How is the theme of self-awareness shown in the poem "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou?

Both
the free bird and the caged bird in 's poem are self-aware, because they both entertain no
illusions about who they are. The free bird is free and enjoys the benefits of that to the
fullest. The caged bird knows that it is imprisoned and resents it. Whatever those
characteristics mean or symbolize, the birds both understand their situations.

The poem itself is self-aware, too, because it portrays the
feelings of the birds realistically. The free bird doesn't question its place in life at all,
since it already has everything it wants. It soars and takes everything it sees, mostly because
it can. There isn't anything particularly malicious about itthe free bird doesn't think about
the caged bird at all. With this, the author is drawing attention to the fact that people who
are born into freedom don't often think about those who are not.

The caged
bird, meanwhile, longs to be free. The hate that it feels doesn't seem to be directed at the
free bird but at the unnatural...