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Sympathy And Cageed Bird In Maya Angelou's Caged Bird

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Being treated equally, and having equal rights as others, was a constant struggle during the 18 and 1900’s for people of color. There was no valid reason as of why they were being oppressed, resulting in riots, battling for justice. In “Caged Bird,” a poem by Maya Angelou, she creates a scene in which one bird is free, soaring wherever the bird wishes, happily. While another bird is caged, miserable, with clipped wing, tied up. In addition, written in “Sympathy,” by Paul Laurence Dunbar another highly profound poem, there is a single bird, that also is trapped, crying out for help due to it feeling depressed, and constantly beating itself up. Although, the bird in “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird” can both symbolize a variety of things, depending …show more content…

The ability of flying usually represents one bird thing, freedom, and once that is taken it illustrates something big. The bird that’s trapped in “Caged Bird” had his wings clipped and was tied up showing his freedom taken from him. In the poem it states, “...see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied…” (line 11-13, Angelou). Angelou uses this incident to represent the freedom of people being taken away. The main purpose of a bird is to fly, which symbolizes freedom and independence. However, the lamentable bird in the poem gets his freedom taken, not only by being caged, but also by having clipped wings, unable to do anything. The caged bird just wants to soar as the other bird does in the ravishing scenery, and when compared it makes him even sadder. In the text is says, “The caged bird sings with fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still...” (line 15-18, Angelou). The author creates this situation to intensify how badly the bird wishes to be free, to him the world doesn’t seem ominous in any way. He doesn’t completely know what’s out there, but he does know it’s better than what he has. What he has observed is that the free life of a the bird is magnificent compared to his due to the food, environment, and most importantly, the privilege to fly wherever he wishes. The ruling skill bird are connected with is flight, which portrays freedom, and

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The bird is Mrs. Wright. It was locked up in a cage as was Mrs. Wright when her husband was alive. He wasn’t a very “cheerful” man, therefore, people didn’t come to visit them. Over the twenty year time period of their marriage she became lonely, which resulted in her buying a bird and the drastic change in personality. The broken door to the cage represents Mrs. Wright’s freedom from her husband.

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During the Civil Rights movement, civil rights activists used many nonviolent methods to protest the existence of inequality. One method, as paradoxical as it may be considering King’s apparent aversion of hate and strain, was the creation of tension. In Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he wrote about his views on constructive tension and its role in forcing confrontation. Based on the given unjust situations, combined with the peaceful, nonviolent nature of the tension, King’s method is clearly agreeable.

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Follow the leader, a.k.a. do what the first person does and don’t do it wrong or you are out. This becomes burnt into children’s minds as what they think leadership is and has become what many people think it must be. Contrarily, a flourishing leader is one who listens. Who takes all member’s ideas into consideration, makes sure all are heard, and keeps a group in order while still taking into account what the group wants.

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Angelou and Dunbar show similarities when they describe feeling trapped like caged birds, but their portrayal of the birds contrast in their actions

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Bird: symbolize freedom and independence in the novel, the awakening. Birds are able to roam free and do as they please rather than being subjected to society 's standards and help down rather than flying. The bird with a broken wing flying above before Enda swam into the ocean and drowned represented her current state. She could not continue to fight even though she remain strong in the beginning. The caged parrot in the beginning of the novel represented how women were caged by society during those times and were removed if they caused some sort of recuse.

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If we compare the bird’s wings to Tom Robinson’s hope, the feet to his heart, and his action of  running to the action of opening his throat to sing, we can visualize the song that Tom Robinson would sing, one about him losing hope and not wanting anyone to control his life anymore, and so in this manner he is very much like the caged bird in this poem. Similarly, Tom Robinson’s physical struggles can be compared to the caged bird in the poem “Sympathy”. In the novel it’s written “Tom

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The feelings of the birds and how they go about their lives is a way to show what the caged bird is longing for, but can’t have. In “Sympathy”, the author sympathizes with the bird’s feelings of being caged in rather than talking about what it would be like to be free. The title “Sympathy” is so appropriate for the poem because it really is about how the bird feels and how you can sympathize with the pain and imprisonment the bird feels. There should be no preference over one of the poems. The reason being is that both poems were great at showing that it is freedom that they want and

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Introduction There are many different types of cultures in society around the world, all with their own individual accepted ways of behaviour, some cultures might be familiar and others might seem strange to us. Cultures have their own set of norms to control acceptable behaviour. If we as fellow human beings all took the initiative to understand each other’s cultures, it might not seem that strange to us anymore and it is possible that we could help others in a way that is acceptable to the society in which we live in. The aim of this essay is to discuss, using a view based on the sociological imagination, whether a unique personal family issue can be related to an issue in society.

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The singing caged bird in the article refers to her having no other means to change her situation other than "singing," that is using literary works such as poetry and novels. 2. During the interview with the poet, comedian Chappelle admitted

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Birds are gifted with the extraordinary ability to fly. Their wings propel them above the ground and over people below. They are able to view the world from an angle that no one else gets to see. This is what makes birds and wings such powerful symbols in literature. These symbols characterize characters, move the plot and develop one more of the book’s ideas.

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Hope, Rage, and Sacrifice Oppression is an illness that has plagued the world for centuries. This is shown in “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou as the birds are trapped by oppression and the birds must break free from it. Maya Angelou and Paul Laurence Dunbar use the central symbols of the free bird and the caged bird to reveal the theme of oppression. The symbols of rage and hope accompany the theme oppression.

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Caged Bird both share a very common theme; segregation, slavery, and imprisonment. According to the poem Sympathy, “Till its blood is red on the cruel bar… I know why he beats his wings.” And from the poem Caged Bird, “…His bars of rage…so he opens his throat to sing.” These quotes show that both birds are treated like slaves. The bird from Sympathy was shipped until the back is full of blood and the bird from Caged Bird was held in a dungeon where it will die.

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“Caged Bird” written by Maya Angelou in 1968 announces to the world her frustration of racial inequality and the longing for freedom. She seeks to create sentiment in the reader toward the caged bird plight, and draw compassion for the imprisoned creature. (Davis) Angelou was born as “Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St Louis, Missouri”. “Caged Bird” was first published in the collection Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing? 1983.

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In the poems “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, both portray captive birds that sing. However in “Sympathy”, the bird pleads with god for freedom, whereas in “Caged Bird” the captive bird calls for help from a free bird. In “Sympathy” the bird knows what freedom feels like since there was a time where the bird was once free, but now is trapped. In the first stanza the use of imagery revealed how freedom felt before the bird was caged.

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