I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings characters

Maya Angelou

Angelou is the main character of the novel and also plays the role of the narrator. She is very intelligent and prying girl who is extremely interested in everything that is somehow connected with languages. In this novel, she shares with readers her memories from her childhood and adolescence...

Annie Henderson 'Momma'

Annie Henderson is a grandmother of Maya and Bailey but actually, she plays the role of their mother – she takes care of them, teaches them how to work and shows how important good manners are. This woman does everything possible to keep the members of her family in safety. She hides Willy...

Bailey Johnson

Bailey Johnson is a brother of the main novel character Maya. He was handsome: black hair, smooth skin and pleasant facial – all these made him attractive. His appearance was very useful for Bailey; it helped him to cope with a lot of problems. For example, he faced racism more rarely than...

Mother (Vivien Baxter)

Baxter is a mother of Maya. If we compare Vivien with her mother, they are cheese and chalk. Vivien is a short woman with light hair, and her mother is completely the opposite. Despite the fact that she is very educated, Vivien spends a lot of time joking, smoking, dancing in different clubs and...

Mr. Freeman 

Mr. Freeman is a boyfriend of Vivien. He doesn’t talk, read or do something else until Maya enters the room. Only when the girl appears he shows at least some actions and greets her. Maya has described him as a big brown bear and is not a coincidence. Everybody thinks that bears are very cute...

Dr. Lincoln

Dr. Lincoln is a white dentist who works in Stamps. Despite the fact that Maya had severe pain and a swollen face, he refused to help her because she was black. He didn’t agree to help even when Momma reminded him about the money he had borrowed from her earlier. The only thing grandmother...

Tommy Valdon

Tommy Valdon is a boy who sent Maya a Valentine which was torn to pieces by the girl because of being depressed after the rape. However, the boy didn’t give up and sent one more Valentine. Maya wasn’t so decisive that time but was giggling.