Evaluate “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” in relation to its depiction of social issues in the world.

 

The poem “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by the Nobel laureate American poetess Maya Angelou does not overtly depict social issues. However, the central metaphors used by Angelou – a caged bird and a free bird - can be read as her reading of race, gender, political and religious relations between the powerful and the powerless wherever they may be across the globe.

     At a surface level, the poem can be read as a narrative of a day of a bird in a cage and that of a “free” bird. At this point one may be forgiven for raising the question whether anyone was actually free. Turning back to the caged bird, its wings are clipped and the feet are shackled – thus, there is no hope for the bird of freedom. Interestingly, there is not much reference to the man or the woman that had locked up the bird in the cage. Looking at the cage bird, one evaluates one’s life in comparison to another’s life. Had the caged bird not seen the free bird enjoying its life, it probably would not have felt the way it did:

A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange sun’s rays
And dares to claim the sky.

However, it saw the free bird and the sight filled the caged bird with an impotent rage against its captivity. It expressed its rage against its captivity by stalking around the cage:

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage   

 

when that did not help, it started to sing “with a fearful trill” of the things it had never experienced due its captivity.   

          As pointed out in the introduction, though the poem does not speak directly about social issues, the central metaphors used by Angelou – a caged bird and a free bird - can be read as her reading of race, gender, political and religious relations between the powerful and the powerless. In that sense, the absent man, the cage, the caged bird, the sky and the free bird can be read as metaphorical representations of all oppressive manmade socio-political institutions such as government, religious institutions, education, and mass media (man); customs, norms, values, rules and regulations (cage), the oppressed man (the caged bird), a society free of oppressive socio-political institutions (sky), a person unoppressed by rules and regulations, etc. (free bird). The caged bird’s song stand for a cry against oppression as well as rallying call for the fellow oppressed. It also expresses the cage bird’s anger at being oppressed.

           Looking at the term “bars of rage”, such bars can be put up not only by the absent man but also by the bird (the oppressed). According to social theorists such as Althusar, people internalize norms and values as well as rules and regulations of a given society due to fear and shame. Consequently, they themselves restrict their own freedom. However, being forced to control their own freedom make them angry. William Blake in his famous poem “London” calls this process formation of “mind-forged manacles”. The bars imposed by both one’s society as well as one’s own mind had destroyed all the dreams the “caged bird” had and filled it with horror. Its pain is captured by the poetess succinctly in the penultimate stanza thus:      

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing

 

       The plight of the caged bird is not never-ending, the poetess warns in the final stanza. According to Angelou, the song of the oppressed was heard by those who dwell “on the distant hill”. Hills being places associated with rebellion, this could be read as a reference to future rebellions in response to oppression. Hence, the poem ends in a hopeful tone implying a better future for the oppressed.   

 

War is Kind – Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism.

Wars originate in the human mind – therefore, origins of all wars are internal; however, later they lead to external conflicts. Wars also form vicious cycles; one war invariably triggers several others.

The title “War is Kind” is paradoxical – people often resort to war for solutions to their problems. It is a play on the propaganda used by warring parties to justify war and to recruit young men as soldiers who would later become cannon fodder. Parties who recruit soldiers make war sound as the best and the most humane answer to the problem at hand.

                  Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind

Because your lover threw wild hands towards the sky

And the affrighted steed ran on alone[y1] 

Do not weep

War is kind [y2] 

The poem contains 5 stanzas which address a maiden, a babe, and a mother – the indirect victims of war. All the stanzas except the 3^rd have five lines each. The lines vary in length. There is no rhyme for there is no rhyme or reason, as they say, in something that is as destructive as war.

The first stanza is about a death of a cavalryman. A cavalryman usually comes from the upper strata of society. Therefore, the maiden who mourns his passing would also be from the same class. Hence, the poet is stating that victims of war covered all layers of society.

The imperative that appears in the first line “Do not weep … war is kind” is repeated 5 times with slight variations. The poet creates a visual image of a cavalryman who is throwing up his hands wildly towards the sky as if he were experiencing an overload of joy or sadness. However, it would have been the impact of a bullet to his heart or a similar serious injury that would have loosened his grip on the reins of his steed/horse and made him lose his seat. The poet does not tell that the soldier had been injured and dropped dead. The techniques used here are cinematic montage and euphemism. The cavalryman drops dead and the frightened horse runs on without the rider. War is unkind not only to the soldier but also to his horse and the maiden waiting for him at home.    

