Maya Angelou Caged Bird Analysis

Throughout the era of inequality, many famous historians were part of the Civil Right Movement and became active in the fight for freedom. Amongst them stood Maya Angelou who wrote and expressed her feelings of the movement through her poetry. Around this time Angelou produced one of her most memorable and captivating pieces, “Caged Bird”. Angelou’s use of symbolism, juxtaposition, and imagery substantiate her argument of the fight for freedom and the cold distinction between those who posses it and those who do not.
Angelou’s use of symbolism confirms her argument that freedom is taken for granted by those who have it, when she says “A free bird leaps...bars of rage” in lines 1-11. As the one bird soars freely through the sky, another remains trapped and captive resembling the similarities during the time period in which Angelou lived. She accomplishes this by portraying the free bird as a white man and the caged bird as the African American community. The privileged man floats along, daring to claim the freedoms of life, oblivious to anything and others around him, while the African Americans are bound by the bars of slavery, aspiring to be free and achieve the same privileges. The

symbolism used throughout Angelou’s poem represents her argument that freedom should be universal by illustrating how whites had taken advantage of something common to them, while African Americans strived and came together to fight for their human rights.
The purpose of Angelou’s juxtaposition between the two distinct birds lies solemly within her argument of the rights of African Americans.

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

free.
Angelou’s biased tone is brought forth through her use of imagery. The words that surround the free bird in lines 1-7, such as leaps, sun, and sky, drive a positive and satisfying mindset, while others in lines 8-12, such as narrow, rage, and stalks surrounding the caged bird ignite a powerful emotion within the readers of the poem. She portrays the African American community as inferior to the white culture in order to enrage and convince them of the importance of their equality. Angelou’s purpose behind her vivid word choice was not only to show to her fellow African Americans how wonderful the freedom they deserved would feel, but to successfully motivate them to never give up on the dream of achieving it.
Angelou’s poems stirred the hearts of many and invoked their presence in the cause for equal rights. Her ability to do this comes forth through the use of symbolism when referring to African Americans as the caged bird yearning for freedom. Angelou’s use of juxtaposition of the caged and free bird generate a sense of reality in the African American community. Also, her use of imagery of the free bird elicits a sense of ambition in her audience to fight for what is portrayed as wonderful and majestic; their freedom. Angelou’s use of these stylistic devices legitimizes her argument that rights such as freedom and liberty are undermined by those who possess them and desired by those who ponder the dream of grasping such a distant thought.