Analysis of the poem, Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

Analysis of the poem, Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

In our contemporary society, people depict a lot of strength in the face of terrible challenges. The poem, Still I Rise, is a significant example of poems that address issues faced in our current society. The author presents a black woman who is so much ready to air her grievances and the claims of other living blacks and her ancestors. The author directs the message to the white oppressors who have mistreated Blacks for decades. The persona is bitter and confident throughout the poem. She confidently says that all that the oppressors do to her do both matters, but she is glad that none of them can take away all the strength she posses. She faces her oppressors with a lot of power and determination. All the incidents narrated in this poem reflect on personal experiences. This paper addresses the theme of oppression and suffering, as depicted in this poem.

Angelou remarks upon American forms of slavery and the constant pain imposed on the blacks. Both black men and women can feel the impact of enslavement from whites. They are exposed to oppression and suffering, for they have no say in the White-dominated societies. These acts of pain are evident in most lines in the poem. “You may write me down in history / With your bitter, twisted lies…”(1-2). From these lines, it is clear that Americans have set a history of shame for being heartless or inhuman when interacting with the blacks.  The acts of whites in this context are an awful example of racism evident among the whites. From the persona, it is clear that the whites aim at shooting her with their words and cutting her with their eyes. Slavery is an excellent source of oppression and suffering in this poem. The author mocks the society she lives in for being racial, sexiest, and discriminative. She yearns for a better community free from oppression and suffering. She feels that she has the strength to fight all the Imposed harmful practices. .

Physical oppression is evident in this poem. In the third line, the persona reveals that blacks face physical abuse in the hands of the whites. She says, “You may trod me in the very dirt/But still, like dust, I’ll rise” (3-4). From this metaphor, it is clear that whites do not respect blacks. Treading one in the dirt is a sign of expressing significant disrespect and brutality to someone. In the first line, the persona reveals the violence and disrespect that the whites accord the black community. However, she displays her enormous strength in the second line quoted above. She says, but still, like dust, I will rise. The soil in this context symbolizes something negative. From the poem, the whites view blacks as their inferiors. The persona uses this word to show how inferior being can reveal strength and positivity in activities. Blacks are resilient and robust, as the speaker says. From these claims, I can conclude that blacks are not easy to control, for they can cause trouble to all people trying to suppress or mistreat them.

Additionally, the persona depicts more instances of physical abuse in stanza six. The persona creatively uses metaphors to reveal different forms of violence that the whites embrace in the American institution of slavery. The speaker confidently says, “You may shot me with your word” (21). This form of metaphor reveals that the oppressors embraced violence of gun shooting. She uses this metaphor to show the pain induced by her oppressors’ hateful language. She confesses that this language will never pierce her. The second metaphor she uses to show additional form of violence is, “You may cut me with your eyes” (22). This metaphor implies the cutting with a knife. The oppressor’s look is so cruel such that it hurts the speaker. This brutal look cuts her like a knife.  The third metaphor is,” You may kill me with your hatefulness”(23). From this quote, the persona claims that the hatefulness of the oppressor could kill her literally. The oppressor has a strong feeling of hatred towards the oppressor such that it kills her spirit. She reveals her strength by claiming that she would still rise above this pain.  For sure, the oppressor embraces diverse forms of violence that kill different parts of the black woman or the voice speaking in this poem.

Moreover, Angelou uses various techniques to display the hostility of the oppressors in this poem. She embraces rhetorical questions like, “Did you want the see me broken?” (16). The use of this question implies that oppressors are hostile towards the speaker. It is meant to critic the activities of the oppressors. He uses other rhetorical questions. Does my sassiness upset you?” (5) to taunt this racial and oppressive society more. In the fourth stanza, the persona delineates the expectations of the community or her oppressors. From the description provided, the organization expects her to break down, fall off her shoulders, and lower her eyes. This stanza summarizes the hostile acts of the whites to the blacks. The readers can see how abusive this society is and how blacks face harassment.

The oppressive nature of the society that the persona lives in is evident in stanza three. The persona compared herself with different objects of life that have a deeper meaning in this society. First, she compares herself to the black ocean, where she claims that she can bear the tide (Arthami 5). In a different stanza, she compares herself to the moons and the suns. She mentions how calm the waves are. In this case, tides refers to the obstacles faced in this oppressive society. The mention of moons, suns, and the black ocean reflects on the speaker’s resilient nature and adherence. No matter the obstacles she faces in this society, she heals quickly, and the tides do not strike her just like what happens in oceans. The speaker implies that the blacks are healthy, or they have all the power to endure what they go through from the oppressive nature of the whites.

The use of the phrase, I rise in the poem is a sign that the persona is going through hell. This phrase is used several times in this poem and more so in the last stanza (Raharta & Waode 24). The primary thing that crosses our mind is the question, where does the persona rise from? This particular question could be answered from various stanzas. The persona says that she will arise from the history of shame, night fear, and other forms of oppression. She is ready to endure the pain rooted in society. Therefore, this statement is enough to prove that there are forms of suffering that the persona prepares to overcome. She is rising from the oppressive nature of whites to a brighter future.

In conclusion, the theme of oppression and suffering as depicted in this poem. Angelou remarks upon American forms of slavery and the constant pain imposed on the blacks. She describes various instances of physical oppression. Through the persona, Angelou depicts more cases of physical abuse in stanza six, where she creatively uses metaphors to reveal different forms of violence that the whites embrace in the American institution of slavery. Again, Angelou uses various techniques like rhetorical questions to display the hostility of the oppressors in this poem. This oppressive nature of the society that the persona lives in is still evident in stanza three. The persona compared herself with different objects of life that have a deeper meaning in this society. She compares her strength to that of the black ocean. She depicts her confidence, courage, and power by criticizing the brutal acts of the whites to the black race. Through the use of diverse styles in this poem, Angelou develops the theme of oppression and suffering.

Work cited

Angelou, Maya. “Still I Rise by Maya Angelou.” Youtube. Disponível em:< https://www. Youtube. Com/watch (2018).

Arthami, Cyrillia Prima. “The African American life, as reflected in Maya Angelou’s Still, I rise and caged bird poems.” English Language Education Study Program, Department of Language and Art Education, Faculty of Teacher Training Education. Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta (2017).

Raharta, Akhbar Pradana, and Waode Hamsia. “An Analysis of Metaphor in Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird” and “Still I Rise” Poems.” Tell: Teaching of English Language and Literature Journal 4.1 (2015): 23-34.