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The Marxist way of reading looks at texts from the political perspective of struggles between those who have power and those who don’t. These theories are based on Karl Marx’s as he believed that the Western capitalist system was designed to increase the wealth of the rich and subsequently oppress the poor. Maya Angelou’s poems can be seen to follow the third method referenced in the critical anthology, by viewing the nature of a whole literary genre in terms of the social period which ‘produced’ it. The poem ‘speaks’ for this social class, just as, for instance, ‘Tragedy ‘speaks for the monarchy and the nobility, and the Ballad ‘speaks for’ the rural and semi-urban ‘working class’. ‘I dance like I’ve got diamonds’ is a way of Angelou empowering herself as well as other African Americans who have been oppressed throughout history by the upper class, it is unfair and needs to change for the better.
The collection ‘And Still I Rise’ was written in 1978 during the time that Angelou was becoming well known for her views and ability to speak up and write about racism, oppression, and sexism in the US. She quickly established and gained the status of being the defender of black culture as she includes rhythm and blues, as well as black oral traditions in her work, an example being in ‘Still I Rise’, ‘Don’t you take it awful hard’ emphasizing the pride Angelou takes in her culture and helping to empower others who may not be feeling confident about who they are.
‘Still, I Rise’ emphasizes Angelou’s views and major themes in the poem, these being injustice and self-empowerment. She addresses all marginalized communities, including black people, women, and the working as she aims to leave them feeling as though they have a voice. Angelou uses demanding language and rhetorical questions to imply that ‘You’ (as in those who have oppressed her) can’t stop her and what she will achieve. The repetition of ‘I rise’ enforces the emotions of pain and betrayal that this capitalist, racist society has led her to feel. ‘Still, I Rise’ follows the typical ABCB structure until the last two stanzas where it switches to ABABCC and ABABCCBBB to create an emotional response from ‘You’ by using repetition and enjambment of ‘I Rise’, proving her power and the fact they have to pick themselves up after some middle-class white people oppress them and lead them to believe they aren’t able to achieve the same things. This leads to ‘You’ being made to feel guilty for what they have done to not only her but the rest of the black community.
A symbol Angelou uses in the first stanza is ‘dirt’ as it represents how black people were treated throughout history. She also uses symbolic references to show her intellectual wealth, but has implied this through materialistic wealth such as ‘diamonds’ ‘oil wells’ and ‘gold mines.’ This connotes her recognition of the materialistic things middle-class people have but she is implying that her emotional and intellectual wealth is more valuable than this, because she has this materialistic gain she doesn’t need ‘diamonds’ for example. Angelou accepting that she also has value despite having little money is very empowering and may help to push children of the future in the right direction in life, changing their opinion on the world. ‘I hope that the children have not been so scarred by their upbringing that they only think fear when they see someone else who looks separate from them.’ (Angelou, 2008).
‘Capitalism, Marxism tells us, thrives on exploiting its laborers’, (H Bertens, Literacy Theory) Angelou implies this, ‘You may tread me in the very dirt,’ explaining that she is being taken advantage of. Interestingly, it isn’t grammatically correct to make a point of her low class and how that has led her to experience a lack of education. The harsh sounds in the word ‘Trod’ emphasize the line, showing that she is embracing her low education level and not letting it define her, but instead empowering her. She is also clearly proud of her culture, ‘Does my sassiness upset you?’ and highlights that perhaps some upper-class white men may have gotten upset with her confidence and sexuality as a black woman and it caused a cultural upset because women were (and sometimes still are) expected to act a certain way to fit the male gaze and expectations. She embraces this and ‘the Marxist sees them as constantly formed by their social contexts in ways which they would usually not admit. This is true not just of the content of their work but even of formal aspects of their writing which might at first seem to have no possible political overtones.’ Angelou also includes links to the Slave Trade, ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells in my living room.’ Rich white people on the south coast of North America would’ve had these and made a lot of money from them during the slave trade, whereas some communities (i.e. those in poverty) wouldn’t have benefited from this at all. Angelou has respect for herself and implies that her lack of money and class doesn’t change how she acts, it causes her empowerment.
