son is abandoned, theylearn about the hard roads of life. Nobody is there to help them through it. A person is alone and learns to live lifethe best that they know how. Abandonment is a big part of Mayas life. For example, when she first moved toStamps it was because her mother and father could not take care of her or Bailey. Maya had to deal with the factthat her mother and father did not want the responsibility of taking care of her or her brother. So, she and Baileytake care of each other. They help each other out in bad situations, and they can only talk with each other. Forexample, when Maya was raped the only person that she could talk to was Bailey. So, at a young age Maya alreadywas learning to take care of herself. This leads to many other times of being abandoned. When Maya and Baileymoved back to their mothers house in California she sent them back to Mommas house in Stamps, because shecouldnt deal with the fact that Maya had been raped by her boyfriend. Maya then had to deal with the rape all byherself and the only guidance she had was from a friend Mrs. Flowers. Maya also is abandoned when she goes tospend the summer with her father. This is because Maya and her fathers girlfriend, Dolores, did not get along soher father told her to sleep at a neighbors house and abandoned her. Maya wound up sleeping in a car in ajunkyard and lived life with other abandoned kids. This event was very important in her maturing. This is becauseshe then starts to take on responsibilities of surviving and deciding to go back to her mothers house. In doing thisMaya overcomes many different obstacles. She ventures out into the world of discrimination and looks for a job. Inall the times of trying to become a conductor she finally succeeds and gets it. This is a great accomplishment to herbecause she becomes the first black conductor. She had no help from anyone and did it all by herself. She is alsodeserted when she is questioning her sexuality. T...
