Caged Bird Analysis

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, racial tensions between the white and black communities across the world elevated. The black community expressed rage and dissatisfaction with their societal status and level of discrimination. Whether it be the American Civil Rights Movement or the African Apartheid, black communities took a stand. Protests, rallies, petitions, and most importantly, poetry achieved this. Maya Angelou was a famous poet, writer, and activist who was an influential part of the fight for the black community. During the Apartheid in 1983, Angelou wrote her famous poem, “Caged Bird”. The poem is a contrast between the lives of a caged bird and a free bird. Maya Angelou, through her poem, portrays the message that white

Angelou’s writing style exemplifies this the most, as it identifies the caged bird as the main character of the poem. She depicts the caged bird watching the free bird by writing, “But a bird that stalks / down his narrow cage” (Angelou 8-9). The caged bird watches the free bird live a life of adventure and freedom. The narrator is an omniscient narrator that dives into the thoughts and feelings of the caged bird while only describing the actions of the free bird. Despite the poem being in the third person, this focus on the caged bird’s experience is clear. The poem is comprised of six stanzas in total. The first and fourth stanzas are about a free bird while the others are about the caged bird. The stanzas regarding the caged bird involve much more detail than the free bird counterparts. Additionally, the caged bird stanzas discuss the bird itself, while the free bird stanzas describe its surroundings. These features of Angelou’s writing style demonstrate that her focus is on the caged bird and that the world is described through its eyes. Another example of this is her use of definite and indefinite articles. Angelou uses the indefinite article “a” throughout the poem to refer to the caged bird. This vague and unspecific article demonstrates that the scope of her poem expands to include both this one caged bird and all caged birds. The fact that this situation can be applied

Throughout the poem, rhymes such as “rage” and “cage” are only present in stanzas regarding the caged bird (Angelou 10, 9). On the other hand, the stanzas about the free bird lack rhyming. This represents the structure and rules that bind and imprison the black community. The caged bird is limited to traditional poetic devices while the free bird is unrestricted by rhymes. Furthermore, Angelou repeats the struggles of the caged bird multiple times throughout the poem. A common struggle is, “his wings are clipped and / his feet are tied” (Angelou 12-13). The feet and wings of a bird are what allows it to maneuver and travel; however, in the metaphorical sense, the mobility restrictions on the caged bird represent the inability for the black community to advance in society due to oppression. Finally, the caged bird ends each stanza with a song for freedom. This is similar to a cry for help, but is not. Angelou chooses the caged bird to sing instead of call or cry for a reason. Singing for freedom is a call to rally and have hope for a better life. Angelou does not just want the white community to reform, but for the black community to unite and make a stand. This is much deeper and more complicated than simply calling for