Maya Angelou can be regarded as the caged bird in the poem. Maya keeps her identity intact by reminding herself who she is, and never to forget that. Annie Henderson in Stamps, Arkansas. Their mother is as lovely and captivating as they remember her, and once again they begin to feel better. Even thought she had a bad child hood she ends up happy. Vivian then cannot deal with all the trauma that came with the molestation and sends Maya and Bailey back to Stamps. Debilitating Displacement Maya is shuttled around to seven different homes between the ages of three and sixteen: from California to Stamps to St.
They are beautiful creatures built to be carried by hot thermals high into the sky. Freeman being a sick individual. Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Some of the boys'll be coming over here later. Angelou puts greater emphasis on the lamentable state of the caged bird, and contrasts this with that of the free bird. But she sees how she isnt the only one with a bad life, and those people are happy. Another device Maya Angelou uses to emphasize the beauty of freedom is by repetition.
One day my family was sitting outside, and my mom was reading a book with a lot of famous poems. The author then repeats these lines: His wings are clipped and his feet are tied So he opens his throat to sing. The south was the main part of the United States that still had a big problem with the troubles of slavery and African Americans not being viewed as equally as Caucasians. To express freedom in time constricted by racial beliefs and discriminations, she loses herself in singing and dancing, and in her chosen art, literary writing. Lincoln and makes him apologize for his insults to her. It emphasizes how much easier it was for whites than blacks, which shows us why we should treat all people better.
Here the sky stands for the universe. Through her poem, she also illustrates the nature of both freedom and captivity by creating a stark contrast between the two using birds as the metaphor. Southern life in Stamps, Arkansas was filled with humiliation, violation, and displacement. Maya is a world renowned author, teacher, speaker, actress, and mother. While Caged Bird had always sold well, after the inauguration, sales —landing the book back on the bestseller list 24 years after it was published.
Nobody should be treated like that. Their grandmother runs a store there, which is the center of life in the Negro community of the town. One of the main lessons that can be taught in the south is how important equality is. In 1993 Congress enacted a major development of the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income working families. Louis, she takes refuge in the library.
Maya also almost got killed by her fathers crazy girlfriend. He had lost all hope of freedom. Momma was a very well behaved woman and was a good role model to all of her grandchildren. The author imparts a powerful sense of courage that those who will read the poem will be able to feel and internalize. Throughout her life, literature plays a significant role in bolstering her confidence and providing a world of fantasy and escape. It is an indirect poem that talks about a caged bird. This is just one example, my example on how relatable poems are even if they are hundreds of years old.
What she's basically saying is that she learned to be comfortable in discomfort, which makes the most insecure setting in which she's ever lived feel secure to her. In this poem the speaker represents the black Americans of that time in the vivid description of the caged bird and its experiences. Maya Angelou is explaining the feelings of racial discrimination, segregation, and domination. This method of contrast that she uses throughout the poem is powerful to highlight the comfort of freedom and how the poet achieves a better understanding of the ease of freedom by comparing it with something worse. She starts as an excited graduate because she was finally going to receive her diploma, a reward for all her academic accomplishments. Are you you working on a Poem Analysis? Maya Angelou also uses irony to be cleverer and effective but less direct in conveying her feelings. Bertha Flowers, and her grandmother Momma.
She wrote and sang and danced because it was her way of expressing her longing for freedom. Stanza wise analysis : I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings First Stanza The free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wings in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky. These ominous words are references to isolation and they are disturbing compared with freedom. That was just the start of Angelou's problems though. Despite the odds that Maya faces as she is shuffled around the country and the ugliness she feels about herself, Maya learns to feel beautiful and love herself. Despite the adversity that plagued her early life, Angelou managed to persevere and eventually thrive.