Maya Angelou Oppression

Maya Angelou, an honorary poet and civil rights activist most known for being a prominent voice of African American culture, expresses the views of the oppressed in two different ways as society, her life, and culture changes. Growing up she had a troubled life, her parents’ divorce, being raped, dropping out of school, having a child, racism, and “losing” her voice ( CITATION ). All of these factors played a huge role in Angelou’s writing throughout her career. The variance in her views of the oppressed in correlation with her life with are best expressed in two of her very famous poems “Caged Bird” and “Still I Rise”. Although, these poems both are a voice for the oppressed, one serves as the voice of the oppressed verses those of the free and the other discusses overcoming the oppression.

Caged Bird was clearly written in 1969 during a time when Angelou was well into her career however, she was focused on the civil rights aspect of it and wanted to voice the feelings of the oppressed versus those of the free (CITATION).

Not only did she want to voice the voices of the oppressed but for women as well. Her outlook on freedom is deeper than just slavery, it denotes a personal meaning for her. When she was raped as a child by her mother’s boyfriend at the time, and decided to tell someone about it, the person she confided in killed her mother’s boyfriend. This essentially made her feel like she killed a man and she forced herself to become mute for 5 years of her life. She did this because she felt as though because she spoke she killed someone (CITATION). She became essentially the caged bird trapped within the horrible actions done to

her.
Also, around this time Malcolm X, a civil rights activist Angelou had hopes on working with was assassinated. He was assassinated inherently for standing up for his people and being the voice for them (CITATION). The assassination of Malcolm X shows Angelou’s opinion on how the voice of the people cannot be heard because factors such as racism hinder that.
Not long after Malcolm X’s assassination “I Know why a caged bird sings” Angelou’s autobiography was published. “Caged Bird” was a poem rooted from Angleou’s autobiography using birds to help depict an image of free people and those enslaved. She uses a winged bird as a representation of those free and able to say and do as they please, and a caged bird with clipped wings, and tied legs to represent those enslaved, controlled, and unable to do as they please. The overall message of this poem is to show how dehumanizing the effects of racism in and segregation on America are.
Still I Rise is written during what is said to be Angelou’s most productive period of her career (CITATION). During this time she had an autobiography on the market, became the first African American to be filmed and nominated for an award, and also appeared on television (CITATION). This high point of her career is a great play on words in correlation to the title of the poem. When all of the odds are against her and other people in African American culture they shouldn’t let it get to them but instead rise above it. During this aspect of her life you can clearly see that this poem is depicting how confident and proud she is about her success and won’t let anyone else hate take that away from her and she uses this to set example for other women, and African Americans who have easily become discouraged by the hateful things said and done upon them.
These two famous poems are both poems set during a time when the oppressed were unheard, and felt degraded and subjected to society. In “Caged Bird” a narrow caged is discussed in the second stanza depicting the image of caged bird being stuck in a small area with nowhere to go and simply having no freedom or freewill. In “Still I rise” a hut is referenced in the last stanza order to display the same image of the narrow cage as a place that keeps one subservient. These references to cages and huts and the wanting to escape them are how these poems easily express the want, need, and desire of African Americans to be heard.
Now, although these poems deliver the same messages things such as when they are tone, attitude, and literary devices show keen differences between them. As mentioned earlier the timing and life circumstances of Angelou play a major role in differences the contrast between the two can become way more in-depth. “Caged Bird” is written with a dark connotation so that the reader can actually feel what Maya is trying to say as opposed to “Still I Rise” in which is written with a more uplifting and confident connotation. For example, the dream in “Caged Bird” in stanza five expresses a dream as something that is dead to one who is subjected by the oppression of society. In opposition to the dream in the last stanza of “Still I Rise” in which the narrator is the becoming the dream. Different literary techniques in the both of these poems are used as well in order depict a clearer message. “Caged Bird is a poem based upon an extended metaphor and “Still I Rise” is based upon imagery and symbolism.
These differences and similarities along with the timing these poems were published help show Angelou’s attitude change from one period of time to another.. In the beginning of her career when she was paving a pathway for herself she had nothing to write about but what has happened to her, what held her back, and what is going on in society as expressed in “Caged Bird”. However, as time gradually went on and she was well into her career, and had more to show for it her writing started to become more confident and uplifting. The initial influence behind Angelou’s thoughts in these poems has always been how essential freedom is however the period of time in which she writes her poems affects her attitude drastically.