I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 8 Summary

Chapter 8 Summary

Segregation causes black people to feel contempt toward anything viewed as white. They don't understand where white people get the right to spend money. Momma has more money than the "powhitetrash" do, but she is thrifty with her money. She makes their clothes, resoles their shoes and teaches the children, "waste not, want not." The depression slowly creeps into the black community in Stamps. The price for cotton drops to five cents a pound. In an effort to keep the store going, Momma begins to offer credit in exchange for welfare provisions. People can drop off their surplus provisions at the store and use the credit to purchase other items. Stamps recovers from the depression as slowly as it begins.

One Christmas the children receive gifts from both their parents. Maya has heard that they eat all the oranges they want out in California and the sun shines all the...
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