Grandmother’s Victory was written by Maya Angelou. This story was about Maya Angelou as a young girl who lived in the state of Arkansas with her grandmother, whom she called “Mama”, in the 1940’s. Maya’s grandmother was a very clean God fearing woman. She taught her grandchildren to be clean, religious, respectful, and God fearing also. In the 1940’s there was segregation between blacks and whites. So therefore, there was a lot of racial tension. Whites didn’t have to respect, or some didn’t speak to blacks with any respect. Mama owned a grocery store (well known in both the black and white communities) on her own farmland.
At the time it was Eloise, Helen and Ruth (disrespectful white girls) came into the store one day and called Maya’s uncle by his first name, which this was a sign of disrespect. Maya was taught to address adults as Mister, Miss, Missus, Uncle, Auntie, Sister and Brother. The white children ordered Mama and Maya’s uncle around. To Maya it was as though they were “serving” the white children. Maya couldn’t understand why her grandmother and uncle were “serving” them when they were unclean and disrespectful. I think when Mama told Maya to go inside when Eloise, Helen and Ruth were coming is because she knew that they were going to do mean, nasty, disrespectful things that see didn’t want Maya to see. They teased and made fun of Mama in her face. I believe they did these things for meanness and just because they felt they could. Mama couldn’t make them stop teasing and making fun of her. I think if she did say something to them to try to make them stop or go away, they would have went back and told to make trouble for Mama and her family. So Mama just sat there and took it. Maya mad and helpless because she couldn’t do anything about it either. To answer Maya’s question, “How could Mama call them Miz when they were dirty and impudent?”. I think she did it to show them that they .
