Maya Angelou Figurative Language

Maya Angelou’s autobiography, detailing her life from age three, when she was sent by her father to live with her grandmother in the small town of Stamps, Arkansas, to age 16, when she became a mother, discusses her growth from a precocious but insecure child to a strong, independent woman. The autobiography reads like a coming-of-age fiction novel, for Angelou writes in such a way that she is essentially telling a story, utilizing literary techniques such as thematic development, symbolism, and figurative language, devices commonly found in fictional works. However, the book is classified as an autobiography that primarily comments on racism, sexism, and personal growth. Angelou introduces a main topic of her novel, her feelings of isolation

Moreover, Angelou’s profound understanding of the topic of the African-American woman’s struggle manifests itself throughout the novel, for she can severely critique the racism and sexism surrounding people of her race and gender, yet still learn to harbor a great love for all people. She understands that “growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl,” but that “being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat”

Angelou’s choice to make herself the narrator of her autobiography is therefore a sensible one, yet that does not immediately signify that she is the epitome of a reliable narrator. For one, the events that she recounts occurred in her early childhood, some happened at the age of three, and for Angelou to discuss the details of her childhood at such length is questionable, for how much can one accurately remember of those tender years? Even though the events in her life may be true, due to the fact that Angelou is writing the entirety of her early life from memory interferes somewhat with the writing of this novel and the heavy meanings that Angelou attributes to various events. For example, at the beginning of the novel Angelou writes clearly that "In cotton-picking time the late afternoons revealed the harshness of Black Southern life, which in the early morning had been softened by nature's blessing of grogginess, forgetfulness and the soft lamplight" (9). It is difficult to imagine that a three year old would be so sensitive to plight of African Americans in the South to be able to remember and detail so vividly the conditions they were subjected to and how different times of the day caused a change in their characters, yet Angelou appears to. Her analysis of memories from her childhood do not purely represent a child’s voice, but it does allow the