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Essay: Metaphors
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Racism
People sometimes read stories and poems for entertainment, but they also read them because they can relate to them in some way. Racism affects many people's lives. They are stereotyped, there are hate crimes, and bullying because of racism. Both “The Wife’s Story” by Shirley Jackson and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou teach about the topic that racism destroys lives.
"The Wife's Story" by Shirley Jackson uses plot to teach the theme that racism destroys lives. On the fifth page of the story the author writes "It had no gun, like the ones from the man places do... I knew the man would kill our children if it could" (Le Guin 7). The main character assumed what he would kill his own kids just because of what he looked like. This shows how if you are judged by what you look like it can ruin your life. Then the author writes "The man looked round at us and yelled out loud, and brandished the branch it held. Then it broke and ran... we followed it" (Le Guin 7). The man was terrified for his life because he knew his wife would attack him just for what he looks like. Both
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of these quotes show how the man was judged/punished for what he looked like and not for who he was. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou uses figurative language to teach the theme that people still want freedom even if they don’t know what it's like.
Maya Angelou writes "The caged bird sings with a fearful trill/Of things unknown but longed for still" (Angelou 10-11). This quote shows how even though the bird was caged it still wanted to be free. The bird is a symbol of the people being treated wrong because of racism. Then the author writes "But a Caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams/His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream/His wings are clipped and his feet are tied/ So he opens his throat to sing" (Angelou 19-22). The bird stands on a grave of dreams because he is trapped and he can't get free. The first quote shows how everyone still wants freedom even if they have never had it before, but the second quote shows how being trapped destroys your
dreams. It is important to read books so that you can relate to them and make them enjoyable. It is good to learn the themes that both of these works are trying to teach the reader because they can help you in life to think of others. For example, if someone is being racist to another person you can step in and explain to him or her about how they could be affecting the kid's life. In conclusion, both of these works teach the topic of racism and how it can destroy lives.
Poems and other readings with strong racial undertones such as Strange Fruit allow me to reflect back on the role race plays in my life as a black young woman and analysis if much has changed in terms of racism in the American society today.
Oppression in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
As presented in many fictional text such as Kindred, Wild Seed and The Appropropriation of a Culture “control” or “power” can be deemed the underlying influence to the concept of oppression and unjust treatment of others due to their race or social status. These fictional texts graphically detail the experiences of African Americans and how they came together as a community when facing the inevitable both in slavery and during the Jim Crow era. There are many other texts that describe the improper regulation of control and what can happen when one race or group has too much. One novel entitled Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of a wife who was sentenced to prison after shooting her husband in self-defense after he had contracted rabies and turned violent. Another novel entitled Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor details racism in America during the Great Depression (Goodreads) Despite the slavery era and modern day being two different periods of time, there are still some unresolved issues and situations in which revolve around the idea of racism and oppression. However, unlike back in the day African Americans are able to learn about their heritage and ancestors as well as receive an education so that they may acquired the knowledge necessary to diminish the destruction caused by oppression and dilute the poisonous effects of
Walker, Pierre A. Racial protest, identity, words, and form in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Vol. 22. West Chester: Collage Literature, n.d. Literary Reference Center. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
Maya Angelou’s excerpt from her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” reveals the challenges facing a young black girl in the south. The prologue of the book tells of a young Angelou in church trying to recite a poem she has forgotten. She describes the dress her grandmother has made her and imagines a day where she wakes up out of her black nightmare. Angelou was raised in a time where segregation and racism were prevalent in society. She uses repetition, diction, and themes to explore the struggle of a black girl while growing up. Angelou produces a feeling of compassion and poignancy within the reader by revealing racial stereotypes, appearance-related insecurities, and negative connotations associated with being a black girl. By doing this she forces the
‘Caged Bird’ is a poem written by Maya Angelou which considers the conditions of the ‘free bird’ and the ‘caged bird’. Actually this contrast between the birds enables her to express her own emotions about freedom and isolation. The poem is quite symbolic so there are various hidden messages she tries to convey about her feelings mostly indirectly.