‘Still, I Rise’s’ final stanza includes enjambment meaning there is no barrier for lines, then there is a full stop, implying ‘I rise’ is the last thing that Angelou is going to do and she won’t speak any more on the matter, on how she has been treated as a black woman. The triplet used here shows she is powerful and further emphasizes the love she has for her culture, no matter how white people may treat her, even through the present time, as racism continues in the 21st century, the death of George Floyd in 2020 is an example that racism is still a serious issue that needs to be spoken about more, as racism still occurs in everyday life and a key reason Angelou felt the need to empower the black community.
‘Life Doesn’t Frighten Me’ carries a similar message, but she is following a child who possesses the courage to express their emotions on the matter, rather than using herself like she had in ‘Still I Rise.’ The repetition of ‘Life doesn’t frighten me at all’ leaves the message that not only Angelou is feeling but also readers who may be experiencing this too. This line not only emphasizes the strength and resilience of the child but also offers a sense of security to the black community which may also be experiencing challenges caused by the class system, and the oppression of those who do not have money. ‘The capitalist mode of production generates a view of the world – focused on profit – in which ultimately all of us function as objects and become alienated from ourselves.’ Directly from the Critical Anthology, views of the world are focused on how much money people have, Angelou growing up in poverty created a different view of life, one that is fearful. So a child expressing that ‘Life doesn’t frighten me at all’ helps her (and others in this position) to have a new perspective, one that empowers this community rather than suppressing it.
Stanza three changes structure and follows a short, AABBCCDD sharp structure. This makes the poem feel ‘child-like.’ The rhyming scheme also changes the ambiance, to emphasize that this is written by a child, who shouldn’t have to have such negative thoughts about the world. Not only creating sympathy for the working class, and black community, the rhymes create a battle between the two worlds, ‘I won’t cry, So they fly’, and changes the perspective again and emphasizes that those with money and those without do have a silent battle every day in life.
‘Just Like Job’ is a religion-focused poem, where Angelou is crying to God to help her because she has been failed by the world she lives in after years of poverty, abuse, and oppression from the middle class. ‘Marxist literary criticism maintains that a writer’s social class, and its prevailing ‘ideology’ (outlook, values, tacit assumptions, half-realized allegiances, etc.) have a major bearing on what is written by a member of that class’ Angelou isn’t very well educated due to her upbringing in poverty and abuse. But Angelou embraces her low class and shows readers that this is nothing to be ashamed of. We can see evidence of this through the structure of some of her sentences, ‘My life gives I gladly to you’ This is also seen throughout ‘Still I Rise’, ‘You may have trod me in the very dirt’ so her outlook on life is very different from someone who went to university and has more life privileges. ‘But fears gather round like wolves in the dark.’ is a powerful simile that implies although she is constantly having her joy in life broken down due to her poverty, her faith in God won’t change as he is more powerful than other ‘wolves’ in her life and can shield her from life’s challenges.
The repetition of, ‘And I’m stepping out on Your word,’ implies that Angelou will not give up her faith no matter what people say about it, or the lack of support she may receive from God despite her constant pleas for help. She is holding onto her belief in God because her faith in the world has let her down, but her religious beliefs are allowing her to carry on, despite the difficulties life throws at her, as we learn about in the metaphor in stanza six, which switches structure to frantic and fast-paced, as well as repeating the start of the sentence (‘into, and’). Angelou is implying that her life has been constantly challenged by sinners against God but she will stay loyal despite these challenges and temptations, and use her belief and faith to empower not only herself but other members of the black community if they’re also religious like Angelou.
To conclude, Angelou’s pride in her lower class is the empowerment that the community needs to fight against the oppression they constantly face. Being proud of your upbringing and faith is so important and she uses her position as a poet to show others who may have faced extra unfair challenges in life such as oppression and discrimination just because of the color of their skin or their class.
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