In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou uses the settings and people of her childhood to illustrate the development of her moral and social vision. about life. During this period of her life, she moved from place to place and from family to family. It is this exposure to different lifestyles that helps Maya decide what kind of person she is going to be. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayReligion is a major facet of Maya's development in Stamps. Reverend Thomas, the former president of the district in which Momma's church is located, comes to visit Stamps every three months. When he comes to town, Mom always puts him up for the night and feeds him. Even if the family doesn't take care of him much, mom still has to do it. It's her Christian duty, so Mom never questions fulfilling this obligation. Mom is the most direct source of Maya's spiritual education. She is the guardian of divine law for the Henderson family. Whenever she witnesses a spiritual infraction, her punishment is swift and complete. These punishments are not inflicted out of malice, but out of concern for Maya's eternal soul. Momma's lessons are intended to keep Maya on the narrow path to the afterlife, the only true way for the black man to overcome his oppression. Mom teaches through her actions, as well as through her punishments. When Mom refuses to show any reaction towards the powhitetrash girls, she teaches Maya an important lesson about strength, through her stoic refusal to be upset by these girls. Maya knows that “whatever the competition was, I knew Mom won.” » (Angelou 33.) During her time at Stamps, Maya discovers the harsh reality of racial inequality, and from a young age, for most of the book, Maya follows the examples and lessons taught to her there- down. Stamps consists of two distinct parts of the city, the black and white communities. Both of these communities thrived on the rigid segregation found throughout the South, not just in Arkansas. “At Stamps, segregation was so complete that most black children didn't really know what white people were like” (25). Through this segregation, Maya learns many of the racial norms that existed and must be followed in the South, during the depression. Uncle Willie teaches Maya about the dangers of breaking social customs. Unlike Mom, he only punishes children when they break a social taboo. The best example is when Uncle Willie whips them for laughing in church. This offense was serious enough that Uncle Willie felt he had to punish her. Uncle Willie teaches his lessons in another way, sometimes without even knowing it. He was crippled as a child, but he never let that hurt his pride. When teachers from Little Rock stop by the store, he stands without his cane and talks to them. This shows Maya that even the worst adversity can be overcome, if only for an afternoon. After Maya moves to St. Louis with her mother and Mr. Freeman, her mother's boyfriend, Mr. Freeman assaults and rapes her. When he attacks her, she doesn't know what's happening and she thought he was being nice to her. Later, Mr. Freeman rapes her and he tells her never to tell or he will kill Bailey. When Maya has to testify at the trial, she says she "couldn't say yes and tell them how much he had loved me once for a few minutes and how he had held me close" (85). Maya feels that she has been bad and this leads her to.