Maya Angelou's The Reunion

Have you ever heard the saying never bite the hand that feeds you? The short story, “ The Reunion” by Maya Angelou is about the past, and music, and reveals that sometimes music can speak better than people. Philomena and her family were former servant for the bakers back in Georgia. Years later Philomena becomes a famous pianist in Chicago. Philomena's music was an important part of her life, she used her music to represent her hurt and struggles. One day at one of her shows she see Beth, the daughter of the baker’s family in the crowd. Later Beth approaches Philomena to ask in a weird way for forgiveness. But Philomena declines her offer because she knows that regardless of bath's struggles she still will have everything at the end of

Philomena wonders why is she telling her this as if she cares, Beth was acting as if Philomena was never a servant for her family at some point in time. Beth then starts to wrap up the conversation because she left her boyfriend in the car. “ Mena, I really enjoyed seeing you again, and talking about old times. ... Say, will you come to our wedding? We haven't set a date yet. Please come. It's going to be here ... in a black church ...” ( 227) Beth takes the initiative to invite Philomena to her wedding after all her and her family did to her, and all the emotional destruction the past brought onto her. After all that silence, Philomena then opens her mouth in response. “ Good-bye Beth. Tell your parents I said go to hell and take you with them, just for company” (228) And with no further words Philomena walks off to her piano and lose herself in the music. “ She had the money, but i had the music. She and her parents had had the power to hurt me when i was young, but look, the stuff in me lifted me up high above them. No matter how bad times became, I would always be the song struggling to be heard” (228) Philomena knew that as long as she had her music, she didn't need much more, because her music spoke the word she couldn’t. The short story, “ The Reunion” by Maya Angelou is about the past, and music, and reveals that sometimes music can speak better than people. Throughout Philomena childhood she suffered a lot, she was forced into servitude, and bullied for her race. But aside from all bad has happened to her, her music always represented the hurt her past and helped her build the create the music, and be the pianist that everyone