Loss of Freedom in Sedaris' This Old House and Angelou's Caged Bird

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings was first published in 1969 during a time when autobiographies of women because heavily significant by their exclamation of the significance of women. As a result, Angelou's piece gathered attention from various types of women who could relate to Angelou's journey of sexuality, colour, and the coloured

“The free bird thinks of another breeze….a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams…” The two literary works “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” can be seen as mockingbirds that have flown over fields of prejudice and repeat what they have seen for all to hear. Jem Finch, a young boy and lawyer’s son from “To Kill a Mockingbird” clearly symbolizes a mockingbird because of his youth and innocence, and because of his innocence he cannot fully understand the racism in the story. Jem also has many similarities to the caged and free birds in “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”, whether it be Jem’s

Deep in the forest of Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the caged bird sings on. The singing slaves in Douglass’s narrative are the caged birds of Maya Angelou’s famous poem, filling the air around them with desire: desire for a freedom so far out of reach—for “things unknown but longed for still.”

To start off, we will start to talk about Who is the caged bird and why. I think that according to the story, “The Long Walk Home”

Angelou was born in Missouri in 1928. She spent most of her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas, pre Civil Rights Movement with her grandmother and her older brother. Angelou is most known for writing the poem Caged Bird. In the first stanza about the caged bird, Angelou declares that the bird, “can seldom see through/ his bars of rage/ his wings are clipped and/ his feet are tied/ so he opens his throat to sing”(Caged Bird). Angelou uses the bird as a metaphor for oppressed African Americans during this time period; the bird is held back by a barrier, just like African Americans were held back by unjust laws, a corrupt legal system, and their white peers who saw them as inferior. Similar to the bird, Angelou felt held back by others, but she did not let the “bars of rage” hold her back from her potential so, like the bird, she “opened her throat to sing” and used her voice to protest for herself and those who could not advocate for themselves.

The first element our writers used to express their message of wanting to be free is form. The narrator for ‘The Caged Bird” feels alone and wishes to be able to snatch the chains that keep her tied down. Also, in the poem “Sympathy” by Dunbar as well an in “The Caged Bird” both authors used a bird to symbolize the captivity and aspiration for freedom. Both poets wrote their piece in lyric form because of obvious reasons. A lyric poem is defined as a poem that expresses personal and emotional feelings. Writing poems with this form shows the amount of deep emotion that the narrator feels toward this work. In addition, both authors wrote their poems in iambic pentameter to make the poem sound like a natural flow of speech to really show the deep feelings the poets are feeling.

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” depicts two birds which are used as metaphors to express the state in which the two classes of people live. In one description the poem describes the standard of living of a bird of privilege which alludes to the lives of whites. Then it describes caged birds whom of which are crying out for freedom, and are meant to represent African Americans during this time. It describes the feeling of being trapped and calling out for

“But a caged bird stands on a grave of dreams... His wings are clipped and his feet are tied/so he opens his throat to sing…” (M.A 26-29). This quote describes the birds emotions as it loses its dreams, it doesn't lose its hope so it repeatedly sings hoping it will reach a bird for assistance. It also portrays a very positive them as the reader figures out that its perseverance pays off. “...and his tune is heard/on the distant hill…”(M.A 19-20). This is validating the fact that the bird’s prayers have successfully been retrieved and help is nearer than it has been thought.

The bird has been though a lot. He has been restricted from all his freedom and beat itself all up. The caged bird doesn’t know anything but sadness, it is all it has experienced. In the poem the writer says, “When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee,” making us think it is a sad song. It is in fact a prayer that it is sending to heaven.

This line demonstrates that the bird is feeling miserable and remorseful because he cannot change anything about his current situation. This section also shows how the bird feels scared because the line states how he is screaming in a nightmare. Therefore, having a boundary that is being imposed on an individual makes this person feel like his freedom is lacking and makes a person feel like he has an unfortunate

Angelou's last installment in her autobiography series is titled with the first line from her first installment, "A song flung up to heaven."  By an examination of interviews with Angelou and commentary from critical interpretations, I think I now know the answer of why the caged bird sings.  The cage bird sings because of the hope and optimism in its heart that enables it to sing no matter its dour, trapped circumstances.  In similar ways, Angelou often used such hope and optimism to survive terrible life experiences, like living through the Watts Riots in Los Angeles and their aftermath.  Over the years Angelou had to make tough choices for a female, especially an African-American woman in a racist society.  Nevertheless, she exhibited hope, optimism and courage that enabled her to walk the road seldom taken.  In one interview Angelou comments about her character in Caged Bird, Annie Johnson, "each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the roads which lie ahead, and those over which we have traveled, and if the future road looms ominous or uninviting...step off that road into another direction" (Kizis

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.

The feeling of displacement leaves a painful hole in one's heart. Whether a person is a male or female, white or black, lives in the North or South, or young or old, displacement takes a toll on their character and personality. Maya Angelou creates a theme of displacement in her novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou's novel has been critiqued by many notable scholars for being a classic autobiography. The critics note the importance of the setting to show universal displacement and the use of characterization to display the influences in Angelou's life. The critics also note that Angelou's diction and tone allow her pain and suffering to be evident throughout her novel and into her life. Angelou's use of setting shows how she was personally affected by displacement. She also uses characterization and tone to personalize her childhood experiences. Maya Angelou’s autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is critiqued to have a theme of displacement based on the setting, characterization, and tone.

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

Near the end of the poem it is revealed that the bird “opens his throat to sing” Maya Angelou felt this way in her own life. She wrote, sang and danced because it was her way of expressing her longing for freedom despite being oppressed for most of her life. Although freedom, to the caged bird, is “fearful” because it is “unknown”, he still sings “a fearful trill”. The cries of help are heard but the overarching parents only hear it as background noise.