Latest News

Themes in the poem, Caged Bird, by Maya Angelou include earnest desire, freedom and confinement, racial oppression, resilience, hope, dreams, and identity. The writer achieved this through contrasting the joys of the free bird and the pains of the caged bird. The metaphor is apt as a depiction of African-Americans struggle with civil rights in the USA in the 1900s.

Overview of Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

Content Analysis of Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

Literary Devices in Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

Examining the Themes in “Caged Bird” in Detail

1. Earnest Desire for Freedom

The caged bird’s desire for freedom is heard in his song. As he lives in bondage, unable to fly and fulfil his longings. The bird desperately sings of his deepest heart’s desires and of freedom. This theme is outstanding in this poem, as it represents the innate desire of humans to be free to chase their dreams and fulfil their personal longing. The continuous singing of the caged bird represents the self-determination to achieve the things he sang about.

In the context of the civil rights struggles of African Americans in the 1900s, the weight of the discrimination and injustice they suffered triggered and sustained their desire to rise above the oppression. They were denied basic rights, which led to many unfulfilled dreams. These dreams can be achieved if only they were free. This is also seen in the acts of Afro-Americans recorded in history –

• Martin Luther King (Jr) gave the famous speech, “I Have a Dream”, in 1963. This dream was of freedom.
• Rosa Parks was arrested for civil disobedience in 1955. She refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus. Her defiance was born of a yearning for freedom.
• Afro-American musicians of the 20th century, in all genres of music, were known to sing about joy and sorrow, hope for freedom and equality, racial pride, social injustice, and also about love and life. Curtis Mayfield’s 1965 “People Get Ready” became a civil rights anthem, Nina Simone in 1964 addressed social injustice in her song, “Mississippi Goddamn”, and James Brown sang of Black empowerment in his 1968 song, “Say It Loud”.

In the early 20th century, African-Americans sang about faith and community as they navigated the post-slavery era and the Great Migration. They encouraged themselves to build again, to live. However, the mid-twentieth century brought the civil rights movement, and music became a powerful tool of activism for African Americans. They sang of Black identity, segregation, oppression, and freedom. As the years passed and the effects of the struggles the Black communities were subjected to began to manifest in their struggles, racial discrimination against blacks, poverty, violence, and drug abuse, Black American musicians focused more on these issues – these are seen mostly in hip-hop and contemporary R & B.

2. Freedom and Confinement

The free bird enjoys nature, flying at will, and pecks at worms at dawn. Whereas, the caged bird suffers in a “narrow cage” – physically trapped, mentally impoverished, and dreams shattered. This is the main comparison of the two characters in the metaphor. It not only paints the picture of the lives of the whites and Black-Americans in the twentieth century but also sheds light on the human condition of freedom and captivity and the social, physical, and psychological effects they have on the subjects. The whites had the freedom to dream, learn, explore, etc., while the African-Americans were segregated, discriminated against, and oppressed.

According to the poem, freedom allows you to –

• Think independently (Stanza 4, Line 23).
• Look into the future with hope and expectation (Stanza 4, Line 25).
• Take risks (Stanza 1)
• Have fun and enjoy life (Stanza 1)

Overall, freedom is packed with privileges that help the free not only to enjoy life but also become a better version of themselves.

On the contrary, captivity or confinement may lead to –

• No exposure to the world, skills, or other things that may help you grow (Stanza 2).
• The pain of being confined builds rage in the subject (Stanza 2, Line 10).
• The subject only hopes and strives to keep his spirit unbroken (Stanza 2, Line 14 and Stanza 5, Line 30).
• Inability to take risks and explore the world (Stanza 2).
• Death of dreams (Stanza 5, Line 27).

Overall, confinement and restriction that borders on oppression and segregation build pain, resentment, rage, lack of experience, and unhinge the mental state of the subject. Only the mentally strong continue to hold on, and the hope for freedom is the song that keeps him going.

Furthermore, freedom is natural and helps activate other natural instincts like adventure and exploration, dreams for the future, and the desire to improve oneself. It should be free. Therefore, when it is taken, some other natural instincts shut down with it.

It is also worthy of note that freedom may also breed a sense of entitlement just as confinement breeds a sense of hopelessness (Stanza 3, Line 26, and Stanza 4, Line 28). This alludes to the entitlement of the whites and the slave masters, and the pain of the Blacks and the slaves. The caged bird is not only confined to a cage, but its feet are tied, and its wings are clipped. These acts of oppression and immobilization further tie the bird down, and even when the bird leaves the cage, it may never be able to fly, or it will take a long time to regrow its wings and ability to fly.

