To be boring, Webster's dictionary defines legacy as "something left to a person by will or through inheritance. What this means is that when someone dies or cannot take the responsibility of a tangible item, such as money, a house, a child, bills, etc., then the heir of that person takes full responsibility of that item. A legacy can also be something that is handed down or something that remains from a previous generation or time. This can be said with things such as music like oldies or in a case where a grandmother has an item and gives it to her daughter and she gives it to her daughter and so on. A type of legacy that I feel has more meaning is something intangible that is or has been passed down just like in this story. The legacy could be a feeling, and understanding, a characteristic, a hair color, a title, etc.
The story is an excerpt from an interview with Maya Angelou. She speaks about only one thing in particular in this story, which is about her uncle, Willie. When she was little her uncle use to take her by the neck and make her practice her times tables at the age of four. Time passed, and Maya grew to be successful, her uncle died when it was his time. After his death Maya met 2 men who her uncle had affected personally in the same way as he had affected her.
Uncle Willie's legacy was one that was passed down through people of different age, color, race, and background. His legacy was making someone love to learn, so in this case his legacy was a feeling he gave some people. This particular legacy was encouraging and seems to have taken part in making the people it affected successful. The people who Uncle Willie's legacy affected are now very successful, Maya Angelou is a woman of many titles, and Mr. Bussick was the most powerful person in Arkansas and the vice-mayor of Arkansas" capital, Little Rock. The 3rd man, who was left nameless, became apart of the state legislature.
