“Caged Bird” & “Sympathy” Essay
The civil rights era was really tough on minorities and they all coped differently.There were some who were optimistic and others who gave up hope for a new life. Injustice and maltreatment can have an erratic effect, and it did. Martin Luther King Jr. reacted with nonviolence, but Malcolm X was aggressive and a bit harsh. The authors used a caged bird to symbolize the difference and similarities between the reaction of the feeling of oppression in the poems “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou and “Sympathy” by Paul Dunbar.
The birds in the the poems are alike in various ways. The birds, used as a symbol for blacks, feel trapped in society with the heavy feeling of helplessness from cage. From “Caged Bird”: “But a bird that stalks/down his narrow cage/can seldom see through/his bars of rage” (lines 8-11). Not being able to live freely angers the restrained creature. Likewise, in the poem “Sympathy” the author uses the cage as the core of the bird’s anger. Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote: “I know why the caged bird beats his wing/Till its blood is red on cruel …show more content…
Both birds have a mutuality of wanting freedom, but the “Sympathy” bird has lost hope and carries a sad tone. From the poem: “When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore/When he beats his bars and he would be free;/It is not a carol of joy or glee”(lines 16-18). His wings are bruised,yet he is still trapped, which results in his lamentable singing. In contrast, the bird from “Caged Bird” still has ambition to escape even after all its attempts. Maya Angelou states: “The caged bird sings/with a fearful trill/of the things unknown/but longed for still/and his tune is heard/on the distant hill/for the caged bird/sings of freedom”(stanza 6). Although the bird is against an entire society, he still has the courage to try and achieve his goal. Just as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X had opposite outlooks so did the
The civil rights era was really tough on minorities and they all coped differently.There were some who were optimistic and others who gave up hope for a new life. Injustice and maltreatment can have an erratic effect, and it did. Martin Luther King Jr. reacted with nonviolence, but Malcolm X was aggressive and a bit harsh. The authors used a caged bird to symbolize the difference and similarities between the reaction of the feeling of oppression in the poems “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou and “Sympathy” by Paul Dunbar.
The birds in the the poems are alike in various ways. The birds, used as a symbol for blacks, feel trapped in society with the heavy feeling of helplessness from cage. From “Caged Bird”: “But a bird that stalks/down his narrow cage/can seldom see through/his bars of rage” (lines 8-11). Not being able to live freely angers the restrained creature. Likewise, in the poem “Sympathy” the author uses the cage as the core of the bird’s anger. Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote: “I know why the caged bird beats his wing/Till its blood is red on cruel …show more content…
Both birds have a mutuality of wanting freedom, but the “Sympathy” bird has lost hope and carries a sad tone. From the poem: “When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore/When he beats his bars and he would be free;/It is not a carol of joy or glee”(lines 16-18). His wings are bruised,yet he is still trapped, which results in his lamentable singing. In contrast, the bird from “Caged Bird” still has ambition to escape even after all its attempts. Maya Angelou states: “The caged bird sings/with a fearful trill/of the things unknown/but longed for still/and his tune is heard/on the distant hill/for the caged bird/sings of freedom”(stanza 6). Although the bird is against an entire society, he still has the courage to try and achieve his goal. Just as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X had opposite outlooks so did the