essay on mother to son

Mother to Son

By Langston Hughes

‘Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes employs the metaphor of a staircase to represent life’s challenges, emphasizing themes of determination and wisdom.

Langston Hughes

Nationality: American

Langston Hughes had a five-decade career.

Poem Analyzed by Emma Baldwin

B.A. English (Minor: Creative Writing), B.F.A. Fine Art, B.A. Art Histories

‘Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes was first published in December of 1922 in the magazine, Crisis. It was also included in Hughes’ collection, The Weary Blues, published four years later. This piece is one of his most popular and relatable. Readers of all backgrounds can come to this poem and feel themselves either in the shoes of the child or the mother, or perhaps both. It’s a very emotional piece, one that is meant to a reminder of life’s hardships and an inspiration for the strength needed to persevere through them.

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Explore Mother to Son

• 3 Structure and Form
• 4 Literary Devices
• 5 Analysis of Mother to Son
• 6 Similar Poetry

The poem contains a mother’s warning to her son about the stairs one is forced to climb throughout life. He must watch out for broken boards, splinters, and tacks. These things are there in order to throw him off. Additionally, she explains that although he might get exhausted or desperate, he is never to turn around or sit down. She is still trudging up the stairs, and he can get too.

In regards to the theme, a reader can interpret the poem as speaking on the importance of experience and determination. As stated above, the speaker is a woman who is addressing her son. She is attempting to explain to him, through the image of the staircase, what his life is going to be like. No matter how dark or dangerous the stairs get, one must continue “climbin’,” as the mother is.  

It is also important to consider the historical context of this piece. Hughes was an important member of the Harlem Renaissance , who wrote extensively on the oppression and racism that Black Americans face. With this in mind, the speaker can be seen as a generalized image of an African American mother who wants to explain the troubles her black son is going to face as he ages.  

Structure and Form

‘Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes is a twenty-line poem that is contained within one stanza of text. Hughes composed the text in free verse . This means that there is no pattern of rhyme or rhythm . That does not mean that the word choices are unimportant. In fact, they are lyrical in nature. This can be seen through Hughes’ thoughtful selection of words that reflect a specific dialect and examples of half-rhyme throughout the text.

Literary Devices

Langston Hughes has chosen to use anaphora , dialect, and imagery , as well as other literary devices in ‘Mother to Son.’ Anaphora is the repetition of words at the beginning of lines, as well as just a general repetition of words throughout the poem. Anaphora is clearest in lines 4-6 and 10-12. These lines all begin with “And.” They also build off one another, leading up to moving and poignant statements that say something about the difficulties ahead for the son.

A reader should also take note of Hughes’s dialectic choices. He uses shortened versions of words such as “reachin’” rather than “reaching” and “landin’s” rather than “landings.” This has the effect of making the verses more song-like. It also speaks to the narrator ’s own background and might lead one to assume this person is uneducated. She is a working-class woman who is speaking frankly and on her own terms.

One of the most important images of this piece is that of the crystal stair. Hughes uses the staircase as an extended metaphor to represent the hardships that life presents. His speaker describes how the staircase is not “crystal.” It is instead dangerous, torn up, and covered in “tacks” and “splinters.” She also speaks on the way the staircase turns, and the “landings” one eventually reaches along the way.

Analysis of Mother to Son

Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. (…) And places with no carpet on the floor— Bare.

In the first section of lines, Hughes begins with the speaker addressing her son. The first words, “Well, son, I’ll tell you:” sets up the conversation as informal but also important. She clearly has something she needs to tell him, and it isn’t going to be easy. The main thing that the mother wants to tell her son is that,  

Life for [her hasn’t] been no crystal stair.  

She is contrasting her own life against one that is easy to progress through (or up). In her case, moving forward represents a staircase with “tacks” and “splinters” protruding from the wood. The wood is also torn up in places, entire boards missing. It is dangerous to live her life, and more often than not, each step presents something new to fear.  

