Why the Caged Bird Sings
Why the Caged Bird SingsWhen Maya Angelou says “I know why the caged bird sings,” I think we ought to believe her, since she managed to write a whole book on the subject. I also think she must have had some important motives for writing the book since it does reveal her life story. But I think telling her story as a self expression was one of her purposes for the book. Aside from that, she wanted to depict the cultural situations she grew up in, as well as make social commentary about racial barriers.
Probably the most obvious reason Angelou wrote the novel was to portray the events of her life and her memories of them. This is apparent because few writers use their real name when writing stories in the first person, true or not. It also must be one of her motives because it contains some very personal, and potentially embarrassing information, particularly the event of her victimization by her stepfather. I imagine she’s actually quite proud of having overcome the difficulties she endured, so revealing her story was gratifying.
Another goal which motivated her to write it was exposing the environment in which she grew up. The underlying purpose of this is to...
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