Grandmother's Victory by Maya Angelou Essay

Introduction

Mary Angelou wrote Grandmother's Victory, a story about Maya Angelou as a minor girl, living in the Arkansas state (Mary). The setting of the story is at a time when racism and dehumanization of the black was the order of the day. Maya lived with her grandmother in the 1940's, who she used to call 'mama". Her grandmother was a God fearing woman who had the attributes of being very clean (Siegel). The grandmother taught her grandchild the virtues of being religious, God-fearing, clean and respectful. The 1940's was a period frequented by racial segregation, where there was discrimination of the blacks the whites. This caused a lot of racial unrest and tension. The white disregarded the white by not showing any form of respect to the blacks. In fact, some never had the gut to speak to the whites. In her farmland, Maya's grandmother had a grocery store, which was recognized well by the white and black communities.

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Mama's Grocery Store and Patronization by Whites and Blacks

The period then was a very rare occasion to see the blacks owning anything. Some whites who were sometimes referred to as "powhitetrash" by Maya lived behind the school on the farmland of Mama. The children of the white came to the store frequently and were very disrespectful, as a result, Mama alongside her black colleagues had to be very careful in dealing with the whites, thus could not say much to them at that circumstantial time (Kannadasan & Ramesh: Bartsch: "Index to Volumes 1-25"). Racial segregation had grown to the level that the whites and the blacks had nothing in common.

They could not share the common utilities such as; banks, schools alongside other facilities that were ought to have been shared (Hierro & Marie: Estes-Hicks). If they had to share, the blacks were served last, thus had to endure sitting in the back, for example, the whites could share the same movie theatre with the blacks, although the condition was that the blacks were only allowed to view the movies from the balcony. Such acts showed that the whites and their children had no respect for the black (Walker: McMurry: Corbould). They would make fun of the black elders and go ahead to tease them by talking to them in any way (McMurry). The whites did this as they had the perception that the blacks were inferior, thus way beneath them.in contrast to this, the black children were very respectful and treated all with their due respect, regardless of their races.

Maya's Perception and Mama's Response

Mama's grocery store had patronization by the whites and blacks. Maya writes in the story on liberty taken by the white's children in the store of mama, some of which she did not dare to do. She describes the disrespectful white girls; Helen, Ruth, and Eloise who one day come into the store and call her uncle by his first name giving him orders, a sign of disrespect. According to her, it seemed as if they were in service of the white's children (Assefie: Baisnee). This rose questioning in her making her not comprehend the cause for her uncle and mama serving the unclean and the disrespectful people. This was because she was taught to make address such as Miss, Mister, Uncle, Sister, Brother and Auntie to the adults. Mama avoids exposing the meaningless, disrespectful and nasty things by Eloise, Helen, and Ruth when she tells Maya to go inside. This shows mama's concern to her granddaughter who seems to be disappointed by the white's teasing and fun making targeting directly to her mama.

Maya has a perception that they do the meanness with no reasons and basis at all other than just because nothing could be done to them (Okura). She felt that mama could do nothing in response to the situation of making fun her alongside teasing her. Maya had an opinion that mama was too much accommodative and was in a position to do something to bring the dehumanization to a stop or repel the white's children (Nivetha). On the other hand, she felt that mama had to endure all that to avoid sending away the children and attracting trouble to her and her family, therefore, had to sit and endure all that.

Maya becomes agitated at the same time helpless of the situation. She can do nothing in response to the white's children acts. She views the white's kid as brats who were dirty with unkempt hair and impudent. She is troubled by her mama's hospitality when she addresses the three girls as "miz" yet they never deserved according to her. Maya reaches a point of questioning the behavior of the powhitetrash's children who not only give orders to her uncle but to her mama, who she considers that she should be given the accrued respect.

Mama's Victory Through Silence and Equality

Maya Angelou attempts to illustrate bad-mannered children and the theme of racism in her story of Grandmothers victory. It is of a child who endures watching her grandmother taking humiliation and mockery. Her grandmother's silence becomes the sources of her victory in dealing with the issue by sticking to her belief and values. She treats everyone with equality regardless of the race, gender, age, and sex by considering all to be equal. Maya intends to communicate on the importance of resorting peaceful without violence the issues that otherwise would have made you mad.

Bibliography

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Okura, Lynn. "The Most Important Lesson Maya Angelou Learned From Her Grandmother." The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 31 May 2014, www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/30/maya-angelou-master-class_n_5420108.html

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