The fact that boards are missing from the staircase speaks to the lack of support she received or to the missing links in her own understanding of what she should do next. The last lines add to the already painful and at times scary, staircase she has described. Of the boards that do remain on the stairs, and the landings she will come to in the next lines, some of those do not have “carpet.” Again, she is describing the poor conditions she has had to deal with and what a struggle it has been, and still is, for her to live.

But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, (…) And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light.

Despite all of the things mentioned in the first seven lines, the speaker is still moving forward. She wants to make sure that, above all else, this is the lesson her son learns. “All the time” she has been struggling, she has also been “a-climbin’ on” up the metaphorical stairs of her life.  

To describe the different periods of her life, she inserts landings into the staircase. These are places the stairs might take a turn, or she might be able to rest. Whenever she reached these “landin’s” she went ahead and turned the corner. The speaker was not afraid of what might be on the other side, even when she was entering into the “dark.” This is another character trait she is hoping to pass on to her son. Even though she knows how bad things can be, she is unafraid, or at least strong enough, to face them.  

Not only are the places she is forced to go dark, but there has also has never been any light there. This means that either she is the first one there or one of many who have seen the same darkened corridors of life.  

Lines 14-20

So boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps (…) I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

In the final stanza of ‘Mother to Son,’  the speaker directly addresses her son again. She uses the word “boy” to call his attention and make sure he is still listening to her. The mother tells her son that no matter what he might be going through, now or in the future, he cannot “turn back.” There is nothing down the stairs that will help one make it past an obstacle ahead.  

She also tells him not to “set down on the steps.” Any hesitation or fear will only make the situation worse. He needs to persevere, especially past these most difficult parts. The speaker also warns her son against “fall[ing].” The stairs must be handled carefully as there are broken boards, tacks, and splinters to avoid. These obstacles, not of one’s own making, are only emphasized by those brought on by one’s choices. The staircase becomes more and more difficult, depending on how one handles their own life.  

In the last three lines, the speaker reiterates that even though life is hard, she is still going. She is “still climbin’” through the hardships.  

Similar Poetry

Readers who enjoyed  ‘Mother to Son’  should also consider reading some of Hughes’ other best-known poems . These include  ‘ Dreams ,’ ‘I, Too, Sing America, ‘  and  ‘ The Negro Speaks of Rivers.’   In the latter, Hughes utilizes a speaker who describes the history of the world through what he’s seen alongside rivers. It is one of Hughes’ best-loved poems. in  ‘I, Too, Sing America,’  the speaker asserts his Americanism in the face of those who look down upon the Black population in the United States. He is equal among all people in his country. In  ‘Dreams,’  Hughes highlights the value of dreams and how important it is to nurture them if one wants to “fly” above the rest of the world.

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Baldwin, Emma. "Mother to Son by Langston Hughes". Poem Analysis , https://poemanalysis.com/langston-hughes/mother-to-son/ . Accessed 25 August 2024.

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Mother to Son Summary & Analysis by Langston Hughes

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

“Mother to Son” is a poem by Langston Hughes. It was first published in 1922 in The Crisis , a magazine dedicated to promoting civil rights in the United States, and was later collected in Hughes’s first book The Weary Blues (1926). The poem describes the difficulties that Black people face in a racist society, alluding to the many obstacles and dangers that racism throws in their way—obstacles and dangers that white people don’t have to face. At the same time, the poem argues that Black people can overcome these difficulties through persistence, resilience, and mutual support.

• Read the full text of “Mother to Son”

The Full Text of “Mother to Son”

1 Well, son, I’ll tell you:

2 Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

3 It’s had tacks in it,

4 And splinters,

5 And boards torn up,

6 And places with no carpet on the floor—

8 But all the time

9 I’se been a-climbin’ on,

10 And reachin’ landin’s,

11 And turnin’ corners,

12 And sometimes goin’ in the dark

13 Where there ain’t been no light.

14 So boy, don’t you turn back.

15 Don’t you set down on the steps

16 ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

17 Don’t you fall now—

18 For I’se still goin’, honey,

19 I’se still climbin’,

20 And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

“Mother to Son” Summary

“mother to son” themes.

