Mother Figures in a Selection of Maya Angelou's Autobiographical Works

Abstract

The subsequent study targets the late African-American writer Maya Angelou´s first autobiographical work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), and her seventh and last one, Mom & Me & Mom (2013), in an attempt to illustrate those manifestations of mother figures that have influenced the author throughout her life. The examples presented have been taken out of these two books, and will allow us to see certain women whose mothering qualities – or their absence – influenced the autobiographer from her early, childhood years, to her adulthood. The project also presents a clarification regarding the meaning of autobiography, understood from a literary as well as a historical point of view. The final focus comprises Angelou´s mother, namely, Vivian Baxter, and the overall positive effect she had on her daughter´s adult life. It also depicts her new status, which has changed from stranger to reliable mother figure and strong, capable mother, worthy of the name. By helping adolescent Maya overcome her fears and self-doubts when she becomes a mother herself, Vivian Baxter proves that she is more than fit to be the mother of a young woman.