Valentine anyway. Just when Maya decides to open up to Tommy his crush on her is fading.

Chapter Twenty-One

As Bailey becomes interested in girls, he sets up a tent in their backyard to mess around with girls in. He plays a game where he and the girl are the father and mother and Maya is their child who sits watch outside the tent.

It is not long before Bailey loses his virginity to an older girl named Joyce who encourages him to steal things for her from the store. Soon Joyce disappears, and her aunt informs Momma that she ran away with a porter from the railroad whom she met in the store.

Momma cannot believe what happened right in front of her face, and she never realized. Bailey is very sad that Joyce had left and so is Maya as Bailey was nice to people and not so sarcastic when she was around, though Maya hates Joyce for hurting him.

Chapter Twenty-Two

One night a man named George Taylor comes into the store, distraught over having just lost his wife, Florida, after forty years together. Mr. Taylor tells Momma that his wife came to him the night before and told him that she wanted children. Maya is horrified because she does not like ghost stories. She remembers attending Florida’s funeral and realizing the reality of death and fleeting life.

Mr. Taylor is insistent that his wife’s voice moaned to him that she wants children and Momma tells him that perhaps Florida was trying to tell him that she wants him to help children through the church. Maya is relieved at the end of the ghost stories and takes comfort in the fact that Momma seems to be able to ward away ghostly spirits.

Chapter Twenty-Three

It is the day of Maya’s eighth grade graduation, an occasion that is annually a very exciting time for the black community though Maya feels nervous. A white man named Mr. Edward Donleavy speaks to the crowd about the improvements given to the local schools that years, mainly contributions to the science lab at the white school, and he brags about the athletes who have graduating from Maya’s school.

Maya feels the man is basically saying that black people are only good for sports, and the entire class looks embarrassed and ashamed. When Henry Reed, the valedictorian, speaks Maya feels ashamed still and skeptical about his optimism for the future, but when he leads the class in singing “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”, the black national anthem, she feels a revived hope and pride for her people.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The nearest dentist that treats black people is twenty-five miles away so when Maya has a terrible toothache Momma decides to bring her to the dentist in town, Dr. Lincoln. Dr. Lincoln had taken a loan from Momma once that had saved him from some trouble, so Momma felt that he owed her. When they arrived at the office, Dr. Lincoln told Momma that he does not treat black patients, and would rather stick his hand in a dog’s mouth than in Maya’s. He tells Momma that he repaid her loan and owes her nothing more.

Momma demands that Dr. Lincoln pay her interest for the money he borrowed, despite the fact that they had never made an interest agreement before. Momma and Maya leave for Texarkana to see the black dentist. When they return home Momma tells Willie she feels bad for demanding interest from Dr. Lincoln, but he deserves it.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Bailey comes home one day completely shaken, wondering aloud what makes white people hate black people so much. He had just encountered a white man pulling a black man’s rotting body out of the water. The white man stared, laughing at the body and told Bailey to help him load the body into his wagon.

The white man told Bailey that if he did not help that he would lock him and all the other black men in the wagon with the rotting body, an idea which he seemed to find extremely entertaining. Shortly after this incident Momma began saving money to bring Maya and Bailey to California to live with Vivian.

Chapter Twenty-Six

While Vivian figures out where she and the children are going to live, Momma stays in Los Angeles with Maya and Bailey. Maya and Bailey begin to really enjoy being around Vivian and start to see her as a fun and spontaneous person who experiences insecurities and fear just like everyone else.

Vivian is trained as a nurse, but she makes money by hosting poker games and gambling tournaments. She is very honest and shows a great amount of power and respect for others, as well as demands respect in return. World War II begins for the U.S., and Vivian gets married to a businessman named Daddy Clidell, who is a solid father figure for the kids and moves the family to San Francisco.

Chapter Twenty- Seven

When the War starts Maya sees many differences in her surroundings. There are many black migrant workers and illiterate white men taking over the jobs of the Japanese, who have been displaced into internment camps, though no one ever speaks of such things.

In an ever-changing environment, Maya finally feels at home for the first time. While there is still obvious racism in this big city, Maya feels that people are much freer than in Stamps or even St. Louis. She notes that, despite the racism, black people are not overly polite and respectful of white people without merit.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

When she enters school she is skipped a grade and soon moved to a white school because she is so smart. In the white school, she is one of three black students, and, while the white students are haughty toward her, the only teacher she remembers, Miss Kirwin, treats her as equal to everyone else.

The white students look at Maya as though they are better than her because they are white and better educated than she. At the age of fourteen, Maya receives a scholarship to attend a school where she can study dance and theater called California Labor School.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Maya has a lot of respect for Daddy Clidell and considers him a father-figure to her as she has never had one before. She likes his ability to be tender and assertive at the same time and the fact that he does not seem arrogant despite the success his has achieved with his pool halls and apartment buildings.