Racism and Perseverance

• See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Mother to Son”

Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor— Bare.

But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light.

Lines 14-16

So boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Lines 17-20

Don’t you fall now— For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

“Mother to Son” Symbols

• Crystal Stair
• See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“Mother to Son” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

End-stopped line.

• See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

Alliteration

Extended metaphor, polysyndeton, “mother to son” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• A-Climbin'
• Landin's
• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Mother to Son”

Rhyme scheme, “mother to son” speaker, “mother to son” setting, literary and historical context of “mother to son”, more “mother to son” resources, external resources.

Into to the Harlem Renaissance — A detailed history of the Harlem Renaissance—with links to other Harlem Renaissance writers and texts—from the Poetry Foundation.

The Weary Blues — An article from the Academy of American Poets on The Weary Blues, Langston Hughes's first book of poems, which collected "Mother to Son."

Langston Hughes's Life Story — A detailed biography of the from the Poetry Foundation.

Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance — An article on Langston Hughes's influence on the Harlem Renaissance.

The Poem Read Aloud — The actress Viola Davis and the poet Langston Hughes both recite "Mother to Son."

LitCharts on Other Poems by Langston Hughes

As I Grew Older

Aunt Sue's Stories

Daybreak in Alabama

Dream Variations

I Look at the World

Let America Be America Again

Night Funeral in Harlem

The Ballad of the Landlord

Theme for English B

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

The Weary Blues

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A Short Analysis of Langston Hughes’ ‘Mother to Son’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Langston Hughes (1901-67) was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance in New York in the 1920s. Over the course of a varied career he was a novelist, playwright, social activist, and journalist, but it is for his poetry that Hughes is now best-remembered.

‘Mother to Son’ is one of Hughes’ best-known poems, and sees a mother addressing her son, telling him about how hard and challenging her life has been, and offering him some parental advice. You can read ‘Mother to Son’ here (it takes no longer than a minute to read); below, we offer an analysis of the poem’s meaning and symbolism.

‘Mother to Son’: summary

The mother addresses her son directly, telling him that her life hasn’t been an easy or luxurious progression or climb. There have been plenty of stumbling-blocks and obstacles, which she likens to tacks, splinters of wood, or torn-up floorboards, and sometimes the wooden stairs she has trodden have been uncarpeted and bare.

She is using the image of a stair as a metaphor for her life, of course, so the image of the bare stairs suggests financial hardship where life has been stripped back to the bare necessities required for living.

Despite these setbacks, the mother tells her son that she has continued to climb, every now and then reaching a landing (where she can pause for breath) and turning a corner (much as we talk of ‘turning a corner’ in our life, when things get better), and sometimes having to walk on in the dark – something which increases the dangers, and involves making one’s way blind, not knowing what’s coming next.

At this point, the mother moves from describing her experiences to instructing her son, telling him not to turn back but to carry on and keep going, no matter how tough things might get. He shouldn’t just sit down on the steps and give up because to carry on climbing is hard-going. He shouldn’t let himself fall; after all, his mother is still walking on, still climbing the stairs of life, and things haven’t exactly been easy for her .

‘Mother to Son’: analysis

‘Mother to Son’ uses the extended metaphor of a stairwell to depict the struggles and hardships of life, and in particular, the struggles faced by an African-American mother in early twentieth-century America. The image of the stairs enables Hughes to convey not only the difficulty of persevering when things get tough, but also the idea of social climbing, or ascending the social ladder in terms of class, wealth, and cultural acceptance.

The mother begins by defining her life as a  negative : by what it is not. Her rejection of a crystal stair in the poem’s second and final lines neatly captures the lack of luxury: for many working-class African-American families, life was about making ends meet and ensuring there was enough food on the table, rather than opulence and expense. Instead, the stairs walked by the mother in Hughes’ poem are rough, dangerous (those splinters), and even, at times, bare, suggesting – as remarked above – that financial times have sometimes been hard in the mother’s past.

