I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Literary Analysis

In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Vivian Baxter, Maya’s biological mother, is the most influential figure throughout Maya’s adolescence. Even though Momma is the most prominent parental individual throughout Maya’s youth, Vivian has supplied Maya with a stable lifestyle and finances, great maternal advice, and most of all, her unconditional love and support. Both Momma and Vivian share many of the same characteristics, yet disagree on many of the most important parenting skills. They are both strong, proud, independent black women, but Vivian shares her love towards Maya through acceptance and supportiveness while Momma teaches Maya “tough love” and expresses her affection through strict rules and physical punishment. 

First, Vivian Baxter is a great mother to Maya who provides food and shelter with a little assistance from her husband and successful businessman, Daddy Clidell. In St. Louis, Vivian works as a nurse in the day and at a gambling parlor through the night, but she mostly relies on Mr. Freeman’s, her former boyfriend, finances. “Mother was competent in providing for us. Even if that meant getting someone else to furnish the provisions. Although she was a nurse, she never worked at her profession while we were with her. Mr. Freeman brought in the necessities and she earned extra money cutting poker games in gambling parlors. The straight eight-to-five world simply didn't have enough glamor for her, and it was twenty years later that I first saw her in a nurse’s uniform”(Angelou 69). Although this happens in St. Louis with Mr.Freeman, the same scenario is probably repeating itself with Mr. Clidell in San Francisco. Maya describes Vivian as being extremely beautiful and relying on her appearance to get by. Vivian uses this key characteristic to her advantage to captivate men, resulting in the men supporting her financially. Additionally, even though Vivian supplies Maya and Bailey with a comfortable lifestyle in a unique way, she still supplies them with food, money, and shelter and will do whatever it takes to provide for their needs.

Secondly, Vivian’s always there to comfort and support her children through thick and thin. Despite having made mistakes as being a mother in the past, Vivian is adapting to her new responsibilities and altering her lifestyle for the better of her children. “During the period of strain Mother and I began our first steps on the long path towards mutual adult admiration. She never asked for reports and I didn’t offer any details. But every morning she made me breakfast, gave me carfare and lunch money, as if I were going to work. She comprehended the perversity of life, that in the struggle lies the joy. That I was no glory seeker was obvious to her, and that I had to exhaust every possibility before giving in was also clear” (264). Maya wants to work as a streetcar conductor, however, Vivian informs her that there aren’t any black woman streetcar conductors. When Maya is still determined to get the job of her dreams, Vivian decides to support her even though the odds are stacked against her. Vivian tailors Maya’s blue serge suit, gives her lunch money, and she even drops Maya off in the morning and picks her up in the evening. “Don’t worry about it. You ask for what you want, and you pay for what you get. And I’m going to show you that it ain’t no trouble when you pack double”(266). This is just one time Vivian has shown her unconditional love and support towards Maya, but she also expresses her affection when Maya believes she might be a lesbian, or when Maya tells Vivian that she’s having a baby in three weeks. 

Lastly, Vivian is by Maya's side for the biggest moment of her life. After Maya graduates and gets her diploma, she writes a note to Vivian and Daddy Clidell apologizing and saying she is pregnant. Instead of getting angry with Maya, Vivian and Daddy Clidell accept her and assist her along this new journey. “For the next two weeks, I whirled around the city going to the doctor, taking vitamin shots and pills, buying clothes for the baby, and except for the rare moments alone, enjoying the imminent blessed event”(283). After she gives birth to her son, she recognizes that the baby is only hers and she’s afraid to touch him. Maya feels uneasy watching Vivian handle him with such ease and she begins to doubt herself as a mother. One night, Vivian brings Maya’s three-week-old son to Maya’s bed. Vivian tells Maya that she needs to sleep with her son. Maya begins to think about what could happen while she's asleep. “What if I roll on him and crush him”(282). Vivian wakes Maya up in the middle of the night  because she discovers the baby lying on Maya’s stomach. Vivian explains “See, you don't have to think about doing the right thing. If you’re for the right thing, then you do it without thinking” (285). This isn't just the best maternal advice Vivian has given Maya, but the best advice of her life. If Maya always doubts and thinks negatively about her, she will never accept herself for who she is. This advice has impacted Maya for the rest of her life as a civil rights activist, writer, sister, daughter, and most of all, mother. 

Many individuals have influenced Maya throughout her life, however, Vivian Baxter has had the most substantial impact on Maya’s tough years as a teenager. Vivian is the only individual by Maya's side as she pivots out of her adolescent years. Vivian provides Maya with a steady lifestyle, inspiring advice, and above all, she supplies Maya with undivided attention, love, support resulting in her being the most influential figure throughout Maya’s life.