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• Caged bird by maya angelou free#

In an allegorical reading of the poem, the oppressive circumstances the caged bird lives in represent the systemic oppression of Black Americans.

Caged bird by maya angelou free#

While he is not free to fly, his soul expresses the freedom he yearns for. In this way, the bird's song is both a consequence and overcoming of his oppression. The song travels far, transcending the airspace through which the bird would like to fly. In contrast to the free bird who soars on currents of wind, the titular caged bird is imprisoned in his cage with clipped wings and tied feet the caged bird is so frustrated with his situation that he often cannot see through his "bars of rage." But because of the oppressive circumstances that limit his natural inclination to take flight, the caged bird resorts to singing a song of freedom. In "Caged Bird," Angelou uses the theme of oppression as a foil to the theme of freedom. In an allegorical reading of the poem, the free bird's sense of ownership over the world he freely moves through represents the unconscious privilege of white Americans who benefit from an economy and government that assigns greater value to their lives. In this way, Angelou presents a paradox in which the caged bird is a better authority on freedom than the bird who is already immersed in freedom, in the same way that an insomniac has a particular understanding of the value of sleep. By juxtaposing the two birds' perspectives, Angelou shows how the free bird feels an inherent entitlement to his freedom meanwhile, the caged bird understands the true value of freedom because it is something he has never known but that his spirit yearns for nonetheless.

As the poem progresses, Angelou contrasts the free bird's access to freedom with the caged bird's song of freedom, which expresses his lament for his confinement and his longing to live free. Beginning with the opening stanza, in which the speaker uses imagery to describe the free bird's unrestrained access to the wind, sun, and sky, " Caged Bird" foregrounds freedom as its most dominant theme.