‘Mother to Son’ is written in free verse: unrhymed poetry without a regular rhythm or metre, and with irregular line lengths. Indeed, one line of Hughes’ poem is just one word: ‘Bare’ (appropriately enough). Hughes often wrote in free verse rather than established forms, and his looser and more free-flowing rhythms are more influenced by improvised jazz music than by iambic pentameter.

And in the case of ‘Mother to Son’, a poem spoken by a mother to her son in African-American Vernacular English (note the use of double negatives and contractions such as ‘I’se’), free verse is an appropriate vehicle for the mother’s advice to her son.

But as T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, and others have pointed out, free verse worthy of the name of ‘poetry’ or ‘art’ isn’t ‘free’ altogether: it cannot be completely free from formal constraints if it is to be considered poetry at all. Robert Frost’s famous disparaging of free verse as ‘playing tennis with the net down’ reminds us that even free verse which doesn’t utilise a rhyme scheme or a regular metre needs to reveal the artful control of the poet.

And although there’s no rhyme scheme in ‘Mother to Son’, there is evidence of formal constraint: note how ‘stair’ is repeated at the ends of two lines, near the beginning of the poem and then again right at the end. In between these two lines which more or less bookend the poem, we find the rhyme ‘Bare’ (which, appropriately enough, relates to the uncarpeted stair ), ‘steps’ (which is a semantic rhyme for ‘stair’, because it shares the same meaning), ‘climbin’’ (more semantic rhyme, since stairs are climbed), and ‘floor’ (related to ‘stair’ in meaning, but also an example of pararhyme or consonance).

All of these semantic and phonetic features reveal the careful control behind the verse lines, but Hughes has concealed them well so as to preserve the natural, colloquial rhythms of the mother’s address to her son. ‘Mother to Son’ artfully conceals its art, we might say, and appears artless, offhand, and conversational, to convey the idea of a mother intimately talking to her son.

Of course, we should bear in mind the gender of the speaker as well as her ethnicity. Hughes’ mother has faced double the prejudice and discrimination than her son will face, because she is a woman. When she turns to her son (‘So boy …’), there is arguably a tacit recognition of the fact that she has faced even more obstacles, and if she can keep going, he will be able to.

All of this is a critique of the American Dream : that notion that anyone, regardless of their background, can achieve greatness and prosperity in the United States, the ‘land of the free’. We know that not everyone can achieve that dream, but we also know that it will be harder for some than for others.

If the mother’s image of the crystal stair suggests a shimmering and bright path of upward mobility, which the walker need only follow, her later reference to the ‘dark’ and ‘no light’ (another example of semantic rhyme) undercuts the shining brilliance of such a fantastical ideal.

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Mother to Son

Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor— Bare. But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light. So boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard. Don’t you fall now — For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Meanings of Mother to Son

Meanings of lines 1-7.

Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor— Bare.

Meanings of Lines 8-14

But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light. So boy, don’t you turn back.

Meanings of Lines 15-20

Don’t you set down on the steps ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard. Don’t you fall now— For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Summary of Mother to Son

Analysis of literary devices in “mother to son”.

“Don’t you set down on the steps ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.”

Analysis of Poetic Devices in “Mother to Son”

  quotes to be used, related posts:, post navigation.

Mother to Son

Introduction.

‘Mother to Son’ is a song composed by an African American poet and journalist Langston Hughes. It is a well-known dramatic monologue. It was printed in a magazine called The Crisis for the first time in the year 1922. It was later included in Hughes’ book titled The Weary Blues published in 1926.

