Maya Angelous Childhood

In Maya Angelou's autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya's beautiful,

vivacious biological mother, Vivian Baxter, emerges as an important character in her

daughter's life. Vivian endures as a black woman in a white man's world by displaying

strength, honesty, and toughness, which lead to self- preservation. Vivian lives within

the St. Louis jazz society where blacks are faced with ... the hostility of the powerless

against the powerful, the poor against the rich, the worker against the worked for and

the ragged against the well- dressed. Ms. Angelou provides her readers with a vivid

description of an unwilling mother thrust in and out of maternal situations during a

thirteen-year span in which she survives as an entertainer in bars from St. Louis to San

Francisco. Despite displaying character traits that may be interpreted as unmotherly,

Vivian Baxter is, nevertheless, a positive role model for her daughter, Maya.

Vivian is a very self- centered human being who considers herself her number one

priority. Even so, she never doubts her love for her children, and mothers them in the

only way she knows. Vivian abandons her children, Bailey and Maya, when they are very

young. Written from the author's point of view, the story does not reveal the specifics

leading up to this abandonment. The reader, however, can consider the circumstances

surrounding a failed marriage of a Black couple during the Depression, and understand

Vivian's inner conflict concerning sending her children away. The audience concludes with

the mother that the children will receive a more proper upbringing elsewhere.

Consequently, Vivian allows her mother-in-law to provide Maya and Bailey with a stable

home life and a mother figure. The children grow and develop with Momma, and are shocked

to discover, when Maya is six, that their biological mother is still alive. Maya cannot

understand how her mother could have deserted her. She says that no real mother would

laugh and eat oranges in the sunshine without her children.

A year later, when the children arrive in St. Louis to live with their mother, Vivian is

not really prepared to be a parent, but attempts to make their life with her enjoyable.

For instance, early one morning, Vivian awakens Maya and Bailey and tells them to go to

the kitchen. The children are delighted to discover that she has thrown a surprise party

for them, for no other reason than they are her children. They eat biscuits and watch

their mother sing and dance. Even though Vivian is not sure how to raise her children,

she still tries to connect with them and be a good mother. Vivian also gives the children

opportunities they never would have experienced had they stayed in Stamps. She takes them

to Chinese and Italian restaurants, and introduces them to Hungarian goulash. In this

way, they experience many different types of people and cultures outside of their own

small world.

Another example of Vivian's selfishness occurs when Maya becomes pregnant. Vivian does

not even realize that Maya is expecting a baby. She is so involved in her own matters

that as long as her daughter looks happy and healthy, Vivian figures she must be.

However, it would have been extremely helpful to Maya if her mother had been there to

offer advice and assistance. When she finally finds out, Maya is due to deliver the baby

in just two weeks. Vivian tries to make up for the lost time by making the rest of Maya's

pregnancy special. They buy baby clothes, get vitamins, and visit numerous doctors.

Although Vivian missed much of the pregnancy, she is determined to act the part of a

caring mother for the last couple of weeks. This motherly devotion gives Maya a bit of

reassurance during this terrifying experience.

An additional character trait the reader discovers about Vivian is that she is very blunt

and straight- forward when dealing with matters. When she discovers that Maya has been

skipping school, she does not explode into a rage like many adults would. Instead, she

simply tells her daughter that if there were no tests in school one day, and she was

caught up in her schoolwork, she could tell her mother and