Daddy Clidell has many friends who are con-men, and Maya is interested in the stories they tell, such as one where they conned a white man who was racist into buying a property that did not even exist for $40,000. Maya feels that while this activity may seem unethical to some, ethics are different for all people. As black people have been discriminated against, their ethics are out of necessity and thus different.

Chapter Thirty

One summer Maya visits Big Bailey and his girlfriend, Dolores, whom she has been exchanging letters with. Maya and Dolores dislike one another from the start, and Dolores is very jealous of the attention that Big Bailey gives to Maya.

Big Bailey plans many trips to Mexico, supposedly for groceries, and asks Maya to accompany him on one such trip. She enjoys herself in Mexico because she sees Big Bailey’s true personality for the first time and has fun mingling with the local people and using the little Spanish she has learned in school.

One night, when Maya cannot find Big Bailey, he appears, staggering drunk and passes out in the car. Maya, though she has never driven before, drives the car to the border where she gets into a small accident. Big Bailey awakens, takes the wheel, and is not angry at all about the accident though he also does not acknowledge the feat she has just accomplished which upsets her.

Chapter Thirty-One

When they return from Mexico, Maya hears Big Bailey and Dolores fighting, as Dolores feels that Maya is ruining their relationship. After Big Bailey leaves, Maya tells Dolores that she never meant to come between them and feels happy with herself for doing such a good deed. Dolores responds by calling Vivian a whore and stabbing Maya with scissors.

Maya runs out and hides in her father’s car until he returns and takes her to a friend’s house to bandage her cut. Big Bailey takes Maya to another friend’s house for the night, returning the next day to give her money and promising to come back for her later. Maya takes the money and flees, knowing she does not want to face Big Bailey’s friends nor can she return to Vivian with the cut on her arm. She fears causing a rift between her mother and father because she remembers all too clearly the guilt she feels over the death of Mr. Freeman.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Maya finds herself with nowhere to go and spends the night in an abandoned car at a junk yard. When she wakes the next day she finds herself surrounded by a diverse group of laughing, homeless, teenagers.

They tell her she can stay if she follows the rules: no sleeping with anyone of the opposite sex, no stealing, and she must work to contribute her funds to the community. Maya stays with the group for one month, enjoying their sense of community and the dance contests they have on weekends. After one month, Maya asks Vivian to buy her a plane ticket to return home. Though the homeless teenagers are upset that she is leaving them, they wish the best for her.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Maya feels as though she has changed greatly over the summer though when she returns home she realizes she is not the only one who has changed. Bailey shows little interest in Maya’s tales and reveals that he and Vivian are no longer getting along. To attract Vivian’s attention Bailey begins to dress in fancy clothing like the men Vivian hangs around with and, also like them, he dates a white prostitute.

Vivian is furious, not realizing her influence in his behavior and tells him to clean up his act. Bailey decides to move out on his own despite the fact that he and Vivian have reconciled. Maya is very upset that Bailey is moving out, but he assures her that he will be fine on his own; it is simply time for him to move on.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Maya has a desire to work and decides that she would like to take a semester off of school and get a job. She is determined to become the first black person to ever work on a streetcar in San Francisco and after months of being persistent, she succeeds. When Maya finally decides to return to school, she feels more separated from her classmates than ever before because of all she experienced while she was away. She muses that, in America, black women face more than the average adolescent problems because they also have to deal with racism and sexism.

Maya believes that the reason black women have such strong personalities, characters, and beliefs is because of all the adversity they face.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Maya reads “The Well of Loneliness” by Radclyff Hall and it introduces her to lesbianism. She does not completely understand the concept, but she wonders if she is a lesbian because she feels different from the other girls. Her hips and breasts have yet to develop, and she has no hair under her arms, but Vivian tells her this is normal for someone her age.

Maya decides she must find a boyfriend to discover if she is a lesbian but finds that the boys at school are not interested in her because she has dark skin and kinky hair. Maya decides to ask one of her neighbors to have sex with her, but the result does not leave relieve Maya’s confusion. A few weeks later, Maya learns that she is pregnant.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Maya knows she is responsible for her pregnancy and places the blame on no one else though she is not sure what to do about it. She writes Bailey to ask his opinion, and he tells her to keep the pregnancy to herself until she is done with school because Vivian will not allow an abortion and will make her drop out of school.

Maya manages to keep her pregnancy secret until she is done with school and eight months along. When she tells Vivian and Daddy Clidell they accept the news and do not have anything negative to say to her about the situation, despite the fact that she is sure they do not approve. When Maya gives birth to her son, she feels awkward around him and is scared to touch him.

Vivian makes Maya sleep next to the baby when he is three weeks old, and Maya tries to stay awake all night, so she does not crush him, though she is unsuccessful. Later that night Vivian wakes Maya to show her that the baby has curled himself up the crook of her arm. She tells Maya that as long as her heart is in the right place she will never do wrong by him. Maya happily falls back asleep next to her son.