A Personal Matter

Envy can envelop one in its constricting grasp. Coveted possession, “and he names the sky his own”, can twist one’s perspective (line 23). Personification of the bird naming the sky lends him other human-like qualities as well, such as greed, selfishness, and even longing. The bird claims the sky as his own, and his alone; he does not want others to share it with him, and in doing this, limits his freedom. Angelou reveals the theme of how jealousy can overcome the euphoria of freedom. When the bird takes the sky for himself, he flies for the sole purpose of control. Gone are the freedoms of joyous flight, riding the wind in sheer ebullience. Now he must resentfully guard the sky, sapping away the ecstasy that used to linger. When one claims

Since the beginning of time human beings have had a fascination with human flight. As one watches a bird soar through the air they cannot help but desire that same capability. Imagine the point of view of the world from the bird that flies amoung the mountains, high above the trees, over the ocean and far away from the clamor of everyday life on the ground. To have the freedom and power to release ones self from the tribulations experienced with two feet on the ground, and spring up and away into the peaceful, blue sky, is a common human desire. Since ancient times, flight has represented the opportunity to free ones self from the chains of oppression. This theme of flight is exemplified in the novel Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. In

Thus, through the initial impression of the man of the bird’s brave and challenging movements by the utilisation of poetic techniques, the reader is able to visualise the bird’s characteristic it inherits and gain a deeper understanding of nature and the impression of humanity distinctively.

Birds are a common sight in most places people tend to be. These winged creatures are seen in bustling places like the pigeons that are in urban and suburban areas, the woodpeckers in rural regions, the crows on farms, and even in cages within buildings. In fact, these elegant creatures are so common a sight in society that they are often overlooked and underappreciated. This is similar to how women were and sometimes still are treated within society; they are given little appreciation when they are present and doing as they are told, but when they do not do as they are told they become a problem. This parallel that can be drawn between women and birds is used throughout Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, in which its main character Edna Pontellier is often likened to and symbolized by a bird. Throughout the novel, the bird acts as a theme and symbol of both Edna and women in general.

Because of the supposed similarities between humans and birds, birds are a useful tool for authors wishing to symbolize human emotions or thoughts. Mynott offers that birds are often “distinguished partly by the different human emotions they seem to be revealing” (Mynott 282). He references several examples of the use of human-specific traits in the description of birds, such as “kind,” “stern,” and “astonished” (282). It is not such a huge leap from the attribution of such human characteristics, to “anthropomorphic misdescription” (282). The birds in The Ant of the Self are said to be looking “as though they [had] placed bets” on who would lose Spurgeon’s and his father’s confrontation. While Spurgeon is taking a stand against his father by ordering him out of the car and onto the shoulder of the road, the birds’ curious glances are exposing Spurgeon’s own thoughts. The birds, a symbol for Spurgeon, wonder whether he or his father will “go down in flames” (Packer 95). The caged birds, which are so capable of human expressions, are expressing Spurgeon’s thoughts. ZZ Packer endows the birds with a look of human quizzicality, having them glance from the nervous Spurgeon to his angered father. Spurgeon wonders whether he or his father will win, and the birds, as his symbol, express this.

In the scene Edna had envisioned earlier the man was watching a bird flying away. At the end of he novel there is a bird as well, however, here it has a broken wing and is “beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water” (138). This passage reminded me of a scene earlier in the novel where Edna tells Arobin about her last encounter with Mademoiselle Reisz that has left her thinking about something the pianist had said to her: “She says queer things sometimes in a bantering way that you don’t notice at the time and you find yourself thinking about afterward.” Edna tells Arobin: “[S]he put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she said. ‘The bird that would sour above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see weaklings

