Today

The canary cage represents the feeling of being trapped in the house all winter long. Winters, especially in the northern states, can feel oppressive and like they drag on forever. With heavy snow and dangerous temperatures, there is often little to do but take shelter at home in the artificial heat and light until the spring rolls around again. Having to do this can feel much like being a songbird in a cage, wishing you could fly free and sing but knowing how dangerous it is to leave your cage. Letting the bird free is a respectable move—it can fly off and enjoy the weather as much as the speaker might, but the door still being on the cage means that there is always the possibility that the bird could be caged once again. Ripping the door off its hinge means that the canary will be able to come and go as it pleases from now on, and it doesn’t need to be worried about being trapped once more. The speaker is so enamored of the freedom and joy that the spring brings that he wants all the creatures around him to also experience it. By removing the ability to close the cage, the speaker ensures that he is also no longer complicit in the entrapment of another creature.