I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

This testimony from a black sister marks the beginning of a new era in the minds and hearts and lives of all black men and women....
---James Baldwin 

這本書是美國女詩人及劇作家Maya Angelou的多本自傳之一。本書的書名I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings源自於Paul Laurence Dunbar的"Sympathy"：

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
        When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,-
    When he beats his bars and he would be free;
    It is not a carol of joy or glee,
        But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
    But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings -
    I know why the caged bird sings!

 閱讀這本書深刻體會1930年代美國黑人所處的處境和無奈。Maya Angelou這樣描述自己艱辛的成長歷程：
   1. If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat.

 2. Our lives were fated to be different from everyone else's in the world.

 在困難的處境下，書中的多位女性例如Maya的祖母、Mrs. Flowers (一位高貴的黑人婦女)及Maya的母親適時地接納Maya並改變了她生命的歷程。

 書中有許多段落描述黑人在社會中所受的歧視和不公平，但也讓讀者看到在絕望中信仰如何幫助人們走出生命的蔭谷。

 印象最深刻是Maya描述她最喜愛的中學老師Miss Kirwin：

• 1. Miss Kirwin was that rare educator who was in love with information. I will always believe that her love of teaching came not so much from her liking for students but from her desire to make sure that some of the things she knew would find repositories so that they could be shared again.
• 2. She's stimulating instead of intimidating.

 另外書中第100頁Miss Flowers為Maya朗讀A Tale of Two Cities的文字相當迷人：

 Her voice slid in and curved down through and over the words. She was nearly singing....  
   一本能讓讀者了解黑人女性的智慧和堅韌的書，雖然書中的許多例子讓人心痛或難過，但卻是能啟發人性的一本文學書。