Though Momma is not one to show affection, Maya knows that she is a recipient of Momma’s “deep-brooding love” (94). A deeply religious woman, she raises Maya and Bailey strictly but fairly. Thus, the Great Migration plays a critical, influencing role in many of the book’s events.ĭiscuss the character of Momma. The central idea of the Great Migration, the idea that prosperity and freedom from racism can be found if one just escapes the South, fuels many of the choices of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ characters. Maya and Bailey participate in the Great Migration again when Momma decides that the South is no longer safe for them after Bailey’s brush with white Stamps. Maya’s family is one of the many Black families fleeing racial violence and oppression in the South, and searching for freedom and economic opportunities in the North and West. This movement of Black bodies from the American South to the North and West (and vice versa) is called the Great Migration. Mother and Daddy Bailey send Maya and Bailey back South after their marriage and their hopes for economic prosperity in California fail. The Great Migration is present in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from the moment the book begins. What role does the Great Migration play in Maya Angelou’s life and in the events of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings?
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