38 pages • 1 hour read
Maya AngelouCaged Bird
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1983A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Birds
Birds are a natural symbol of freedom. For thousands of years, cultures have looked up to the sky and marveled at the freedom of birds. In modern times, birds served as inspirations for humanity’s efforts to fly, culminating in the airplane, which was modeled after birds’ bodies and wings. Birds are also a symbol of hope. Doves, for example, frequent Christian and Jewish imagery to represent holiness and sanctity. Birds fly high in the sky, presumably closer to heaven than humans.
The ability to fly anywhere whenever one wants is a popular image in music, books, and poems. Birds are a sign of freedom because they are not limited by place. Therefore, the image of a caged bird makes sense as a symbol for captivity. Caging a bird restricts its ability to use its wings and fly, thus completely taking away its freedom.
Singing
The singing in the poem applies to both birds and people. There is a long tradition of people who are in oppressive situations singing to cope with the daily struggles of their captivity. The songs of enslaved people, for example, were often songs of hope and often looked to the future. Those songs inspired future generations and influenced the development of many modern musical genres, including the blues, rock and roll, and hip-hop.
Prisoners working in chain gangs often sang to pass the time. People often find themselves singing to get through the day when they are in much less oppressive situations like a boring job.
However, singing is not done just to pass the time; it’s also a form of expression and power. Like any art, singing comes from within. It is a form of creation. While the caged bird cannot claim and name the sky like the free bird, it can create its own songs, giving it a taste of the power and freedom it desires.
It’s also worth noting that “Caged Bird” is a poem, which is a type of song. Angelou, specifically, was keen on performing her poetry, and most people consider her performances of her poetry superior to her actual written poetry. As mentioned earlier in the Poet Biography, after Angelou’s rapist was murdered, she became mute for five years when she was a teenager. Angelou found her voice again through the written word, which took her from a place of trauma and oppression to a place of power and expression.
The Natural World and the Cage
There are many contrasts in “Caged Bird,” but one of the strongest is the contrast between nature and the cage. This guide has already covered this to some degree, but it is worth mentioning again the stark difference between the free bird’s world and the caged bird’s world. The free bird’s world is open and colorful. The caged bird’s world is narrow and lifeless. Bars of rage replace the orange sun. Even the repetition of the words “free” and “cage” creates a distinct contrast between the two settings.
In this sense, the birds’ environments symbolize their emotional, mental, and physical states. The free bird exists in a natural environment; it’s where it is supposed to be. However, the caged bird’s environment is unnatural; the bird is not supposed to be caged, just like people are not meant to be caged. The only natural existence for life is in a free environment; anything else is oppression.
Related Titles
By Maya Angelou
