Analyzing Paul Laurence Dunbar's Poem Sympathy '

Don’t B Cooped Up! “I know what the caged bird feels, atlas!” (Dunbar). Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem “Sympathy” can be interpreted from a multitude of lens; whether seen from a more historical view or an emotional view, the poem conveys a very real and similar message. The poem plays off the idea of being “cooped up” in a cage and longing to escape its ‘cruel bars’ (Dunbar). When analyzing each of the three Professors’ interpretations, they all had a solid notion of what Dunbar was trying to express to his audience. Although, in my opinion, one of the three Professors really summarized the feelings behind the poem: Professor B. Professor B has a stronger interpretation of the text than Professors A and C. Professor A’s interpretation stems from a historical standpoint. He/she views the poem, as the struggles African-Americans, in the late 1800s to the
He/she didn’t hone in on specific details of Dunbar’s life, instead his/her interpretation of the text was that the poem “speaks to the universal frustration experienced by anyone feeling trapped or oppressed, a feeling common to anyone when our realities disappointingly run antithetical to our wishes”. Professor B sees the poem, as a way to express one’s self when they feel alone, abandoned, or even disappointed. He/she didn’t detain it to one person or type in particular, rather than reaching out to every, and any individual that can relate to the “thoughts and feelings of a fenced-in animal”(Professor B). He/she refers to the confines of one’s ordinary life, for instance, being trapped behind a desk could very well be similar to being cooped up in a cage. Unfortunately, Professor B mentions that the narrator of Dunbar’s poem expresses our desire to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, when in all actuality Dunbar’s poem appears to be expressing the need to experience all of life’s beauties. With great triumph though, there is always run for