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In McTeague, Norris applied the caged bird motif to illustrate the protagonist's chained existence that was at the mercy of naturalistic forces. As the canary is moved from place to place, so is the protagonist forced to move from one experience to another until he dies. It symbolizes the protagonist's life and death experiences. When McTeague finally dies near the end as he is handcuffed with a corpse, we see the canary also breathing her last: "McTeague remained stupidly looking around him, now at the distant horizon, now at the ground, now at the half-dead canary chittering feebly in its little gilt prison." (Chapter 22)
In Three Lives by Gertrude Stein, we have three important characters Lena, Anna and Melanctha whose lives are succinctly discussed. In this novel, it is Anna's character that can be closely associated with a caged bird....
She is a German immigrant who works ceaselessly with moral uprightness and a sense of right and wrong which is so deeply embedded in her that she cannot possibly enjoy her life. She views everything slightly out of the ordinary with disdain and suspicion and is a true caged bird. The word Good in her description as the good Anna was used sarcastically to highlight the homosexual desires that she harbored and the good image she was forced to project to the world. Like a caged bird she "led an arduous and troubled life" (11). Her repressive sexuality wanted release and "Mrs. Lehntman was the only romance Anna ever knew" (52). Anna was however supposed to be good since she lived in a patriarchic society and couldn't get the freedom she needed to act on her wild impulses. And thus Anna treated with disdain everyone who enjoyed life the way she wanted to…
This attempt at banning this book cannot be seen as anything but another example of prejudice and racism, this time against a woman who is attempting to share her life and warn other young girls at the same time. Probably one of the most eye-opening parts of the book is when Angelou acknowledges that for decades, blacks in the South acquiesced to whites simply to survive, and they taught these
Maya Angelou has several points in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Her primary point involves both the strength and the beauty in inherent to the human spirit. Despite all adversity, her book and life story stresses, greatness can still be accomplished. It is impossible to read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings without a sense of what the girl in the book would become; not only does
San Francisco is a place of greater opportunity than anywhere in the South offered her; there are fewer freedoms than she discovered in Mexico or in the junkyard, perhaps, but these restrictions are attendant on the opportunities afforded her. Angelou's ability to imagine those opportunities carried on the sea breeze or just over the crest of each successive hill of the San Francisco marks her successful journey in the
Strength of the Human Spirit know why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiography by Maya Angelou. It is the first book of the five volumes of the author's autobiography covering her life from the early 1930s up till 1970. This particular volume "I know why the Caged Bird Sings" is one of the most popular of the five volumes as it talks about her initial years as a
Marriage Literary texts reflect the common beliefs and thoughts prevalent in the society. They are a mirror that acquaints the society with its prejudices, obsessions, its passions, its strengths and its weaknesses. Literature and literary texts are used by authors to help reform society and advise people on what they ought to change to flourish as a whole. The two texts that are being compared for this project are 'The Story
Social Inequality in Trifles Literary works of fiction are common modes of presenting social issues. For instance, Susan Glaspell's play, Trifles, examines gender issues in society, presenting a story of a woman who killed her husband as a result of her decision to end the mental and physical abuse she suffered at his hand. Through the symbolic use of physical elements, such as the canary and the cage, the quilt, and