Hoarse, booming drums [y3] of the regiment

Little[y4]  souls who thirst for fight

These men were born [y5] to drill and die

The unexplained[y6]  glory flies above[y7]  them

Great is the battle god, great[y8]  and his kingdom

 

The drums have been playing for a long time; therefore, they are hoarse. The drums are personified. Drums are the most primitive form of musical instruments as well as one of the most ancient means of communication. Its effectiveness lies in its ability to appeal to ones emotions instead of reason. Here, the drums are calling young men to come out of wherever they were and join the regiments. What could be the message the drums had been delivering – come and join the battle, of course. They are war-drums. “Little souls” who crave battles to gain, strengthen, or maintain their power use war as a means to attain these objectives. The term “Little souls” is used as an antonym for “Great souls” who oppose war. The Little Souls justify their warmongering that causes death of the soldier by saying that “These men were born to drill and die.” The repetition of /d/ -alliteration – reminds the sound of guns being fired. This line is repeated in the penultimate stanza, probably as a sign of unchanging attitudes of those in positions of power. They recruit young men assuring them of glory: Dulce et decorum pro patria more. But the glory flies above them to feather the nests of those in power. The poet uses the word “great” twice with reference to the god of battle. The second “great” in retrospect sounds more of an insult. The run on line links the second stanza to the third while creating a paradox. The kingdom of the god of battle is actually a battle field covered with dead bodies.  

A field where a thousand corpses lie.

Do not weep babe, for war is kind

Because your father[y9]  tumbled[y10]  in the yellow[y11]  trenches[y12] 

Raged[y13]  at his breast, gulped and died.

Do not weep

War is kind.

 

On this battlefield one is presented with a picture of a baby surrounded by the dead. With the use of the word “tumbled” the poet creates a picture of two people at play. The trenches are yellow. What had made them yellow? Was it napalm? Was he raging at his breath because of his anger or because of the difficulty in breathing? 

Swift blazing flag of the regiment

Eagle[y14]  with crest of red and gold

These men were born to drill and die 

Point for them the virtue of slaughter [y15] 

Make plain to them the excellence of killing [y16] 

 

 

One must always keep the flag and the eagle upright. The number of soldiers who die in the service of the country is immaterial for those in power as long as the eagle – the symbol of power – is standing. Young men from working class backgrounds join armed forces – some because of propaganda and others because they don’t have any other jobs. Those in power treat them like worker bees who are destined to die in the service. The powerful call on the Ideological State Apparatus to brainwash young people into joining the armed forces. 

 

And a field where a thousand corpses[y17]  lie

Mother[y18]  whose heart hung humble as a button

On the bright splendid shroud [y19] of your son

Do not weep

War is kind

In the last stanza, the reader is presented with the horrifying picture of a mother holding on to a dead son. Her heart is pinned to his shroud “as a button” and would be buried with the body. It is the only medal the soldier is going to get. The sighing of the grief-stricken mother is signalled by the repetition of /h/ in “heart hung humble”.  The use of modifiers “bright splendid” to describe the shroud his body is going to get covered creates a powerful paradox.

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 [y1]Euphemism

 [y2]These lines form an ironic refrain

 [y3]Personification

 [y4]But in general they are often called heroes – larger than life characters – role models

 [y5]Is that the sum total of their existence? This line is repeated verbatim later on  

 [y6]“Dulcet et decorum pro patria more”? 

 [y7]So the glory is not theirs?

 [y8]Why GREAT twice

 [y9]Generations

 [y10]Like in a game.

 [y11]Colour of sickness and cowardice, chemicals used in battles?  

 [y12]WWI

 [y13]About what?

 [y14]Roman eagle?

 [y15]paradox

 [y16]paradox

 [y17]the young men are reduce to this

 [y18]it’s women who are left to mourn the dead men – this lead to a lot of social problems. In SL the male female ratio at marriageable rate among the Sinhalese is 1:13

 [y19]paradox