I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

In 1899 Paul Laurence Dunbar published a poem entitled "Sympathy". I don't think he imagined that a line from this poem would become inspiration for one of Maya Angelou's autobiographies. The story opens with Maya (called Marguerite by all but her brother Bailey) and Bailey are essentially left on the doorstep of their grandmother (Momma) in Stamps, Alabama. We then journey with Maya and Bailey through their lives until Maya turns 16.

Through the eyes of a young girl, we see how bad racism was (and, sadly, probably still is) in the south. We journey with Maya as she learns to face the racism head on, and while it clearly affects her, she is far from succumbing to it. Her experiences are unlike anything that I could possibly imagine and yet Angelou's poetic language pulls the reader in with a universal understanding of her plights. Although racism is not the only issue that face Marguerite as she journeys through life, it is definitely the major theme of the novel. The problems that Marguerite face are not just hers, they are of her race, and on a broader level, the troubles of all people. Discovering who you are, where you fit and, when you don't like where you fit, attacking the issue head on to better yourself.

The book is written in such a way that almost each chapter can be read individually. They appear to be short stories, though there are definite themes that tie each one together as they follow Maya's progression into adulthood. The racism that Maya faces as she grows into adulthood is the tie between Dunbar's poem and the story itself. In the poem, Dunbar laments that the song the caged bird sings is a "prayer from his heart's deep core". I think that this is what Angelou is trying to convey throughout this autobiography, and my guess is the four other autobiographies that follow. While the bird might be caged, it still has a voice. Even if that is all that the bird has, it still has a hope for the future, for a better life. That's what I really got out of this novel. No matter how bad things may seem, there is hope for better. We just can't let the cage we're in keep us there.

Moral of the Story: Don't give up. The cage can be broken and someday we'll fly free.