3. Racial Discrimination and Injustice

The situation of the caged bird mirrors the racism and denial of rights that Black people faced in America. Many social barriers were created, which curtailed their dreams, immobilized their actions, lowered their morale, hid them from the public, and set the whites above them in many ways. The discrimination against blacks by the whites is the core of the poem, and some expressions that point to this include “wings clipped” and “feet tied” (Stanza 2, Lines 12 and 13), which express other restrictions placed on the caged bird despite the cage. The bird is even forced to sit still, even within the cage, such that when he dares to walk, he can only “stalk” lest he offend the master.

These acts of oppression against the blacks built pain and anger within them, yet there was little or nothing they could do save sit still, bide their time, and sing to uphold their spirit in hope that freedom is coming tomorrow. This is captured in stanzas 2, 3, 5, and 6. The expression “see through his bars of rage” (Stanza 2) points to the anger that boils within the captive, while the song of the caged bird shows its hope and dream for freedom.

Some aspects of racial discrimination in the USA in the twentieth century were systemic and widespread. Some of these include –

• Legalized segregation in nearly every aspect of life – education, public facilities, transportation, public accommodation, healthcare, etc. These were instituted based on Jim Crow Laws and dominated the South until the 1960s. This meant that whites and blacks didn’t use the same restrooms, sit within the same waiting areas, go to the same hospitals, or sit in the same buses.
• The blacks were also politically disenfranchised as systems like literacy tests and poll taxes were used to stop them from being eligible to vote or participate in political and leadership selection processes.
• Blacks were denied mortgages and homeownership opportunities in the 1930s. This placed a form of barrier to wealth, as many whites build wealth through this means. Black neighbourhoods were labelled as “hazardous” for lending; therefore, financial institutions refused to offer loans.
• Racial etiquette reinforced subordinate status for Black Americans. Besides the slave master to slave interactions, Whites did not use courtesy titles when addressing Black people, whereas Blacks were required to use courtesy titles when addressing White people. Blacks were also not allowed to shake hands with white people, as this signified social equality.

The plight of the caged bird is clearly an allusion to different aspects of the racism perpetrated against Black Americans and their unyielding spirit through the storm.

4. Dreams

“Caged Bird” points to different aspects of the dreams of the captive. First, in stanza 2, the writer explains that the bird is unable to move around or fly and is enraged by the immobility imposed on him.

Secondly, in stanza 5, it is clearly stated that within this cage where the bird stands is also where his dreams are buried – “But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams” (Stanza 5, Line 27). The caged bird stands, a shadow of himself, unfulfilled and lost.

Further on dreams, the poem also points out that despite the caged bird’s plight, its spirit remains unbroken, such that it continues to sing “with a fearful trill” – sharing its longing and hope for freedom. He sang so loudly that his songs were heard “on the distant hill”.

This mirrors the pain of Black Americans, as they had many unfulfilled dreams. Despite their daily struggles, they continued to hold on, to fight back, to devise ways to succeed against all odds, and to carve a better future for their generations to come.

5. Resilience and Hope

Despite the plight of the caged bird – clipped wings, tied feet, bared cage, the bird continues to sing the powerful song of things unknown and freedom. The song of the caged bird is a testament to his unbroken spirit. This points out how resilient the bird is – it hopes for freedom and makes up pictures of the beautiful days ahead in its mind and sings about them. The things the bird sang about were unknown; in other words, they are neither the present reality nor in history. No one had seen or heard of those things. But these were the songs presented as stark reality, although opposite to what they are.

6. Identity

The theme of identity is wrapped in the lines as the people spoken of were clearly identified as “free” and “caged”. These labels point to hierarchy and privileges – one group had it all while the other could only watch helplessly and may even get punished just for dreaming that one day they will attain such privilege too.

Also, the poem explores how the identity of the oppressed may get distorted by trauma. In this case, the caged bird is said to stand “on the grave of dreams”, and the “shadow shouts on a nightmare scream”. The bird is losing its mind, beginning to not see any good in the future, and despite its resilient spirit, sometimes reality whispers that it will never be free. Therefore, the caged bird sings to remind himself of who he is and that tomorrow will be better.

Conclusion

“Caged Bird” paints the life of a free bird and a caged bird to illustrate the plight of Black Americans in the USA in the twentieth century. The themes of freedom and captivity, racism, hope and resilience are depicted in ways that encourage and remind us of life after a traumatic experience. Despite the plight of the caged bird, it sang of freedom.