How do you prove that the poem, 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' is a voice
against 'racism' and 'gender inequality'. List out the different living conditions of
the Black and the White as mentioned by Maya Angelou.
300-400 words
Answers
Maya Angelou in the poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" makes a comparison between a free bird and a caged bird whereas a free bird has the whole sky to move around and flies from one sky to another following the breeze a caged bird is tied to its small cage and has nothing else to do but to sing of the distant dream of freedom though it knows that it is "a dream of graves" as the dream is not going to be fulfilled ever in life. The poet just states the differences of these two birds in the poem and leaves the rest to the imagination of the readers to make associations and find the meaning of the poem.
It is true that the poem can be seen as a celebration of freedom - freedom which is the most significant thing that an individual aspires to. When one is not free, one does only dream of freedom and nothing else the caged bird can think of nothing else but freedom as the lack of it makes it sing about it. The free bird may not understand the significance of it as it has freedom to do things as it feels like it can take the full swing of its wings to move around with the breeze and write its name in the sky and can eat the fat worms that it can locate in the lush lawns. But the caged bird remains in its narrow cage with its feet tied and its wings clipped and can only aspire to be like the free bird. The caged bird cannot and does not have anything to do except look out in rage from the bars that it has all around it and to sing in desperation. Therefore the poet says that the caged bird sings with fearful quivering of its voice about the things that it will never be able to experience in life, about its longing for the distant hills. Its song resembles a nightmare as the caged bird knows that in its life it will never be free from the cage.
Thus Maya Angelou through the evocation of the natural order is trying to show how the man-made culture has tried to create rules and ways to put the free bird in the cage. The natural order does not curb anyone's freedom, it allows people to take flight and write their own names in the sky; but man-made culture decides to tie down others and take advantage of them for the sake of one's own pleasure Maya Angelou in the poem is hitting hard at that man-made culture which restricts others freedom.