“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes is a powerful poem where a mother shares her life experiences with her son. Through vivid imagery and a conversational tone, the mother encourages her son to persevere through life’s challenges. It’s a beautiful expression of love, resilience, and the wisdom passed down from one generation to another.
The poem is written beautifully in a dramatic monologue and it delve deeper into the thoughts and experiences of the speaker. The mother in the poem shares her experiences of facing hardships and challenges in life. She uses vivid imagery to convey her message. For example, she says, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” to describe the difficulties she has encountered. She also emphasizes the importance of perseverance and not giving up, saying, “So boy, don’t you turn back.” The mother’s words convey resilience and the determination to keep moving forward despite the obstacles.
The speaker of “Mother to Son” makes a distinction between two different types of staircases, and thus, two different types of life’s journeys. On the one side, there is the perilous, crumbling stairway that she had to ascend, complete with loose tacks and splinters. Even at times, the stairs was “dark.” Contrarily, there is a “crystal stair.” Smooth, sparkling, and attractive, crystals imply opulence and prosperity. In other words, the speaker has to climb a staircase, and the “crystal stair” is essentially the antithesis of that staircase. The crystal staircase is elegant and welcoming, unlike hers, which is in disarray. The folks who ascend the “crystal stair” have no trouble attaining where she has struggled to make improvements in her life.
The literal interpretation of these two staircases is not intended. They actually provide a larger metaphor for the unfair opportunities and difficulties that Black people encounter in American culture. The poem makes the argument that whereas white people have a smoother and simpler path to achieving their goals, Black people, like the speaker and her son, must overcome severe, perilous obstacles just to be on par.
The speaker doesn’t sugarcoat anything; she is realistic and up front about these challenges. In this chat with her son, at least, she never suggests that racism will cease and she never imagines a society free of the challenges and risks she has had to face. She is, nonetheless, tenacious and even victorious. “I’se been a-climbin’ on,” she declares, “despite everything.” In other words, the speaker thinks that despite the challenges they face, she and her kid can still enjoy prosperous lives. And she gives her kid the poem as motivation because she wants him to follow her lead and be as tenacious and stubborn as she has been.
The poem is enriched with literary devices such as anaphora, dialect, imagery, and other literary methods. The repeating of words at the beginning of lines and often throughout the poem is known as anaphora. The best examples of anaphora are lines that all start with “And.” Additionally, they build upon one another, resulting in powerful and heartfelt comments that hint to the challenges the boy will face in the future.
The crystal stair is one of this piece’s most significant images. Hughes uses the staircase as a broad metaphor to allude to life’s challenges. He says that the staircase is not “crystal.” Instead, it is hazardous, damaged, and strewn with “tacks” and “splinters.” She also discusses the staircase’s arc and the “landings” that one finally encounters as they travel up it.
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