<i>I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Farewell to Manzanar,</i> and <i>Anthem</i> - character analysis and compare/contrast

Ben Sweet once said, "The greatest success is successful self-acceptance." The characters in Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's Farewell to Manzanar, Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Ayn Rand's Anthem all learn about and accept themselves for who they are by the end of these novels. The main characters, Jeanne Wakatsuki, Maya Angelou, and Equality 7-2521, respectively, are very different but also similar individuals who go through significant changes in the courses of …

…learns about discrimination, and Equality 7-2521 learns about the human sense of individualism, and through these they all learn about themselves. After evaluating and studying these novels, the reader can see that each book shows that learning about one's world leads to learning about oneself, and that learning leads to growth and change in a person's image of "self." The transition into true adulthood and humanity can only be achieved when this "self" is discovered.