Know Why the Caged Bird Thesis

Maya Angelou has several points in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Her primary point involves both the strength and the beauty in inherent to the human spirit. Despite all adversity, her book and life story stresses, greatness can still be accomplished. It is impossible to read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings without a sense of what the girl in the book would become; not only does the public already have knowledge of the name emblazoned on the front of the book, but the book was also necessarily written from the perspective of greatness having already been achieved. In this way, Angelou is also making a point about what telling a life story means, and the effect it has on the truth and on one's self-image. In some ways, the book appears to be a sort of healing process for Angelou, while at the same time the book appears to be primarily directed towards others -- Angelou is teaching a lesson about how meaningful a life can be, despite -- or even because of -- the level of pain so many lives (especially for minorities and women) entail.Despite the fact that, as an autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is factual does not prevent the use of symbolism and metaphor in the book. Her description of the fight with Joe Louis is a prime example of a real event that Angelou skillfully manipulates to symbolic status. Like Angelou herself, Louis' victory in his boxing match is evidence that no matter how downtrodden a person is due to their race or other circumstances, victory and success can be achieved. The entire African-American community of Stamps takes Louis' victory as a sign of their own worth; he becomes a symbol for what they are all hoping….....