Mother to Son by Langston Hughes Summary

The poem is a conversation amid a mother and son. The mother initiates the conversation saying that her life has not been easy. She has faced various hurdles and difficulties in her life. She describes the various impediments in her life as tacks, splinters and torn boards. She says that the stair, which she is trying to climb, is not carpeted which implies that her life path had not been a luxurious journey.  Nevertheless, her perseverance enables her to keep on struggling in life. Even when she is unable to see in the dark, she is still resilient. At the end of the poem, the mother commands her son never to lose hope. She instructs him to keep on climbing the stairs and never think about going down in life. She reminds him that he must always think about the hardships faced by his mother and keep on fighting against his exhaustion.  

Themes in Mother to Son

Perseverance and courage, despair and hope.

The theme of despair and hope is enforced in the poem through the symbols of “dark” and “light”. The mother in the poem admits that some stages of her life had pushed her into darkness. She had no hope in her life. Her difficult circumstances had managed to put her in depression and despair. However, she continued to struggle and eventually overcame that phase of her life.

Mother as a role model for the child

Mother to son poem analysis, lines 14-20, setting of the poem, point of view,   structural analysis of the poem.

The style of the poem is free verse and lyrical. It is written in a single stanza of twenty lines. As the structure of the poem is in free verse, therefore, there is no regular rhyming scheme. However, there are certain illustrations of rhyme in the poem as the word “stair” in the second line corresponds to “bare” in the 7th line. The metrical pattern of the poem is irregular, yet the line “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” indicates trochaic meter.

Literary Devices used in the Poem

Alliteration.

Hughes utilizes anaphora in order to show the son what he should not do in life. For example in the lines, 14 and 15 “don’t” is twice used. This exemplifies that in case of adversities, we must never lose hope and fall back. The poet employs Anaphora in his poem to show the readers that although life is full of obstacles and challenges, however, we must always fight through and never think about giving up our dreams.

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.”

End-Stopped Line

End-stopped lines recur in the poem. Most of the lines are end-stopped. Enjambments are rarely used by the poet in the poem. End-stops play a major role. They help the poet in describing the seriousness of the hurdles encountered by the black woman. For example, each line from 3-6 defines a serious hurdle that the mother had witnessed in her life. The jagged nails and splinters and the missing steps are mentioned in a different end-stopped line. The reader pauses at each end-stop and contemplates about the nature of the difficulty faced by the narrator. All of these End-stops stress complexity and brutality of the speaker’s situation.

Stressed and unstressed syllables (Trochee)

The staircase is an extended metaphor utilized by the poet to narrate the hurdles in the life of a black woman. It represents the destitution of the mother. The metaphorical staircase of the mother has nails, shards, holes, and bare steps. It denotes the various challenges in the mother’s life.

Crystal Stair

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Poems & Poets

Mother to Son

Langston Hughes, "Mother to Son" from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes . Copyright © 2002 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Inc.

Source: The Collected Works of Langston Hughes (University of Missouri Press (BkMk Press), 2002)

A Mother with her Son and a Pony

Agostino brunias, yale center for british art.

Langston Hughes

Mother to son.

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I dream a world where man No other man will scorn, Where love will bless the earth And peace its paths adorn I dream a world where all

I sat there singing her Songs in the dark. She said; 'I do not understand The words’.

Children, I come back today To tell you a story of the long da… That I had to climb, that I had t… In order that the race might live… Look at my face —dark as the night…

The census man, The day he came round, Wanted my name To put it down. I said, Johnson,

I’m all alone in this world, she s… Ain’t got nobody to share my bed, Ain’t got nobody to hold my hand— The truth of the matter’s I ain’t got no man.

You and your whole race. Look down upon the town in which y… And be ashamed. Look down upon white folks And upon yourselves

I could take the Harlem night and wrap around you, Take the neon lights and make a cr… Take the Lenox Avenue busses, Taxis, subways,

been scared and battered. My hopes the wind done scattered. Snow has friz me, Sun has baked me, Looks like between 'em they done

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow… I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other ni… By the pale dull pallor of an old…

She, In the dark, Found light Brighter than many ever see. She,

Now dreams Are not available To the dreamers, Nor songs To the singers.

