Caged Bird Essay

Comment on the ways in which ideas are explored in ‘Caged Bird’ by Maya Angelou from the collection Song of Ourselves

Maya Angelou uses caged and free birds to symbolise the dream of attaining freedom. The poem as a whole can be interpreted on many levels. It could be exploring the oppression of black people in America, however the poet does not refer directly to black and white. The author took her title from a poem about racist oppression by the black poet P Paul Dunbar who was the son of two former slaves, and she called her Autobiography, which recalls the hardships of growing up in a segregated oppressed black community, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing The poem describe the plight of millions of weary enslaved people, It also sheds light upon the unfavourable position of women in certain countries who are persecuted for their religion or ethnicity. The poem illustrates the contrast between imprisonment and freedom through the symbolism of a caged bird and a free bird, and then between their dreams and desires. Through the contrast of the birds which are so alike and yet different in many ways Angelou illustrates oppression and the fear of freedom of those who cannot have it. Even though the poem illustrates a carefree bird in a beautiful landscape, as the bird that suffers takes over the majority of the poem, the tone is quite serious and solemn.
The way the Angleou separate the two birds so that each one has its own stanzas emphasises how they live in two separate worlds that are so close. A stanza portraying the free bird opens the poem, stanzas 2 and 3 describe the caged bird, stanza 4 returns to the free bird and then the final stanzas, 5 and 6 focus our attention back on the caged, with the last stanza being the same as stanza 3.The repetition of stanza 4 emphasis how hard it is to break out, psychological imprisonment as well as literal; it also allows the caged bird to dominate the poem, Maya Angelou forces us to take note, she wants us to hear the caged bird’s song. The lengths of the lines in the stanzas of the caged bird seem to copy those of the free bird; this shows how much the free bird wants to imitate the free bird.
Maya Angelou uses powerful verbs to illustrate the actions of the free and oppressed. The free ‘leaps’, ‘floats’, ‘dips’ and ‘dares’. The oppressed just ‘stalks’ and so it can ‘open his throat to sing’ illustrates that singing becomes the only available expression of freedom, the only way of leaping and floating. It also shows how when people can’t escape from their blinding anger and ‘bars of rage’ which hold them back, they can still express their opinions, but it does not mean that anyone will listen or take notice. These words could also be interpreted that if the free bird was to listen and take notice, he would have to stop and take notice and do something about it which he doesn’t want to, so he keeps on The words used to describe the actions and situation of the free bird such as ‘dips’, ‘sighing’ and ‘soft’ give connotations of easy life and a sense of calm looking for what he wants out of life-‘the fat worms’-showing his self-centred greediness.
The poem ‘Caged Bird’ uses powerful imagery to convey the opinion and message of Maya Angelou. The metaphor ‘bars of rage’ can illustrate the rage of the enslaved at not being able to express his feelings calmly. Through the symbol of the ‘narrow’ cage Angelou shows how be subjugated and denied equality in society in like being suffocated in a claustrophobic prison. The metaphor ‘grave of dreams the caged bird stands on’ illustrates that black people realise that freedom is just a dream and that their dreams will die unfulfilled. The tune sung by the caged bird that is ‘heard on the distant hill’ allows the question to rise as to whether the free bird hears its tune and feels compassion, and the need to help, and when it is going to help. The phrase ‘on the distant hill’ can be interpreted in different ways; the use of the word ‘distant’ could be to illustrate the distant future so that change can happen, or that those who do hear the pleas for freedom are too far away to be able to liberate the caged. It could also be that there are people out there who need hear it, and who need to have compassion to them.
The words ‘sun’ and ‘sky’ can be connected by the fact that they are both in the cosmos where everything is elevated and free, and when put in conjunction with the free bird, helps illustrate the immense area it has to be in, accenting the contrast with the caged bird. In the first stanza the free bird ‘leaps on the back of the wind’ as though it is using the wind which is a subject of the elements and meant to be free, and is trying to tame it, just as someone is doing to the caged bird. The word ‘floats’ illustrates the serene, unrestricted movements of the free bird. The ‘fat worms’ illustrate the wealthy and powerful people in society who do nothing about the enslaved and just wait for them to attack so that they can be called victims.
The continuous use of verbs in the second stanza, describing the situation of the caged bird makes the reader wonder who did these things to it. The active tense of ‘leaps’ ‘dips’ and ‘floats’ help describe the continuous freedom of the free bird. However, the passive tense used for the caged bird emphasises the powerlessness of the caged bird. However, the use of the word ‘are’ in the phrases ‘his wings are clipped’, ‘his feet are tied’ illustrates that even now in the present the oppressed continue to be exploited and trapped
The long vowel sounds in ‘opens his throat to sing’ allows the reader to sense the birds desperation for its need for expression. It also makes it seem as though it is a challenge to just sing, to plea for freedom, and its want to be open The phrases ‘dips his wings/in the orange sun rays’ and ‘trade winds soft through the sighing trees’ show an interesting contrast between the delicacy of the sound of language and the blunt harshness of the poem’s theme. The assonance in ‘dips his wings’ and ‘his wings are clipped’ are used to show the even though there are many contrasts between the two birds, there are also subtle similarities that should be accounted for. The use of the short ‘i’ sound for the free bird gives the impression of suddenness and the strong will to do anything he wants; how ever for the caged bird it makes the movements of action seem obligatory, as though he is not doing it wilfully. The use alliteration of the words ‘dips’ and ‘dares’ for the actions of the free bird provokes the feeling of audacity and daring. The short single syllable sounds-‘his shadow shouts’, ‘screams’, ‘rage’, ‘tied’ convey the harsh jarring feeling of the caged who is trapped in this ‘nightmare’ behind ‘his bars of rage’.
I feel that the message that Maya Angelou is conveying in this poem is that those who are free need to start to hear the cries of the oppressed. Through the singing of the birds she shows that expression is important, that in the end not only will it be heard, but it will also be answered. The message of this poem is similar to that of ‘Song to the Men of England’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley which also conveys that if the oppressed do not fight back against the ‘tyrants’ they will ‘trace [their] grave’ and nothing will change. After reading this poem I was really moved by the way Angelou presents this issue, as she has illustrated the pain of the people that suffered in such a way that it is subtle and yet at the same time the message rings out loud and true.