We are More Alike than Unalike： The Healing Power in Maya Angelou’s Poems

周云姣

Compared to the series of autobiographical fictions， especially I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings， which have won her the international reputation， the poetic works by Maya Angelou have appeared to be less concerned by literary critics. As a remarkable southern American black female writer who profoundly addresses her existential question under the circumstances of racial segregation and gender inequality by telling her personal stories to the world in her autobiographies， Maya Angelou also creates a good amount of brilliant poems which reflect her unique insight into the complicated problems of race， gender and class in a poetic form. Different from the disappointment that lingers over the slave narrative writers who focus so much on the sufferance that the slaves painfully experience and the tricky and unreachable freedom that the slaves desperately pursue， Maya Angelous poems are distinctive because， on the one hand， recognizes the great difficulty in achieving the goal of equality and freedom， on the other hand， never gives up the hope and faith in advocating people to believe the possibility in overcoming obstacles to realize the ultimate dream. In this paper， through analyzing several of her poems which deal with the racial and gender problems， I wish to affirm her positive attitude toward these issues and point out her overarching theme， that is， in her own words， “We are alike， my friends， / than we are unalike” （Angelou 5）.

In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings， Angelou narrates her girlhood experience from three to seventeen during which she frequently dislocates among Missouri， Arkansas， and California. The life with her grandmother Annie Henderson in Stamps， Arkansas where the racial segregation is strictly executed brings Angelou close enough to observe， to feel， and to think about living as a black person in America at the time when crossing the geographical boundary between two races is terrifying to the black. Under her grandmothers principle of getting on with the white， Angelou is supposed to accept the concept that “…whitefolks could be talked to at all without risking ones life. And certainly they could not be spoken to insolently” （46）； however， deeply feeling the implicit insult and the humiliation within this particular strategy， Angelou eagers for another life in which the equality and freedom prevail. In the poem， “Caged Bird”， her independent thought about racial discrimination and the hope for the universal equality have been fully demonstrated. Although in this poem Angelou pinpoints the distinctions between the life of the white and of the black and emphasizes the tremendous pain the black people taste and struggle， rather than indulge herself in simply disclosing the inequality or expressing a sense of hopelessness and desperation， she ingeniously conceals the implied message， that is， there is always likeness of the people under the unlikeness， the possibility of communication under the apparent conflicts.

In “Caged Bird”， Angelou creates two typical metaphors， the free bird as the white and the caged bird as the black. The life of the white and the black are woven in features of these two metaphorical images respectively. In the first two stanzas， she compares the free bird that flies highly in the sky with the trapped bird that is prisoned in a cage to form a strong contrast. While “[the] free bird leaps / on the back of the wind / And floats downstream … and dares to claim the sky”， the trapped bird “…that stalks / down his narrow cage / can seldom see through / his bars of rage / his wings are clipped and / his feet are tied” （16）. While confronting with the impasse， the bird that is expelled from the sky and deprived of his freedom “…opens his throat to sing”. The singing voice becomes another way for the trapped bird to declare his indomitable spirit and his freedom. The third stanza is especially created for the cages birds singing in which Angelou writes “The caged bird sings / with a fearful thrill / of things unknown / but longed for still / and his tune is heard / on the distant hill / for the caged bird / sings of freedom” （16-17）. The same content is later repeated in the last stanza again； the repetition within such a tiny and exquisite poem emphasizes the important information that the poet intends to convey through these words. When the unknown things that the caged bird sings with an excited voice is revealed eventually as freedom， the poet affirms that his voice is successfully heard even on the distant hill. In addition， although the sufferance of the imprisonment leads the caged bird to fight fiercely against his tragic destiny with singing， what he actually longs for is the stillness which could be peace in this case. Therefore， through these two metaphors， Angelou demonstrates the similarity and the likeness between two hostile races （the same creature in different living conditions）； she also reveals the positive attitude toward the resilience of the black people and the possibility of communication between the white and the black.