How quiet It is in this sick room Where on the bed A silent woman lies between two lo… Life and Death,

2 and 2 are 4. 4 and 4 are 8. But what would happen If the last 4 was late? And how would it be

Here I sit With my shoes mismated. Lawdy—mercy! I’s frustrated!

Tell all my mourners To mourn in red — Cause there ain’t no sense In my bein’ dead.

An Analysis “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes Research Paper

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The poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes was written and published in the year 1922 which was during the Harlem Renaissance period. Harlem Renaissance also referred to as the New Negro Movement led to the evolvement of a new identity of the black culture between the the1920s and the early years of the 1930s. It is during this period that the black people or community got a chance to express themselves (West, p. 162). With the rampant level of racism and scarce economic opportunities for the blacks, one way through which the Negroes could be able to air their voices was through creative expressions that included the use of poetry. Langston Hughes is one African American who used poetry as a way of expressing himself and the experiences that his community went through. He brings out Harlem as being a crossroads for the experiences of African Americans (Berry, p. 187).

In the poem “Mother to Son” Hughes speaks of the lives of the black Americans who constantly fought against discrimination and poverty faced during the Harlem era. He very well explores the issues of social injustices, race, black American art, and culture. The social, artistic, and political climates of the Renaissance have also been vividly brought about (Rampersad, p. 5).

The poem is from the viewpoint of a black, African/American mother, telling her son of the hardships she has faced in her life (Hughes, p. 8). According to the black renaissance, African Americans tried all their best to go against the white oppression which is what is being dictated by the mother to the son. Hughes, being one of the people who fought most against the oppression as a leader of the Negroes, tries to express what the older generation felt about the young generation who could not possibly understand what was going on at that time (Rampersad, p. 1).

From the first line ‘well, son, I’ll tell you:’ it is clear that the son has either raised a question or a complaint to his mother. In her answer, she begins by telling him of her own difficulties. At one point she says, ‘Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair:’. The author has used the crystal stair to symbolize an imaginary path that is smooth and full of ease. She bases her response on her own life meaning that her advice to him is based on her own hard-life experience (Miller, p. 14).

The poet uses dialect to clarify that the mother is uneducated. This is evident from the lines: “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” and “For I’ve still got, honey, I’ve still climbing”, which she says to mean that in reality, she is still going on and trying hard to get stronger or make it through the hardships. This style has been effectively used as it makes the mother seem real and less fictional (Wasley, p. 16).

The poem takes the dramatic monologue style meaning that it is spoken in the voice of an imaginary speaker rather than that of the poet himself. In this case, the imaginary speaker is a somnolent mother speaking to her son (Howe, p. 103).

Using this style the poet places the reader in the place of the son listening to his mother who bases her advice in relation to her own life. This advice is therefore directed at the reader. The use of this style is effective as it draws the reader into the poem by placing him in the son’s position and by making the son’s frustrations become his own and the mother’s advice directed to him (Wasley, p. 24).

The poet also uses other prevalent poetic styles such as metaphors. This is seen when the mother says “And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” meaning that her life has not been one of ease and luxury. It is also evident in the words; “And splinters”, “ And boards were torn up”, and “And places with no carpet on the floor” all of which are symbols of poverty and hardships. Other metaphors used effectively by the poet are “reachin’ landin’s, / turnin’ corners, / goin’ in the dark”.These words are meant to express the trials, hardships, and tribulations the mother has faced in her life (Barksdale, p. 3).

The tone of the speaker is compassionate; a feeling which is evident when she tells her son that she is aware of what he is going through as she has been through it herself and that he should not lose hope. This is shown in the lines, “So boy, don’t you turn back” and “Don’t you set down on the steps” meaning that he should not give up, “For I’ve still got, honey, I’ve still climbing” (Hughes, p. 232).

