Biography

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou is her autobiography in which she relates the early years of her life and her transition from a child of a broken family and victim of racism to a survivor of child sexual abuse and rape, and a mother at the age of sixteen. The story is told through the perspective of Marguerite Johnson aka Maya Angelou, an African American girl who, as a result of her parent’s divorce was sent to Stamp, Arkansas along with her brother to live with her grandmother and uncle. The story is set during the 1930s, a time when Black Americans were not given their due rights, status, and respect and were treated as lesser beings by the whites. Moreover, they were persecuted and abused by the white supremacist group known as Ku Klux Klan for having a different skin color than theirs. The book illustrates Angelou’s struggle to accept herself, her identity as a black, and her fight for her rights as a colored American woman. This book also shows the nature of people in power and authority and how they enjoy abusing their power by oppressing the oppressed.

“Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books” – Azar Nafisi

As the title suggests, the book “Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books,” is a memoir by Iranian-American author Azar Nafisi, who is also a professor of English Literature. In this book, Nafisi relates the time of her life when after completing her education in America she returned to Iran only to find it in the clutches of religious fanatics. The book is set during the late 1900s, the time when the last Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi was overthrown by Imam Ayatollah Khomeini, a religious leader who wanted to run the country on Islamic principles, however, he only turned it into a hub of religious fanaticism, hypocrisy, and tyranny by usurping the rights of its citizens. The book tells not only the disruptions caused by the regime but also describes the atrocities caused by the war against Iraq.