The parrot in the Cage by Lekhanath Paudyal

 

The parrot in the Cage

Lekhanath Paudyal(1884-1965)

Background about the composition of the poem

Rana rulers had ruled over Nepal for almost 104 years. It is believed that Rana's rule was prevalent. There was no freedom (expression of speech) for people. people were under influence of Rana rulers. There was a state's control over individual affairs. Autocratic \tyrany rulers had centralized the power and authority on them. people were deprived of their human rights. They were imprisoned inside the home like a parrot in a cage.

About the poem

·         speaker: caged parrot

·         setting: inside the cage

·         form: dramatic monologue

·         tone: elegiac

·         Context: the parrot has been caged and is in a pitiable condition and thinks about the life of being outside

·         Theme: The theme of the poem is about freedom, justice, and serenity (peace of mind). The poem is a bitter satire on the then-Rana regime that deprived Nepalese people's freedom. The speaker has carefully painted the conditions that surround the parrot's life. Critics have taken the bird as a symbol of the human soul in a material; cage, as a symbol of the Nepali citizens' freedom trapped in the cage, of Rana Regime, and as an instance of justice upon a creature that would otherwise have "freely roamed and flown." Critics once highlighted the political symbolism over other interpretations and said that the poet was a rebel. However, the poem remains wonderfully significant at its most literal level where a simple, single example of the human-animal relationship exposes the cruelty and injustice of human dominance over animals>

Summary

The speaker of the poem is a parrot. The parrot is prisoned in a cage. He calls himself "a twice born child. The poem presents the painful plight of the speaker who is prisoned in the iron cage. He presents parents child relationship. they are living in the forest happily but the parrot is destined to live in the iron cage. He is expressing his pain. similarly, his parents with poor health are expressing pain with tears in their eyes. They may be every day beating their breast remembering him, their close ties have broken, fate has them oppressed.

                His tears rolled down from his swelling eyes. He sometimes becomes mad and jumps in the cage recalling woodland pleasure with a lump. He used to wander in the forest with delight. He has freely roamed and flown into different places in the forest but a forest wandering child is in prison now. he used to get pleasure with delicious fruits as food. It has become him like a dream. He has a fear now. His friends may have to enjoy feasting on food and wandering in the wild but it has become a dream for him. He finds his enemies everywhere. He could depend on no one.

                He has no freedom of flight. He is seeking to break the cage with his beak but the hard-struck beak is blunted, his wings and feet are cramped. It has become very difficult to pass the time in the iron cage. He sometimes chatters according to the man's whim and remains silent there. The parrot does not get fresh fruits and water rather he is given the rotten rice. He recalls the past days, he is spending days being mad in the cage, tears pour down, then cracks and breaks his heart. His heart constantly wails and cursed his fate. He looks at the sky, his heart fills with fear and anxiety, he neither can get happiness nor can die.

                His throat has become dry He is compelled to speak others' language despite the willingness. If he does not speak others' language he gets threatened once again. He wants to get spiritual freedom, remembers the god, says "Atmaram! Read on! Be famed!  A wit ", Atmaram finds pleasure-seeking to the soul or to the bird that lives in the cage for the moment. He wants physical and spiritual freedom from the cage, prays to god but he fails to get it. His power of speech and reasoning which was his pride led him into the iron cage, his fate. Man must have got pleasure anguishing (making him suffer) him in prison. He gets angry with this sinful act of human beings and prays to god to escape from the prison.

                The speaker makes a judgment in the final stanza that he urges god not to give birth as a parrot till the human beings live on the land o God.

Questions for practice

1.       Who is the speaker in the poem? Why does he call " a twice-born child"?

2.       What is the present plight of the speaker? Explain how the parent-child relationship becomes significant in the poem?

3.       How do you evaluate human sensibility towards the non-human in the poem?

4.       How does the speaker move between the concept of freedom and bondage in the poem?

5.       The poem is presented from the parrot's point of view. How different will it be if presented from a human being's point of view?

6.       Discuss the political implications of the poem based on a close textual reading of the poem.