Maya angelou poems themes1/17/2024 Angelou illustrates the resilience of black people, beginning with her African ancestors. They are fighting to survive-in a physical sense as well as emotionally and spiritually. In “Africa,” the people resisting oppression are specifically African men and women. Resistance and the resilience of black peopleĪs in many of her other poems, Angelou demonstrates and celebrates the human will to survive. Slavery turned Africans into property, stripping them of their humanity and cultural identity as many were forced to leave their native land. Men and women were forced into slave labor and were considered chattel. Women were raped and bore slavemasters’ children, losing the right to govern their own bodies. When Europeans arrived in Africa, Africans were killed, enslaved, and forced to adopt new religious beliefs and ways of life. GradeSaver, 22 November 2023 Web.The poem describes the oppression of the African people through slavery. Next Section Quotes and Analysis Previous Section Glossary Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format GradeSaver "Alone (Maya Angelou poem) Themes". When the speaker addresses the listener directly for the first time near the poem’s conclusion, she is actually demonstrating the act of solidarity by emerging from her own inner monologue and confiding her thoughts and hopes for action to another person. While she never explicitly tells the listener what to do, her tone throughout the poem is wise and convincing and resembles the speech of a teacher or religious figure making an important statement. While the speaker speaks of the pain of isolation throughout the poem, the repetition of the key stanza also suggests that the speaker is calling for solidarity. The notion of solidarity is presented as a solution to the poem’s main theme of isolation. However, on a larger scale, human suffering represents the problems that arise in society-war, racism, sexism-when people do not listen to each other and work out their issues together. People suffer on an individual level when they are isolated. The speaker warns the listener that terrible things are happening and will continue to happen to the human race if people do not band together and find solutions to their collective problems. Lastly, the poem states explicitly near its conclusion that the human race as a whole is suffering. Even their children sing the blues, referencing a deep sadness and yearning for spiritual comfort. Wealthy millionaires have more money than they need. Later in the poem, the speaker also describes wealthy people and details how their money cannot buy them happiness. In the first stanza, the speaker is lonely and starved of human companionship. The poem makes several references to sadness and human suffering. The key stanza, “Alone, all alone/Nobody, but nobody/Can make it out here alone,” is repeated throughout the poem to emphasize the speaker’s message, contributing to the somber tone of the poem. The speaker uses a metaphor to describe her soul as needing a home, indicating that her soul is restless and lacking in some kind of social or spiritual nourishment that would make her feel the comfort of home. After reflecting deeply one night, the speaker comes to the conclusion that she feels disconnected from the world in some way and alludes to the pain this isolation brings. The title of the poem and the repetition of the key stanza represent the poem’s main theme of isolation.
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