Symbolism and Allusion in Maya Angelous My Arkansas Essay -- Maya Ang

Symbolism and Allusion in Maya Angelous My are             There is a deep brooding/ in Arkansas. Arkansas is stuck in the past, its memories of hat wild and crime from ante-bellum days hindering the progression towards civil Rights. Maya Angelous poem of the repugn to a wise wave of equality uses twain cosmopolitan symbolisation and historical allusion to pull its report clear to the indorser. The poem uses public symbolism in nature, in time, and historical allusion to make the theme clear in a concise but vibrant poem.   The general symbolism relating to nature assumes a common base of knowledge from which symbolism can be make. The poem opens with a description of Arkansas elder crimes like moss pend/ from poplar trees./ The sullen earth/ is much too/ red for comfort. The first example of general symbolism in this passage is the reference work to moss. Moss is considered the base of the forest, the lowest level fro m which all of the other plants grow. Although moss is vital to a forest, it is often thought of as horrifying and dirty. The moss pend(s) from poplar trees, our endorse infixed symbol. The poplar tree is weak and useless. Nothing can be built from its wood, and it often bends and breaks during storms. The visual image of the moss clinging to the poplar tree shows the slimy moss as old crimes and the poplar tree as the frail approach at growth and a new but weak root system. The reader gets a clear sense of the struggle toward a new feel that is hindered and held back by the old, dependable moss that has been and always will be present. The second part of the passage discusses the sullen earth that is much too red. rose-cheeked earth can be symbolic in two ... ...e. finally at the end of the poem the historical allusion brings the poem to a eject closure, and the theme of starting fresh is put into a more peculiar(prenominal) context. The old hates and old crimes are refe rring to those against African-Americans in the days of slavery. the new beginning for Arkansas is the attempt to reach equality, leaving the past behind.   Today is thus far to come in Arkansas. Reading Angelous poem shows the reader a new perspective on civil rights and its applicability in society. The use of general symbolism found in nature through the weak poplar tree hindered by moss and the cautious sun, paired with the historical allusion to the ante-bellum times make the theme of the poem clear. The past cannot be forgotten, and may hinder the future. Arkansas struggle toward the future writhes in awful/ waves of brooding of the past.