The late Maya Angelou was a well-known American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. Maya Angelou’s full name is Marguerite Annie Johnson. My name is Margaret is a short story in Angelou’s autobiography - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This post will focus on the racism and inequality that Margaret faced growing up in the twenties. In this short story Margaret overcomes a conflict with her superior, Mrs. Cullinan – a wealthy white women, who Margaret works for as a servant. Mrs. Cullinan, while influenced by her upper-class friends, decides that Margaret is too long of a name and changes it to Mary for her own convenience. Margaret is enraged by this disrespect and decides she no longer wants to work for Mrs. Cullinan. Instead of quitting Margaret tries to find ways to get fired until one day she learns about Mrs. Cullinan’s beloved casserole dish and two green glass cups. To break away from Mrs. Cullinan’s oppression, Margaret drops the casserole dish and two green glass cups on the tile floor. I will share my opinion on Margaret's decision to rebel and my own challenges to either resist or not resist oppression, or refuse to obey an authority figure. By Margaret breaking Mrs. Cullinan’s beloved casserole dish and two green glass cups, Margaret breaks free from Mrs. Cullinan’s oppression. Margaret describes Mrs. Cullinan the night she was first called Mary. “That evening I decided to write a poem on being white, fat, old and without children. It was going to be a tragic ballad.” Since she had pity for Mrs. Cullinan. For example, “I smiled at her. Poor thing. No organs and couldn’t even pronounce my name correctly.” By smashing the favorite dish, Margaret gains power over Mrs. Cullinan in a non-systemic, different way. The power Mrs. Cullinan has is purely systemic. I agree with Margaret because she was able to equalize classism through materialism. I haven’t had many times that I can recall resisting oppression but I have in a way challenged the status quo. I live in an area that you are expected to go to the college straight out of high school. I’ve challenged this by taking four years off of school to mature. During those years I’ve experienced the feeling of being looked down upon for choosing a different life style. In this lifestyle I’ve learned in a different way than I would through a textbook. I believe learning through life experiences does challenge the status quo.
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