Angelou indicates her clear standpoint in regard to the racial discrimination through previous poems. Within the black community， her female identity adds another layer of meaning to her understanding of the equality and freedom. As a black female， she inevitably suffers double oppressions from both race and gender； while being a black， her existence is consistently under the threaten of the white supremacy， being a female， she is challenged by a more engrained notion in human history， the patriarchy. In her famous poems “Still I Rise”， as she excellently does in the former poems in relation to racial issues， Angelou inspires her readers with her optimism when facing this arduous challenge.

In “Still I Rise”， Angelou as a black female warrior boldly resists all inequality and oppression that are unjustifiably forced on the black female and eulogizes womens competence to rise as the omnipresent dirt and air. These two images that the poet selects are profound and meaningful； they are ordinary but extraordinary because even nobody pays particular attention about the dirt that he carelessly steps on and the air he naturally breathes in， we as human being in fact depend on these common elements to live and we cannot lose either of them. Thus， comparing black female to the “dirt” and “air”， their rising will be necessary and unquestionable. The poet is aware of the dangerous environment she is in： “You may write me down in history / With your bitter， twisted lies， / You may tread me in the very dirt”， but through indomitably rising as the dirt， she is harmless from these relentless attack. Merging with the surrounding in which her enemy intends to defeat her， the black female transforms the disadvantage into advantage and acquires the power from adversity to achieve her own triumph. Angelou questions her enemies in sarcastic tone several times about the stereotypical images that are related to the black females； revealing that she would not fit for any of those features， the poet tactfully disappoints her enemies and further revels her strong feminist characteristics： “Did you want to see me broken？ / Bowed head and lowered eyes？ … Does my haughtiness offend you？ / Don't you take it awful hard/ ‘Cause I laugh like Ive got gold mines / Diggin in my own back yard”. The ending of the poem which is composed of three times repetitions of the key theme， “I rise”， conveys Angelous firm belief and the optimistic attitude that the black female will finally rise from the patriarchy， from the trauma they endure all through the history.

"Throughout her writings， Angelou explored the concepts of personal identity and resilience through the multifaceted lens of race， sex， family， communication and the collective past. As a whole， her work offered a clear-eyed examination of the ways in which the socially marginalising forces of racism and sexism played out at the level of the individual"， says New York Times on her death on May 28， 2014. By pointing out these problems and guiding people toward the equality and freedom， Angelou conveys her positive attitude in coping with these issues and reiterates the alike essence among people in her poems “Human Family” and “A Brave and Startling Truth”.

In “Human Family”， Angelou particularly delineates the distinction among people with different skin colors and even between the mirror twins and the intimate lovers， but what she really intends to emphasize is the message that is revealed at the end of the poem： “We are more alike， my friends， than we are unalike” （5）. Despite the truth that there is no two identical leaves or people in the world， we bear the similarities and the likeness to each other which enables us to communicate， to understand， to get along with others. “A Brave and Startling Truth” is composed by Angelou in 1995 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the UN. This poem， according to Angelou， “dedicated to the hope for peace， which lies， sometimes hidden， in every heart”. Throughout the poem， she conveys the message to all human beings who live “on a small and lonely planet/ traveling through causal space” without differentiating one from the other. Although “the brave and startling truth” is not disclosed in these lines， there is a strong sense of encouragement that we， the people， shall one day come to it， to the day of peacemaking， to realize the dual nature of the human， to ultimately become the true wonders of the world. Angelou affirms the great possibility of the arrival of such a day through the consistent repetition of the single line， “When we come to it”.

Angelou says in Still I Rise， “All of my work is meant to say， ‘You may encounter many defeats but you must not be defeated. In fact， the encountering may be the very experience which creates the vitality and the power to endure” （30）. What readers feel from her poems， instead of the desperate reflection of the human nature or the ubiquitous pessimism on a better future， is the power of healing that brings them out of the impasse， provides them a necessary path that leads them to equality and freedom.

Works Cited：

[1]"A Brave and Startling Truth by Maya Angelou." UN Chronicle 32.3 （1995）： 6. ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2017.

[2]Angelou， Maya， Diego Rivera， and Linda Sunshine. Still I Rise. Random House， New York， 2001.

[3]---， Maya. I Shall Not Be Moved. Bantam Books， New York， N.Y， 1991.

[4]---， Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House， New York， 1970.

[5]---， Maya. Shaker， Why Don't You Sing？ Random House， New York， 1983.