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BACKGROUND INFORMATION Author Information Marguerite Ann Johnson (Maya) is a fascinating, talented and diversified woman. She was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the second child of Bailey Johnson and Vivian Baxter Johnson and the younger sister of Bailey, Jr. When her parents divorced in 1931, she was sent to Stamps Arkansas to live with her paternal grandmother, whom she called Momma. A successful businesswoman and a religious fundamentalist, Momma was a strict disciplinarian who taught Maya and Bailey values and respect. Throughout her life, Momma served as a positive influence on Maya. Maya was a good student who loved to read. She graduated with honors in 1940 from Lafayette County Training School in Arkansas. She then left Stamps and joined her mother in California, where she graduated from Mission High School in 1945. Her son, Clyde Bailey Johnson, was born shortly after graduation. Maya lived a colorful life and supported her son and herself by dancing in nightclubs, cooking, and doing odd jobs. When she was twenty-two, she met and married a Greek-American sailor, Tosh Angelos, and settled in Los Angeles. The mixed marriage faced many challenges and only a few years. After her grandmother’s death, Maya left her son in Vivian’s care and toured Europe and Africa with the U.S. Department of State Theater Production Company. Back in America, Maya first lived in California and then moved to New York. She joined the Harlem Writers Guild in the late 50’sand began her writing career in earnest. She also performed at San Francisco’s Purple Onion, New York’s Village Vanguard, Chicago’s Mr. Kelly’s, Harlem’s Apollo Theatre, and many off- Broadway theaters. She wrote and produced a play, Cabaret for Freedom, with Godfrey Cambridge. Maya took a common law husband, Vusumi Make, who was a South African anti-apartheid leader from Johannesburg; they soon moved to Egypt. Although the marriage did not last very long, she remained in Africa and worked as an editor for a weekly Cairo newspaper. When she returned to live in Los Angeles, she was accepted as a black leader. Presidents Ford and Carter appointed her to honorary positions and sought her influence and leadership qualities. Besides writing and acting, Maya lectured extensively. In 1970, she published her first book, the autobiographical I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It immediately became a bestseller. Protagonist The protagonist of the novel is Maya. As a young child, she is sent to live with her grandmother because her parents are getting a divorce. Since she does not hear from her mother or father for a long time, she thinks they are dead. When they reappear in her life, she does not bond with them. As a result, through most of her childhood and youth, she never feels like she belongs to anyone or anything. Her emotional isolation is intensified by the fact that she is raped by her mother’s boyfriend at the age of eight. Antagonist As a coming-of-age story, Maya’s antagonist is the difficulty of growing up, which is complicated by being abandoned by her parents, by being a black female in wartime America, and by being raped at the age of eight. Climax The climax of the story occurs when Maya runs away from home and learns that she is control of her own life. Fortunately, she makes the wise decision to return to her mother in San Francisco rather than continuing her communal existence amongst the runaways in the junkyard. She also wisely returns to high school and finishes, even though Vivian encourages her to quit and even though she is eight months pregnant at the time of graduation. Her coming-of-age reaches another peak when she questions her sexuality and seeks to overcome what she fears is lesbianism. She invites a neighborhood boy to have sex with her, which leads to pregnancy. The birth of her son turns out to be tshe highpoint of her life. Outcome The story ends as a comedy. Despite all the things going against her, Maya matures, graduates from high school, has a healthy son, and delights in motherhood, which makes her feel that she truly belongs and is needed for the first time in her life. All Contents Major The main theme of the novel is the pain of learning about life, coming-of-age, and accepting oneself.
Approximate Word count = 2824
Approximate Pages = 11.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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