How does Angelou use contrast between the free bird and the caged bird to highlight her

purpose in this poem?

INTRO:
Maya Angelou's poetry "Caged Bird" is a powerful poem in which the poet portrays the experiences of
two separate birds, one free and the other caged. The free bird soars along with the wind currents, as if the
sky is his personal property. The caged bird, on the other hand, is imprisoned and longs for the same
liberty the free bird has. Angelou vividly portrays the pitiful contrast between the birds in order to allude
to racial oppression, allowing it to become an important extended metaphor for the black community’s
history of suffering.

THESIS:
She accomplishes this by utilizing eloquent descriptions of the contrasting feelings of freedom and
captivity, a sorrowful tone, and a wide variety of intense words and phrases to express her profound,
painful emotions on this matter.

BODY:
TOPIC STATEMENT 1: The freedom of the open world is compared to the caged bird’s distressing
incarceration using powerful, juxtaposing language and kinaesthetic imagery in order to portray how
miserable the caged bird is in comparison to the free bird.
1. The contrast between lines such as “a free bird leaps” and “a bird that stalks down his narrow
cage” evokes pity because we see the true right of the bird, and how the caged bird hopes to
return to its natural habitat like the free bird — where it truly belongs. Moreover, words such as
“leap” and “sky” portrays how far the bird’s habitat extends, showing how there’s so much space
that it requires and deserves, while the caged bird is stuck in a restrictive environment with barely
any space at all (as highlighted using the words “narrow” and “tied”). This makes the caged bird’s
experiences more pitiful compared to the free bird.
2. Kinaesthetic imagery like “leaps”, “floats” and “dips'' showcases how the free bird intends to fly,
with unrestrained actions. The “wind” is boundless, so the fact that the free bird is being carried
with it shows that it can go anywhere it likes, and cannot be controlled or fastened, which is in
sharp contrast with the caged bird. The wilder action in the first 4 lines of the first stanza becomes
more fluid in the last two, intensifying the joyous emotion of being free. The flowy “l” alliteration
in these words used to describe the bird’s movements almost makes it seem as if the wind and the
bird are in sync with each other and are together a part of nature.
3. However, the fact that the caged bird does not get to experience the same freedom of movement
creates a sense of fear and inability to realize aspirations. In this manner, Angelou portrays the
damaging psychological effects of being oppressed and confined, as as the African Americans
once experienced as slaves.
TOPIC STATEMENT 2: The poet’s emotions on this matter are intensified through the use of vivid
images of the harshness and beauty of nature through powerful words to showcase the bliss and beauty of
the free bird’s lifestyle as opposed to the caged bird, whose opportunity to experience this was seized by
its captor.
1. For instance, the bird’s flight is compared to movement of water in a river in the line “floats
downstream, till the current ends” giving it an elegant and agile nature; a quality the cage bird
cannot exhibit. Rather, the caged bird is portrayed as harsh and irritated and angry in the phrases
“bars of rage”, “stalks down” and “opens his throat to sing”. The first phrase is a metaphor
showing that the bars have oppressed the bird to the point that the bird feels anger and deep
hatred for the human who has trapped it — so much so that its anger and rage is being mapped
onto the bars of the cage.
2. The fact that “wings are clipped” and “feet are tied” are very harsh, strong words which convey
the state of entrapment of the delicate bird. “stalking” is a very heavy, frustrated movement which
is contrasted against the smooth, fluid movements of the free bird. The fact that the bird needs to
“open its throat” shows how difficult this action is since it had been shunned for so long, making
it seem as these sorrowful experiences have left its voice cracked and gruff. This suggests that the
caged bird never had the opportunity to know and learn the sheer ecstasy and calm the free bird
feels.
3. The “fearful trill” is a quivering, twittering noise to showcase how the bird does not stop singing,
illustrating its sense of courage and determination to find a way to survive. It sings of “things
unknown”, showing that he is not allowed to know the world which is rightfully his; while the
free bird knows these things, the cage bird can only dream of it. Angelou stresses on this fact
deeply to epitomize how the caged bird is more concerned about its survival while the free bird
enjoys various luxuries.

TOPIC STATEMENT 3: Angelou gives the caged bird a chilling and desperate tone, and portrays its
unreachable dreams in extreme detail to underscore how hopeless the caged bird’s condition is and how
no matter how hard it tries, it can never be free of its nightmare.

1. In the fifth stanza, the phrase “grave of dreams” is a metaphor for the death of his ambitions. He
is not allowed to dream of liberty, and its dreams are now dead and lifeless to him, never to be
resurrected. The line “his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream” paints an extremely horrific
image, and foreshadows its future filled with misery and one day, a meaningless death, leaving an
indelible mark on every caged bird in existence. However, against all odds, this bird continues to
sing; the repetition of this stanza emphasizes how it yearns for freedom through its singing.
2. Words like “song”, “scream”, “sighing” and “tune” show how beautiful and moving the bird’s
artistic endeavors are, and heighten the bird’s fear that its cries for help will never be heard. The
caged bird’s song reaching far enough to the distant hill is a metaphor for how calls of justice are
always heard, but not always reciprocated.
3. As for the free bird, by naming the sky his own, the free bird states that there is no other being
that is obliged to share it with. This aligns with the preconceived notion that some groups of
people are born with rights over others, allowing them to be given more than they deserve (as
opposed to minorities). This creates an atmosphere of cruel injustice, bringing Angelou’s
powerful message about black struggles to light.
 CONCLUSION :
The poet uses the free bird’s bright imagery and the chilling, pitiful narrative of the caged bird as a
metaphor to carry forward her message about the plight of Black American people. By comparing the
mistreatment of oppressed communities to the emotional pain of a caged bird, the metaphor creates a
jarring contrast and captures the immense agony and cruelty of oppression.