Comparing Sympathy And Caged Bird

When ones hope is taken away it serves as a conflict and it makes one feel as if they are worthless.In “Sympathy” Paul Laurence Dunbar talks about a bird that is isolated in a cage from its habitat and makes an effort in trying to escape the cage. In “Caged Bird” Maya Angelou compares a free bird to a caged bird and their how different their lives can be when in two different scenarios. In both of these poems the birds are alike in many ways and also very different. In “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird” both of the birds have the same desire of escaping the cage but their physical approach of doing so is what sets them apart. The two birds both sing with out joy because of the situation is very convoluted. In “Sympathy” the bird sings in pain and …show more content…
When comparing the two birds it the author tell us how two things that are alike can be in two very different situations. “The free bird leaps/ on the back of the wind” (Angelou 1-2). “But a bird that stalks/down his narrow cage” (Angelou 8-9). As the authors use juxtaposition to compare the two birds it makes the reader realize how strong the desire of the bird who is isolated is. A free bird is a bird who is open to all opportunities and very careen, while a caged bird is isolated because one thing is in its way and in this case it is the cage. Not only is the bird isolated from the open sky but it is tied down and its wings are clipped preventing it from moving. “His wings are clipped and/ his feet are tied”(Angelou 17-18). Compared to the bird in “Sympathy” this bird is not capable of making or doing any physical actions. Even if the bird were to be let out of the cage it still would be trapped because it would not be able to fly, one of a birds main abilities. Since the birds isn't capable of moving it uses its voice, hoping to be heard in the distant hill. The two birds were isolated from the world and both also used there voices to be heard, but however one of them was restricted from moving in the