Essay on the poem "Sympathy" by Paul Laurance Dunbar

by Samuel Santos

The poem "Sympathy" written by Paul Laurence Dunbar deals with freedom aganist oppression. Freedom refer to absense of unsuitable restrictions and an opportunity given for exercice one's right. People can lose their freedom either for doing something aganist the law or put in jail for some unfair reason. On the other hand oppression is the cruel exercise of power toward weak people.

There are many types of oppression why people can be affected, like political oppresion. This one can be manifested when the government impose a command depriving human's right, for example, people force to work long hours with low wages. Another common type of oppression is the social one which implies a feeling of discrimination toward other people due to skin color, the way they dress, or just for being from another culture and so on. Otherwise there is economic oppression as well, this one is shown when many people work for a very low payment, while others get more richness taking advantage from people in need. Any types of religion is a group of rules tha ties someone lives up, but a true relationship with Christ brings us freedom according to the bible.

Nowadays in society we notice oppression when a person in charge a certain position at work patronize others making them feel as an insect. They think that they are prince sitting in the king's palace, an also when we see a journalist is censored by the government for telling the truth in the press. Poets contribute in society by means of poetry. This is the way the express their feelings putting themselves in people's shoes, like in the poem whe Dunbar says, " i know what the caged bird feels, alas". Poets defend the right of needy people without censorship. Using their special way of writing poets are the voice of needy people in society, as in the poem when Dunbar uses a caged bird to describe a group of people in captivity.

There are lot of ways how people show their anger in a society, for example, in the poem Dunbar is angry for what was happening to their people at that time, so he wrote in a such way, as if he was right there suffering with them all, because poetry is a mean that poets use to pour out their strong thoughts and that provokes reactions among people.

To conclude the lack of freedom in a place provokes resentment in people and bad things lift it up sooner or later. The author teaches us that people have rights and cannot live without them. I agree with the author because no matter the situation that we could be facing we cannot afford to lose hope.