Birds are shown throughout our culture as symbols. Simply by their appearance, they can spark feelings of love, freedom, or wonder in the hearts of people. Birds are creatures that have attributes similar to the beings on earth that are so fascinated with them. Humans are full of constant bewilderment and curiosity, so it is no epiphany that they are entranced by such graceful creatures of the sky. People tend to use birds as symbolism, given the stark similarities between the creatures in the sky and humans. Each can fly with the desire to soar above in the sky and see all that is hidden down below. Both humans and birds can sing songs of revelation to their neighboring friends. Additionally, birds and humans can find themselves being restrained by something. Although such a comparison seems bizarre, Anthony Doerr captured the essence of birds and its connections entirely in his novel, All the Light We Cannot See. Almost every character that is spoken of has an aspect of freedom and flight deep in their story. Doerr’s novel follows the life of two teenagers as they travel through life during the disaster of World War Two. Many characters in the novel exhibit actions and situations in which a bird might find itself in. Werner finds himself fighting restraints, as a bird would to its cage. Marie-Laure is a young birds stretching her wings for the first time. The surrounding friends and characters also face the issues of the war, similar to which a bird struggles with the

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will " (ch. 23 pg. 280) This quote intensifies Jane’s transitional character from her former ruled life to her now independent life. The metaphor of the bird tells an allusion as unlike a bird she has no entrapment and she can move around whereas as a bird has a cage trapping its freedom.

The motif of birds is present throughout The Awakening and Chopin uses them to develops the theme of identity as well as symbolize the want of freedom. The novella

For example, Othello marries Desdemona even though her father disapproves. He is a general in the army even though he is black. He is well respected for his actions not the color of his skin. However because Iago considers himself above Othello, he thinks that he will be able to manipulate Othello easily. Iago succeeds in controlling Othello not because Othello is black, but because Iago is a master of deceit. Considering the how potent racism is, Othello does not let this racism stop him from achieving a high social status before he dies. Othello attains these things while African-Americans in the United States during the 1950’s could not even dream of mixed marriage. Angelou wrote “Caged Bird” in response to the Civil rights movement. Therefore it makes sense that the caged bird represents African- Americans. Angelou uses contrasting paragraphs between the free bird and the caged bird to show injustice. In the free bird’s stanzas, he is soaring in the gorgeous nature oblivious to the caged bird’s struggle. Angelou utilizes a vivid imagery and words with positive connotation s to show the luxury of being free i.e. white. In the caged bird’s stanzas, the caged bird does not know what freedom is like but he sings about it anyway. Angelou employs cacophony in “shadow shouts on a nightmare scream” (Angelou 28) to show how passionately the bird is pleading for justice. At the end of the poem the caged bird remains

The bird in the story represents someone who lost hope in receiving freedom. That concept is best shown in the story, “But the swallow no longer believes what people say”. The bird lost complete hope. The bird is promised that he will be taken care of, but each time he finds himself in the hand of a new owner. In each situation he begs to be freed but no one seems to understand him. The

At the bird’s appearance and apparent vocal articulation, he is at first impressed, then saddened. He compares this evening visitor as only another friend which will soon depart, just as “other friends have flown before” (58). But the raven again echoes quite aptly his one-word vocabulary, thus leading the man on to think more deeply about the possibilities that exist at this juncture. Somewhere deep inside him, he has realized that it doesn’t matter what question he poses, the bird will respond the same.

The mood of “Caged Bird” changes drastically from stanza to stanza. Angelou’s specific diction choices help to reflect the change from being positive to negative with some elements of hope involved. The parts of the poem involving the free bird provide the reader with a feeling of self government.In contrast, the mood associated with the caged bird is confinment. Despite the negative mood tied to the caged bird there are still elements of hope woven into these stanzas.

However, in the poem “Caged Bird” Maya Angelou characterizes the free and caged bird as, one bird symbolizing imprisonment and limitations while the other symbolizes freedom, which further develops the theme of inequality. The line “And dares to claim the sky” shows how unaware the free bird is and further develops the idea of its freedom. This piece of evidence shows how unaware the free bird is by exaggerating the extent of its freedom compared to the caged bird. In

Abraham uses a hyperbole to exaggerate how much creativity the world lacked in terms of the bird. The bird is sitting atop a mountain, taking in all that’s around him until the bird realizes that it’s surrounded by nothing. Abraham states, “In a forest with no trees/In a world with no seas/A bird is standing atop a mountain/pondering about where it could be” (1-4). The author uses this specific hyperbole to emphasize how barren and desolate the world is, causing the bird to feel dejected. A forest with no trees serves no cause, making the bird feel like it serves no purpose in its deserted world. Wishing to be somewhere else, the bird pondered if there was a way to get out of the darkness and nothingness that confined the bird and made it feel incompetent.