The poem “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar describes the terrible experience of being a bird stuck in a cage. The poem is ultimately more about a simple bird being trapped in a cage, but the absence of freedom. Paul Dunbar was an African American poet who published this poem in 1899. The bird’s oppression represents the oppression of all African Americans during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The speaker uses the image of the bird to give the reader a better understanding of what it feels like to live without freedom. The poem “Sympathy” reflects, relates to, and has great relevance to many things occurring in our world today.
Racism is the terrible system that discriminates against people based on their on the color of their skin Many African Americans know how it feels to be not liked by peers, purposely left out, or not considered for a position strictly on their race. This is very relevant in today’s society whether its broadcasts on various news groups or viewed by other through social media. Although we know about the history of racism, some of us may not know what it is like to be told you cannot eat in a restaurant, could not vote or even use the same restroom strictly on your race. Even though the poem does not mention the word racism, we gather what it is like for black people who were denied their freedoms in society.
Paul Laurence Dunbar was an intelligent man who who wrote in both English and black vernacular. After reading a few of Paul Dunbar’s stories in “The American Tradition of Literature”, Dunbar’s poetry can be divided into two groups, dialect and literacy. The poem “Sympathy” is a perfect example of Dunbar’s literary poems. This story is a metaphor for how the author feels not only about his life, but how many African Americans felt about their own during this time period. He writes “I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars”. This statement shows that blacks often felt trapped inside of a cage, wishing that they could get out and be free. Many dreamed of the day they could enjoy life in other areas the same way whites could.
Paul Dunbar also writes in the poem “I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore”. Some people grow up in this world with the freedom to do or become anything they want by impositions upon that freedom. Others who have not experience many limitations to reaching their freedom, whether it be through their job, getting their voice heard, or bringing awareness to a specific cause. Some people grow up in a world where they are protected from even being among people experiencing certain limitations. There is word for this experience allowing for one to understand how the caged bird feels and why it sings. It is called empathy, which sounds similar to the title of the poem.
African Americans in today’s society have to work just as hard as the person next to them in order to succeed in life. For example, when former President Barack Obama was elected in 2009, a great multitude of Americans gave him so much ruckus because he was black. Americans throughout the United States of America held rallies and protest in attempts to get him removed from office because of his race. Some even held signs that stated “Go back to the Jungle Monkey” or even signs stating that people wanted him “lynched”. No one on this earth deserves to have things said of that magnitude towards them. This is why “Sympathy” and underlined meaning relates to the world today.
In conclusion, America as a whole was founded on racism and slavery, after all. After slavery ended we had Jim Crow which were laws that enforced racial segregation in Southern United states. It is very important for one to understand the overall impact of this time so that we will not go back to this terrible point in history. If we ever want to understand what oppression feels like, then there is no better place to start other than reading “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar.