Theme Of The Caged Bird And To Kill A Mockingbird

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Martin Luther King Jr. during his fight for civil rights made his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington in Washington DC in 1963. He said, “I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls”. This message is portrayed as a one day kids of all races can interact with one another without prejudice segregating them. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou portray the same message. Both show instances of hope that the black community is trying to become equal, while the whites has more opportunity and freedom. However, Maya Angelou suggests there are outsiders in the white community that potentially tarnish their reputation to help the …show more content…
She symbolizes the major differences in the white and black communities by the metaphor of birds in her poem. The free bird in the poem represents the white community, free to explore and pursue any opportunity they may choose. However, the caged bird is the black community, tied down by racism not allowed to follow their dreams and pursue their goals. Even though the caged bird is locked away from the world, it never gives up hope. The speaker says, “His bars of rage/ his wings are clipped and/ his feet are tied/ so he opens his throat to sing” (11-14). Although the caged bird has the inability to escape, and the anger of racism restricts their view of the world, they still are positive looking for freedom as shown because the birds are singing. They never allow the conditions they are in stop them from becoming the equal community they strive to become. The caged bird seeks to one day be able to obtain “fat worms”(25), the ultimate prize of aspiration and opportunity. The speakers continues, “But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams/ his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream/ his wings are clipped and his feet are tied/ so he opens his throat to sing” (26-30). One of the most powerful lines in the poem, it tells how the black community lives on their dream of one day being treated as equal to whites. Even though the black community deals with racism everyday, …show more content…
Lee shows the fight within the world and the constant trouble for people to decide either fighting for equality or spread of racism, while Angelou delineate the white and black communities to show the dissimilarities between them. Although they depict their message differently both speak of equality within the world. The fight is cold, long, and hard however the end is like a “fat worm”. They used the power of words to overcome the obstacles set by the world. As a result, Angelou received the National Book Award in 1986, the Presidential Medal of Freedom America 's highest civilian award in 2010, and countless others for her work and contribution to the world in a time of torment and inequality. Lee was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007, a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for fiction, the top selling novel of all time by the Guinness Book of World Records, and Best Novel of the Century by the Library Journal in 1999. Their legacy will be preserved for eternity in the fight for quality, and in remembrance of the hardship the world went through to achieve

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