The Exploration of Dedication in “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird”
Similarly, both poems "Sympathy" and "Caged Bird" examine related themes about dedication through the captured bird’s continuous persistence and use of his helpless song despite previous efforts. Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “Sympathy” focuses on an enclosed bird’s constant fighting against numerous physical limitations from deserved opportunities, emphasizing his hopeless shouting for liberty. In contrast, Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird” explicitly discusses a trapped bird’s efforts to overcome various boundaries using his underestimated song and constant perseverance. While both poems “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird” share a comparable theme about African American's battle for deserved advantages
…show more content…
In “Sympathy,” the captured bird uses his song as his only tool for communication and an indirect protest for his deserved opportunities. Dunbar states, “It is not a carol of joy or glee, / But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core” (lines 18, 19). In this quote, the bird’s cries and sorrowful song were misinterpreted for happiness, although they were his only resources for demanding liberty. Even though the bird’s song is full of longing and anger, others misunderstood the bird’s cries as cheerful and dismiss its true meaning. As a result, the bird’s misunderstood singing represents African American’s secret portrayal of difficulties disguised under joyful songs. Similarly to “Sympathy,” the enclosed bird in “Caged Bird” used his voice as a resource to try to overcome these injustices despite his restrictions. The author notes, “His wings are clipped and / his feet are tied / so he opens his throat to sing” (Angelou 12-14). In this quote, readers can observe that despite the trapped bird’s physical restrictions, he will forever maintain control over his feelings and words. Although tying the bird’s wings restrict his physical abilities, his perspective and emotions cannot be controlled by anyone …show more content…
First, by incorporating the enclosed bird’s sorrowful song, the poems were capable of using his cries as a representation for African American’s single remaining tool against limitations, therefore emphasizing the theme about African American’s constant fighting for opportunities. Secondly, by examining the captured bird’s persistence for liberty despite physical restrictions and painful efforts, the poems were able to demonstrate African American’s dedication throughout injustices. Finally, the regulated form of “Sympathy” differs significantly with the erratic structure of “Caged Bird,” explaining their different views about the possibility of liberty for African Americans. Thus, both authors successfully portray that despite the world’s hopeless obstacles and restrictions, previous generation's dedicated battles for their liberty will allow future ones to eventually become the free birds who release themselves from their ancestor’s worn down
At a point in time in the life of every person, a feeling of being trapped or stuck occurs. The poem “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar represents the speaker’s vast knowledge of the feeling of being enclosed in a place where they are tremendously uncomfortable. The speaker explains the actions of a bird trapped in a small cage and explains the motives behind the actions. The speaker reveals that the song the caged bird sings is not a melody exuberating joy, but a cry begging for freedom.
During the 1960s segregation was at its peak. In the poem titled “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and in the poem “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, both authors describe caged birds longing for freedom and free birds. Both of these poems relate to Hunter-Gault's story of being discriminated against University of Georgia. The exposition of her story is that the university is doing everything in their power to keep her out. She also encounters many conflicts while earning her right to attend their school. Discrimination has taken place all throughout US history but in Hunter-Gault's case she rewrote history by being the first student of color to be excepted to an all-white school.
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.”
Maya Angelou is a leader by example, she sets the standard by her actions and the stories she tells teaches the audience a lesson. Majority of her work is to inform us of the past and she wants us to learn from her experiences in life; she is a life teacher. The purpose of this poem was to inform us of the history of our country. The poem is titled “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” and her purpose of writing this is to teach the reader why the caged bird sings. Maya Angelou wants to put the reader in her shoes to get the ultimate experience of racial inequality but instead by taking the role of a caged bird or a free bird.
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.
“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
In these lines from Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa,” the speaker emphasizes the natural human tendencies to “inflict pain.” Similarly, in his poem, “Sympathy,” Paul Dunbar explores pain from the point of view of a bird being trapped in a cage. It flaps its wings and tries to escape but it cannot. The bird symbolizes an African American bound by slavery and unable to escape. On the other hand, in Claude McKay’s poem “The Harlem Dancer,” the dancer feels as if
Through the poems “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou it is evident freedom is a desire for all beings, and this is conveyed through symbolism and juxtaposition.. “Sympathy” is a poem that expresses a caged bird’s desire to be free and it’s pain, as well as the poet’s connections to the bird. The poet writes, “I know why the caged bird beats his wing/Till its blood is red on the cruel bars/For he must fly back to his perch and cling/When he fain would be on the bough a-swing” (Dunbar 8-11). The bird symbolizes freedom is a desire for all beings. The bird is a symbol for being trapped, confined, or restricted. The bird tries to escape so desperately to the point where there is blood on the bars. This is an urgent
‘’Sympathy” and “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings¨ they are similar because they are both about a bird that is free doing what it wants without having to be scared to fly. They also relate to each other because they are about a bird that is free and then later the bird gets caged and is not able to be free and fly and do whatever it wants. They also relate to each other because they are both about a bird that is struggling and wondering what he can do to get out of that cage. Another thing is that they are both about a bird that is a believer. By believer I mean that he knows that some day or later he will do something that will have set him free. So I am trying to say that no matter what happens or what he has to do in order to get out. He
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.
“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
In Maya Angelou’s poem, “Caged Bird”, She explains how a bird is trapped inside of a cage and can not escape from thick metal bars that hold it back. It imagines and signs of having freedom. People believe this is about a bird, but what if it isn’t. I believe that this is talking about a person who can’t make the decision if they want to keep fighting to do free.The bird can’t decide if it wants to fight to soon wear the bars of the cage down so it can finally fly away aswell or to give up and use its voice and
Dunbar utilizes the analogy of caged bird in his poem “Sympathy” to expose the emotions and struggles of enslaved African Americans to achieve freedom. He begins his poem by describing the free bird singing when “sun is bright and first bud opens” to portray the beauty of landscape. However, the beauty turns into sadness when the poet states "I know what the caged bird feels, alas" which depicts a tone of sadness. This contrast between a free bird and caged bird initiates the losses of caged bird. It cannot go out and experience the freedom under the open sky. It struggles with physical constrain “till its blood is red on the cruel bars” helps visualize the intensity of struggle the bird is experiencing to gain his freedom to go where he desires, and to be with those who give him happiness. This struggle is similar of African American who tried to rebel in hopes of gaining their freedoms, but all resulted in vain. Their wounds, just like the caged bird, are “old, old scars” emphasizes that African Americans
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