In the following passage from Chapter 5, Angelou makes an allusion to the Bible during a discussion about her grandmother, a devoutly religious woman:

"Thou shall not be dirty" and "Thou shall not be impudent" were the two commandments of Grandmother Henderson upon which hung our total salvation.

This excerpt alludes specifically to the Ten Commandments, a series of rules handed down from God to the ancient Israelites in the book of Exodus: "And God spoke all these words: 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below'" (Exodus 20:1-3, New International Version). The verse continues to list multiple "commandments," communicated to the Israelites via the prophet Moses.

Momma is a deeply religious person and also the principal authority figure in Angelou and her brother's lives. Angelou demonstrates this through her use of biblical allusion in this passage, positioning Momma as a God-like figure in her childhood memory, issuing commands from on high. Interestingly, Momma's commandments are significantly less serious in tone than God's. Where God bans idolatry, adultery, and murder, Momma's principle offenses are dirtiness and impudence—suggesting that Angelou's allusion here is a bit tongue-in-cheek and ironic.