Essay About Vivian Baxter And Vivacious Biological Mother

Maya Angelous Childhood
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In Maya Angelous autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Mayas beautiful,
vivacious biological mother, Vivian Baxter, emerges as an important character in her
daughters life. Vivian endures as a black woman in a white mans world by displaying
strength, honesty, and toughness, which lead to self- preservation. Vivian lives within
the St. Louis jazz society where blacks are faced with the hostility of the powerless
against the powerful, the poor against the rich, the worker against the worked for and
the ragged against the well- dressed. Ms. Angelou provides her readers with a vivid
description of an unwilling mother thrust in and out of maternal situations during a
thirteen-year span in which she survives as an entertainer in bars from St. Louis to San
Francisco. Despite displaying character traits that may be interpreted as unmotherly,
Vivian Baxter is, nevertheless, a positive role model for her daughter, Maya.
Vivian is a very self- centered human being who considers herself her number one
priority. Even so, she never doubts her love for her children, and mothers them in the
only way she knows. Vivian abandons her children, Bailey and Maya, when they are very
young. Written from the authors point of view, the story does not reveal the specifics
leading up to this abandonment. The reader, however, can consider the circumstances
surrounding a failed marriage of a Black couple during the Depression, and understand
Vivians inner conflict concerning sending her children away. The audience concludes with
the mother that the children will receive a more proper upbringing elsewhere.
Consequently, Vivian allows her mother-in-law to provide Maya and Bailey with a stable
home life and a mother figure. The children grow and develop with Momma, and are shocked
to discover, when Maya is six, that their biological mother is still alive. Maya cannot
understand how her mother could have deserted her. She says that no real mother would
laugh and eat oranges in the sunshine without her children.
A year later, when the children arrive in St. Louis to live with their mother, Vivian is
not really prepared to be a parent, but attempts to make their life with her enjoyable.
For instance, early one morning, Vivian awakens Maya and Bailey and tells them to go to
the kitchen. The children are delighted to discover that she has thrown a surprise party
for them, for no other reason than they are her children. They eat biscuits and watch
their mother sing and dance. Even though Vivian is not sure how to raise her children,
she still tries to connect with them and be a good mother. Vivian also gives the children
opportunities they never would have experienced had they stayed in Stamps. She takes them
to Chinese and Italian restaurants, and introduces them to Hungarian goulash. In this
way, they experience many different types of people and cultures outside of their own
small world.
Another example of Vivians selfishness occurs when Maya becomes pregnant. Vivian does
not even realize that Maya is expecting a baby. She is so involved in her own matters
that as long as her daughter looks happy and healthy, Vivian figures she must be.
However, it would have been extremely helpful to Maya if her mother had been there to
offer advice and assistance. When she finally finds out, Maya is due to deliver the baby
in just two weeks. Vivian tries to make up for the lost time by making the rest of Mayas