I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a poem that represents many ideas, themes, and thoughts. This poem states that there are two birds, one trapped in a cage, and the other in free and flying in the sky. The trapped bird is an African American man or woman, while the free bird is a white man or woman. The poem is portraying the relationship between an African American person and a Caucasian person. Maya Angelou is explaining the feelings of racial discrimination, segregation, and domination.
The poem describes how she was the bird that was trapped and tied up and unable to reach freedom. The caged bird can be interpreted as the black race being held back from freedom by their skin colour. The fat worms and breeze in the poem symbolize hope and opportunity. In the poem it is constantly repeated that "his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing", this is implying that even though this bird is trapped it still has hope. The bird will continue to persevere and not give up. This poem has several themes, such as discrimination, racism, and perseverance.