Dunbar’S_Life_Revealed_in_His_Poem_“Sympathy”

In the poem “Sympathy”, Paul Laurence Dunbar expresses his frustrations at the limitations that his race, culture, and society put on his talent and aspirations through metaphors and word choice. “Sympathy” is a poem not only about a caged bird but about Dunbar’s life in general. Dunbar desires freedom and writes as if no living person could ever dwell peacefully in captivity. The bird is a symbolic representation of Dunbar’s own grievances and his own longing to be able to experience the true beauty of the world around him. It also shows, according to the poet’s background, the trials and struggles he endured. Dunbar’s poem reflects in a tragic way, the horrors of captivity in his life. Dunbar’s talent and frustrations can be seen from the beginning of his life. “He was born in the year 1872 to Matilda and Joshua Dunbar” (UDRI) in Ohio. Dunbar’s parents were both former slaves but his father escaped from slavery His father left at the age of two leaving his mother to work in Dayton as a washerwoman. Dunbar’s mother encouraged him to read and write poetry. At the young age of 6, Dunbar had already begun reciting and reading. Dunbar attended Dayton Central High as the only African American in his class. He found it difficult to find employment because of his race so he remained focused on school. Dunbar was involved in the debating society, editor of the school paper, and president of the school’s literary society. Dunbar finally received a job as an elevator operator in 1892 (UDRI) where he worked while writing the poem “Sympathy”. Throughout his life, Dunbar dealt with rejection because of his skin color but praise over his writings. Sterling Brown commands Dunbar as “a highly gifted man” (Gabbing 227) but then refers to him as “the Negro peasants as a clown” (Gabbing 227). His talent of writing becomes meaningless because of his race. Dunbar is denied equal opportunities and refers to this racial discrimination as a “caged bird” (Dunbar, Line 1). His metaphor of a cage is a sense of entrapment or imprisonment, restricting him the opportunities whites receive. Dunbar was an elevator operator, possibly feeling trapped in the booth only to get a glimpse of sunlight when the doors opened and watching the world around him move freely. Myra McMurry suggests he is being “institutionalized…denying his true identity” (106) as a Black Poet. He is forced to sell his writings in the elevator for a dollar in order to become established (University of Dayton). A scar becomes a part of Dunbar’s life. He writes, “old old scars” (Dunbar 12) which suggests the reality of remembrance of African American struggling to overcome slavery. His scars, skin color, are visible and have made him self-conscious of his race. His knowledge of slavery was secondhand, but he is very aware of discrimination firsthand. The scars become a metaphor of painful pasts and a reflection of his life expressing the defeat of racism. Dunbar’s specific word choice creates a picture of both freedom and slavery in his life. The poem “Sympathy” uses the images of freedom with words like sun…wind…river…stream” (Dunbar 2-4) becoming a beautiful image of nature. This descriptive writing figuratively paints a picture describing the aspect of a scene allowing the reader to experience the image. Dunbar represents the smallest types of freedoms as being restricted from him. In the 1890s, “public facilities were segregated along with freedom of safety from being lynched” (O’Malley). He is a notable writer but is held back because of his race. When speaking of Dunbar as an African American writer, Langston Hughes replied “Dunbar as an example of the hardships and obstacles confronted by a black writer” (Li 388). Dunbar uses words like “pain…bruised…sore…beats” (Dunbar 12, 14, 16) to present to the reader the torments he has endured waiting to be truly free. He feels as if the world has treated him unfairly and unjustly, by limiting him into a so called cage. Dunbar continues by invoking the five senses to create the natural elements of freedom he yearns to have. He uses the words, “sun…wind…river…sings…perfume” (Dunbar 2-6), as symbols for the senses of sight, touch, taste, hearing and smell. As an elevator operator, he is refused and restricted of these things. He is expressing his desire to have more of these simple elements in his life. Anyone lacking these senses is considered handicapped. In essence, Dunbar is suggesting that his race has been a handicap for him to receive full freedom. Dunbar’s life experiences are a living reflection in his poem, “Sympathy”. It lives on because it describes situations that still echoes in other African Americans lives. Dunbar used his own life experience of race discrimination and wrote the poem “Sympathy” as a call for freedom and equality not only for him but for African Americans everywhere. The intimate passages of this poem reveal the beauty that surrounds Dunbar and the horrors which he faced that put limitations in his life. He is forced not to show his true emotion while being confined. In the end, “the many challenges he faced in life made death a welcome friend” (Gabbin 229). Works Cited Dunbar, Paul Laurance. “Sympathy.” Portable Legacies: Fiction, Poetry, Drama Nonfiction. Eds. Schmidt, Jan and Crockett, Lynn. Boston: Wadson 2009. 1021-1022. Gabbin, Joanne., “Intimate Intercessions in the Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar” African American Review 41.2 (2007): 227-231 St. Louis University. 4 Apr. 2012 . Li, Xilao., “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings!: Dunbar in China” African American Review 41.2 (2007): 387-393 St. Louis University. 4 Apr. 2012 . O'Malley, M.. "A Blood Red Record: the 1890s and American Apartheid." History 122. N.p., 1999. Web. 4 Apr 2012. . UDRI Web Development Center, . "The Life of Paul Laurence Dunbar." University of Dayton. Web Development Center, 03 F. Web. 3 Apr 2012. .