In the poem there are two birds, one is caged and is forced to watch the other free bird. “But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.” The caged bird in Maya Angelou’s poem is forced to watch the free bird from his cage. This caged bird can’t beat his wings, fly, or move, he can only sing a song that is a cry for help. The caged bird can’t do much about his situation, he is trapped and disabled. “ But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.” the caged bird cannot fly anymore because his wings are clipped. Even though he can’t fly the bird still opens his throat to sing. The caged bird in “ Caged Bird” is not as free as the bird in “Sympathy” because if this bid is free he can fly and do whatever he wants. But the bird in Maya’s poem cannot, he isn’t truly free, there is more hope for the other
What I liked most about this book was the reality it revealed. It showed how brutal and cruel the society was. This book made me realize that racism is deeply embedded in the life and history of the nation, and it still exists in today’s society.
The novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings goes through the childhood of Maya Angelou as she faces the difficult realities of the early South. This novel does not do a very good job at portraying the hardships of the blacks because she
Angelou depicts the contrast between the free bird and caged bird’s abilities towards the end of her poem when she says “the free bird...nightmare scream” (23-28). Here she discusses how the free bird, because of its privileges, has the ability to think of another breeze and fly as it pleases, while the caged bird is obligated to watch with no chance of escape. Angelou’s reference to slavery as the cage that binds African Americans from freedom sets a tone of urgency for them to become active in the fight for freedom. She depicts reality from another perspective in order to help break the chains that bind their unhappiness and set them
Freedom is a powerful thing, enough so to completely change a person, until you can no longer recognize the oppressed being they were before. In the poems, “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, and “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, the portrayals of a free and caged bird exhibit stark contrast, which shows the truth of this statement. The traits seen in each bird are often seen in people too. In Rosa Parks’ autobiography, “My Story,” she displays several distinctive characteristics of each bird. Before taking her stand against oppression, Rosa Parks would have identified best with the caged bird; oppressed, tired, beaten down, and helpless. However, with her courage and motivation, Parks unlocked her metaphorical cage and became an inspiration to others who wished to be free- the perfect picture of a free bird.
I chose these three poems because the subject matter appealed to me and I believe that the poems convey their meaning very effectively. Upon researching the poems, I discovered that Caged Bird was in fact inspired by Sympathy, which accounts for the similarities in language and imagery, as outlined below. All three poems deal with the subject of freedom using the imagery of birds; On Liberty and Slavery is narrated as a human plea for freedom, and makes reference to birds in that context, whereas Caged Bird and Sympathy both use the imagery of caged birds to explore the theme of loss of freedom. The symbolism of birds is used to depict freedom, as birds are essentially without constraints; in comparison to the limitations of humans, they have limitless possibilities. When a bird is caged, however, it loses that potential and is restricted not by its own limitations, but the limits set by another.
In the “Caged Bird” Angelou’s comparison to the caged bird was African-Americans in the society they were living in. She symbolized the bird with African-Americans experiences. In the second stanza the poem states “But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing”. This is comparison to African-Americans in their society. When African- Americans were enslaved they use to sing songs to uplift their spirits because that’s all they could do. They were physically bound and mentally brain-washed. The songs was there way of showing they still had fight left in them. In the fourth stanza it states “The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the sky his own”. This is saying the while African-Americans were enslaved and oppressed they watched Caucasians be free and do as they pleased. Although at the time African-Americans never experienced freedom they yearned for it. They knew it had to be better then what they were enduring. Racism is considered the cage around the caged bird, and it means not getting treated fairly with jobs, medical treatment, and even get
In ‘Caged Bird’ by Maya Angelou, the use of of diction, imagery, and syntax build the contrast between the free bird and the caged bird. These things represent the differences between the whites, the ‘free bird’, and the blacks, the ‘caged bird.’
Throughout I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, racism is a frequent obstacle that non-whites had to overcome. When Maya is young, she doesn’t recognize the racism and discrimination as well as her grandmother does. As Maya gets older, she begins to recognize and take notice to the racism and discrimination towards her and African Americans everywhere. Maya may not recognize the racism and discrimination very well at her young age, but it still affects her outlook on life the same way it would if she had recognized it. The racism and discrimination Maya faced throughout I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, affected her attitude, personality, and overall outlook on life in a positive way.