Experiences shape everybody, causing them to have different views on what is best to be done for their loved ones. People who grow up in rural areas will have different opinions than city dwellers simply by virtue of their upbringings. In I Know Wlhy the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Maya spends the first portion of her life with her paternal grandmother (called Momma) and then moves to live with her mother, Vivian, in New Orleans. Later, she moves back to Momma in Arkansas. Due to their respective experiences, Maya’s two maternal figures impress different values upon her and treat her in different ways. First, Momma and Vivian raise Maya to value different things based on what they have been taught to believe. Momma, who lives in a sleepy, …show more content…
Momma is, while a good person who does well by the children, very strict. She puts them to work almost as soon as they come to live with her, and everyday “before she quite [arises], she [calls Maya and Bailey’s] names and [issues] orders” even though they are very young (7). She undoubtedly means well—having grown up and lived in an impoverished and segregated society, Momma knows that Maya must learn how to work in order to make something of herself in life. Vivian, however, is her opposite in this respect. After school, she takes Maya and Bailey to a saloon called Louie’s. City saloons were great places to socialize, and Maya and Bailey learn “the Time Step at Louie’s… [and they are] brought before Mother’s friends, there in the heavy saloon air, to show [their] artistry” (65). For Vivian, who lives in the city, socializing is an important skill to have and therefore she takes Maya places where she can develop that skill. Instead of working Maya, they go to social gatherings together, allowing Maya to meet people and figure out how to interact with them. Vivian and Momma treat Maya differently, but they do so from a good place and with the intent to help her. Based on their backgrounds, the two women have different ideas of what will be