Maya Angelou Struggles

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Overcoming the Basic Hardships of Life People will always be forced to overcome many hardships in life. This is seen in the moving autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. The main character goes through many struggles throughout her challenging life, but overcomes them and develops into strong, influential woman. It's the story of a girl discovering who she is and finding her identity. In Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the main character Maya experiences the struggles of coming of age as an African American in the small racist town of Stamps, Arkansas in the 1930s. Maya Angelou's coming of age and how she faces racism are shown through the many experiences she endures. For example, as one critic notes: “It this becomes a feminist manifesto as well as the story of a shy and awkward black child who blossoms into an assured and self…show more content…
Maya's journey of growing up shows her determination to conquer the numerous difficulties she endures and how she benefits from them. When she finally breaks silence on her awful experience with rape at such a young age it is revealed how she overcame a very difficult obstacle in her life in order to help herself move forward. Maya becoming an influential teacher, advocate and writer shows how enduring hardships proves to be beneficial to a person. Also, critic Robert Evans states “In any case, Maya learns a great deal as she moves through the book, and so do her readers”(66). Maya's coming of age not only proves to be beneficial for her, but also for her readers, providing an example for them to look to. Her experiences also show to be relatable and it's almost like a book about

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