This is when Colonel Sartoris remitted her taxes so when the Board of Alderman shows up to her rundown house she refuses to pay taxes. The story then jumps to another time frame, describing to the reader of a time where a terrible odor was emitting from her house. At this point in time her father has died, and her lover has left her. The townspeople did not want to upset her so they sneak to her house and sprinkle lime to try to help the smell. The narrator also reflects on Emily’s aunt going insane, and compares the insanity to the time Emily refused to believe her father was dead.
Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Johnson, lived through an unstable early life. She was born in St. Louis, Arkansas, but moved away to Stamps, Arkansas at age three due to her parents’ divorce. There, Angelou lived with her brother, Bailey, and her paternal grandmother (Galenet - Self and a Song of Freedom in the Southern Tradition). As discussed in her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, seven-year old Maya was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. The man was consequently murdered by her uncles, and Maya, feeling responsible for his death, ceased talking and remained speechless for five years.
A few weeks past when his grandma was killed by a drunk driver. Her last words were to forgive the diver. Then, his dad’s friend gets shot in the head after fighting for the last bottle of beer. Finally, his sister dies in her husband's trailer when the curtain caught on fire and burned down the trailer. During his sister's funeral, he sprinted away into the woods only to find his friend Rowdy crying.
Over the twenty year time period of their marriage she became lonely, which resulted in her buying a bird and the drastic change in personality. The broken door to the cage represents Mrs. Wright’s freedom from her husband. He caused her to be lonely and that caused her to go a little crazy. This madness is what made her feel no sympathy when she realized John was dead. These actions are what led Hale and Peters to come to the result of she killed her own husband.
After testifying against him, several of her uncles beat the boyfriend to death in order to get revenge for what happened to her. Even though her grandmother helped her build her self-confidence, Maya felt guilty of causing his death by speaking his name so she stopped talking for about five years. In 1944, a short high school relationship led to a pregnancy in which she gave birth to her son, Guy, at the age of 16. Six years later she married a greek
She was told by an astrologer that she will be a widow at the age of 17. She doesn’t believe it, but the man hits her and she gets a scar on her forehead for which she says to her sisters that “It’s my third eye, now I’m a sage. (Mukherjee, 05) That scar always reminded her of that moment in her life. While swimming awhile in the river, Jasmine comes across a rotten dog’s body. For the rest of her life the pictures and the stench she smelled follows her.
In the story the chorus says “Poor babies. Their mama hung herself when the truth came out, and their daddy went crazy. Gouged out his eyes, and
Her parents got a divorce while she was very young, she was back and forth from home to home ("Maya Angelou" 2018). As a seven year old, she experienced sexual assault from her mother’s new boyfriend (“Biography" 2018). As word got out, her uncle heard of the news and was infuriated and killed the boyfriend (“Biography" 2018). As all of this occurred, Maya was traumatized. She thought it was her fault that he died (“Biography" 2018).
While visiting her mother in this time, her mother’s boyfriend raped her. Too afraid to tell anyone, Maya Angelou told her brother and in result her brother told their uncles. Their uncles killed her mother’s boyfriend out of rage, and this made Maya Angelou mute for five years until she met someone very important; Mrs. Flowers.
He once tried to burn his children causing one of them to loose his voice for years. He treated his daughter, Moraima Oyola, as a waitress. One day she failed to perform a task he required effectively which resulted in a horrible outcome. She injured her arm cutting herself with glass and his father told her she was going to end up being nobody in life. This words were her motto of motivation to succeed and become a positive influence and inspiration in those who are surpassing difficult moments in life.