> The rejection she suffers in being sent away by her parents is a terrible rejection and abandonment, signifying to Maya and her brother their belief that they did not deserve love, that they were not worth much if anything: "Why did they send us away, and What did we do son wrong? So Wrong?" (43).
Still, there are islands of encouragement which Maya finds in the sea of suffering. From her Uncle Tommy, for example, she receives this hopeful if harshly realistic admonition to accept herself as she is and take advantage of her unique gifts while not mourning what she does not have:
He told me often, "Ritie, don't worry 'cause you ain't pretty. Plenty pretty women I seen digging ditches or worse. You smart. I swear to God, I rather you have a good mind than a cute behind" (56).
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