I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

One afternoon when Vivien and Bailey are out for the day, Mr. Freeman calls Marguerite over to him. She resists—she has found happiness in the library and doesn’t feel she needs him to hold her anymore. He insists, and when she goes over to him, he becomes rough. He tells her if she screams he will kill her. He demands that she pull down her underwear and then he rapes her. The pain is excruciating. Marguerite blacks out. She wakes up and Mr. Freeman is washing her in the bathtub and his hands are shaking, and he tells her he didn’t mean to hurt her. He reminds her again it must be a secret.

Marguerite wanders to the library but finds the seats are too hard and painful for her to sit on. She goes home and goes to bed. Mother returns and makes Marguerite soup, believing her to have come down with some virus. Mr. Freeman threatens Marguerite again as she is lying in bed. Later that night Marguerite hears her mother and Mr. Freeman fighting. A few days later, Mother says she needs to change Marguerite’s linens. When they strip the bed, Marguerite’s bloody underwear is exposed. Her mother rushes Marguerite to the hospital.