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key influences and themes
Angelou
describes the rape by her mother's boyfriend, 'Mr Freeman',
in . At the age of seven,
she had been left alone with him.
The horrific rape of Angelou as a child
After she was raped, Angelou and her brother went back to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. They called her Mamma. She had deep religious beliefs and a powerful character and was an important influence on Angelou. Yet as a strong black woman, Mamma was badly treated by the poor whites around her. The racism Angelou experienced is another key influence.
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"It
was terrible. I couldn't understand it because my grandmother
owned most of the land the poor whites lived on and then
they had the nerve to come and sneer at her. I was convinced
that God and she were one. It was heartbreaking. I would
scream and cry, I would get behind the door and kick and鈥�
she'd just come and take me in her arms and say, 'Mamma's
baby, Mamma's baby'. It's hard, you know."
Maya Angelou |
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