The prologue describes an occasionwherein Angelou, as a small child, is reciting a poem in church. Feeling unsightlydue to the fact she imagined in useless that the get dressed her grandmother made her could be so quite that she could be visible as a lovely white child, she forgets the poem after which wets her pants as she flees the church in embarrassment. The talestarts offevolved in 1931, as Maya, age 3, and her elder brother, Bailey, are despatched to Stamps, Arkansas, to stay with their paternal grandmother, whom they name Momma, after their parents’ breakup. Momma owns the simplestkeepwithinside the African American a part of town. The kids settle into existence with Momma, assisting her at the shop and studying to examine and do arithmetic. One night time a former sheriff warns Momma to cover her disabled son due to the fact white guys are making plans revenge after a Black guy “messed with” a white woman. Later a collection of younger white ladies ridicule Momma at the same time as she stands, dignified and unmoving, outdoorthe shop. When the Great Depression hits, Momma maintainsthe shop from going beneathneaththroughpermittingclients to exchange their rations for goods. One Christmas, Maya and Bailey acquirepresents from their parents, whom they assumed to be dead. A 12 months later their father, Daddy Bailey, arrives in a floweryautomobile, and he’s taking Maya and Bailey to St. Louis to stay with their mom, the lovely Vivian. Sponsored through Delhivery The Answer is Delhivery Wherever your cargo has to go #TheAnswerisDelhivery LEARN MORE At first they live with Vivian’s mom and their uncles. At college, Maya and her brother are extrasuperior than the opposite students, and they’re moved up a grade. Later the kidsflow in with Vivian and her boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. Mr. Freeman starts offevolved molesting eight-12 months-antique Maya, threatening to kill Bailey if she tells all and sundry. One day he rapes her, and he or she conceals her stained underclothesbeneathneath the mattress. When converting the linens, Bailey and Vivian locate the garment and realise what happened. During Mr. Freeman’s trial, Maya lies whilstrequestedwhether or not he touched her earlier than the rape. Later Mr. Freeman is observed dead, seemingly having been crushed to death. Feeling guilty, Maya stops talking to all and sundrybesides Bailey. After some months of her silence, Maya and Bailey are despatchedlower back to Momma. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and benefitget entry to to specific content. Subscribe Now Maya is relieved to be lower back in Stamps, however she maintains her silence. Eventually, the state-of-the-art Mrs. Bertha Flowers takes Maya beneathneath her wing, telling her that it’s farvitalto talk and giving her books to examine aloud, and he or shestarts offevolvedspeakme again. At the age of 10, Maya is despatched to paintings for a white woman, who calls her Mary as opposed to her name (Marguerite). Offended, Maya breaks a few china with the intention to get fired. Later, Bailey is disappointedwhilst he sees a film starring Kay Francis due to the fact he thinks the actress seemsmuch like Vivian, and he makes an unsuccessful try andgo back to his mom. Maya later makes her first friend, Louise Kendricks, a lady from college. During this time, Maya maintains to come upon racism. When she develops cavities, Momma takes her to the white dentist who borrowed cash from Momma at some stage in the Depression, however he refuses to deal with the child, and that theyought to take a bus to the nearest Black dentist. Bailey later sees the decaying corpse of a Black guy pulled out of a pond, and a white guy makes him assista few Black guysconvey the frame into the jail. After the incident, Momma comes to a decision to take Maya and Bailey lower back to their mom. Maya and Bailey flow with their mom to Oakland, California. There Maya attends a collegewherein she is one in every ofsimplest3 Black students. When she is 14 years antique, she is offered a scholarship to the California Labor School, in which she research drama and dance. Vivian’s new husband, Daddy Clidell, turns into a actual father determine to Maya. Maya spends a summer time season in southern California with Daddy Bailey and his girlfriend, Dolores. Dolores and Maya do now no longer get along. One day, Daddy Bailey takes Maya with him on a buyingexperience to Mexico. Maya enjoys the tourtill she loses music of her father, who sooner or later returns to their automobile too inebriated to power. Although she has in no waypushedearlier than, Maya manages to power them to the border, in which she hits every otherautomobile. At this point, Daddy Bailey wakes up, pacifies the opposite driver, after which drives the relaxation of the manner home. Upon their go back, Daddy Bailey and Dolores argue, and he walks out. Maya attempts to console Dolores, however Dolores insults Vivian, main Maya to slap her. Dolores then cuts Maya, who comes to a decision to run away. After spending a night time in a junkyard, she awakens to discover anetwork of Black, white, and Mexican runaways residing there. She remains for a month after which returns to Vivian. In the meantime, Bailey has grow to bebuddies with “a collection of slick avenue boys” and all startedcourting a white prostitute. At the age of sixteen he leaves home, to his sister’s outstanding sorrow. Maya browbeats the transit business enterprise into hiring her because the first girl African American streetcar conductor in San Francisco. However, after spending one semester on the job, she returns to college. She later reads the lesbian novel The Well of Loneliness (1928) through Radclyffe Hall, and, false impression what lesbianism is, she starts offevolved to worry that she is probably a lesbian. Though Vivian attempts to reassure her, she isn’t assuaged, and he or she determines to have intercourse with a boy. The come upon is unpleasant, and it outcomes in Maya’s turning into pregnant. On Bailey’s advice, she maintains the information to herself and returns to college. After graduating from excessivecollege, Maya tells Vivian and Daddy Clidell, who’reabsolutely supportive. After Guy is born, Vivian assures Maya that she may bean awesomemom. Legacy The book’s identifygot here from the poem “Sympathy” through Paul Laurence Dunbar. Against the backdrop of racial tensions withinside the South, Angelou faced the disturbingactivities of her formative years and explored the evolution of her robustidentification as an African American woman. Her person and cultural emotions of displacement have been mediated via her ardour for literature, which proved eachrestoration and empowering.