“The Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou tell...

 

“The Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou tells of many different stages of a very unfortunate little bird’s life. The free bird flies downstream and attempts to wet his wings in the sun’s rays; the angry cage bird is unable to move; the caged bird sings of the unknown; the bird is caged and sings about freedom. Looking from a certain perspective, the bird has passed through a few depressing stages of his life.

 

            The words caged and freedom play very important roles in this poem. The word caged, “The caged bird sings with a fear full trill” (ll.7), means that the bird is captured and cannot escape, giving a negative connotation of some sort. On the other hand, “The free bird thinks of knew breezes” (ll.11) alludes to happiness and joy. This forces one to be perplexed so the reader would have to stall and sort of question where the story stands. Ms. Angelou did an admirable job with this section of the poem. These two words cause the overall poem to open up and develop into the nation renowned poem that it has become.

 

            The confusion that these two words, caged and free, cause really causes the poem to develop the way it did. In a way they brought the poem to its popularity. Even some college courses require the analysis of this poem that indirectly leads to there future graduation. And for us to be given this poem is amazing because really the only change is the way you can interpret the poem and where these words bring you. All because the concept and theme it is possibility to be open.

 

Is the poem connected with slavery and escaping out of captivity? For instance: “The angry bird is caged and unable to move,” (sequence of events) connecting to slavery when the slaves were chained up which causes them to be extremely upset about their confinement; “The caged bird sings about unknown things,” (sequence of events) meaning the freedom land, for it has merely no idea about what freedom is like or how to obtain it. This is almost exactly what the slaves desired because they weren’t absolutely clear about freedom but they would give anything for it. They both also couldn’t see the land the land that they held most dearly in their hopes and dreams.

 

“The bird thinks of another breeze, and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees.” (ll.12).  Sighing is an action sometimes associated with depression or frustration. Many people have quoted a philosopher that has said that, “We area direct product of our existing environment,” for better or for worse. The trees are symbols for sad (frustrated) or depressed people that he is passing by in his flight searching for a better place beyond the distant hills.

 

Moving upward in social standing requires being free and being able to over come social separation. Also, “The free bird… waiting… he names the sky his own.” The bird is free but yet it still attempts to claim one more thing, the sky. In earlier history the sky has been referred to as holy or divine meaning that it is nearly out of reach. The only thing left that it can hope for now because it’s free is civil right