A turning point in the novel occurs when Marguerite and Bailey's father unexpectedly appears at their home to send them to live with their mother in St. Louis. While there, eight-year old Marguerite is raped by her mother's boyfriend, Mr. Freeman, which traumatizes her. Mr. Freeman is later murdered after escaping jail time, which burdens Marguerite with guilt and causes her to withdraw from everyone but her brother. Even after moving back to Stamps, Marguerite remains reclusive and nearly mute until she meets "Black aristocrat" Bertha Flowers, who supplies her with books to encourage her love of reading, and coaxes her out of her shell.
As Marguerite grows up, she experiences many other instances of racism, including an old white woman who shortens her name to "Mary," hence reducing her name to a more common one; white speakers at a graduation ceremony who disparage the black audience by implying their limited job opportunities, and the white town dentist's refusal to operate on......

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Title: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sing
Approximate Word Count: 387
Approximate Pages: 2 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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