The theme of this poem is perseverance. This is depicted by the mother’s constant advice to his son telling him not to give up at any one moment. According to the mother, she has been through harder times before but has always tried to get through all the situations and to always be strong an act that she wants her son to emulate. She does not give up at all and is instead still climbing and moving on in this life which has not been full of luxury and happiness. The mother further emphasizes this theme by repeating three times how she has not given up to the struggles in life when she says “I’ve been a-climbin’ on,”, “For I’ve still goin’, honey,” and “I’ve still climbin’. Perseverance hence becomes the poem’s main hypothesis as it is what the mother wants the son to have in spite of the pressures in his life (Barksdale, p. 7).

The speaker is seen to put side by side the history of African-Americans with a never-ending flight of broken-down stairs, evident in the overcrowded and crumbling dwelling places in which loads of poor blacks found them enforced to live in the ghetto neighborhoods of northern cities (Miller, p. 54). Nevertheless, she says that in spite of how tiring or frustrating the climb is and in spite of the number of setbacks she has suffered “I’ve been a-climbin’ on” meaning that she is still holding. This suggests to both the son and the reader that the future of the black people in America depends on their willingness to not turn back and to keep climbing, to not “set down on the steps / Cause you finds it’s kinder hard”.The author leaves some questions unanswered. One such question is what the mother did in order to be strong and keep climbing on (Barksdale, p. 8).

• Barksdale, Richard. The poet and His Critics , Canada: Vintage publishers, 1977.
• Berry, Faith. “Langston Hughes: Before and Beyond Harlem.” On the Cross of the South 150.1(1983): 185-186.
• Howe, Elisabeth. The Dramatic Monologue , Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1996.
• Hughes, Langston.”Fight for Freedom and Other Writings on Civil Rights”. Works of Langston Hughes 10.2(2001):8.
• Miller, Baxter. The Art and Imagination of Langston Hughes , Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006.
• Rampersad, Arnold.”Mother to son”. The Life of Langston Hughes 1. (1986): 1-5.
• Wasley, Aidan. Poetry for Students , Michigan: Gale publishers, 1998.
• West, Sandra. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes , 4.5(2003):162.
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• E. E. Cummings Life and Poetry
• The Life of Langston Hughes
• "Salvation" by Langston Hughes Literature Analysis
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Mother to Son Literary Devices

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Published: Mar 13, 2024

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Opening lines, metaphor and imagery, conversational tone.

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“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes

This essay will provide an analysis of Langston Hughes’ poem “Mother to Son.” It will discuss the poem’s themes of resilience, hope, and perseverance in the face of adversity. The piece will examine the metaphor of a staircase to represent life’s challenges, and how the mother in the poem uses this metaphor to impart wisdom to her son. It will also explore the cultural and historical context of the poem, considering Hughes’ role in the Harlem Renaissance and the broader African American experience. At PapersOwl, you’ll also come across free essay samples that pertain to Langston Hughes.

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“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, is a short poem about a mother who is teaching her son about urgency and determination by using the image of a staircase to instill something in his brain. She explains that even though life has given her many adversities, she continues to keep on pushing and she urges her son to do the same. In the poem “Mother to Son,” Langston Hughes uses an extended metaphor, imagery, dialect, and structure to paint a picture of a weary mother who wants her son to succeed even though life has many hardships.

The poem is a monologue that conveys the idea of encouragement and hope. The theme of this poem “Mother to Son,” is about will power and the value of life lessons. The mother is telling her son that no matter what happens, he should never give up or quit. Even though this poem tone is rather serious and sad, there is an indication of optimism because she never gave up on herself. The mother never let the “stairs” of life bring her down and that gives the readers a feeling of faith that everything will be ok.

In this poem, Langston Hughes uses an extended metaphor, which was the staircase, to portray the life of the mother. The mother compares her life to a “crystal stair” at the beginning of the poem by saying, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” (2). The mother says to her son, that life is not as easy as it seems and you really cannot just stroll through. Instead, in this stanza of the poem, she tells her son that the reality is that life is hard, full of brick walls that are trying to stop you, but one must keep on going, one cannot turn their back or sit down, because one will catch a break eventually. This gives the readers a sense that she has not been as blessed as the people who climb the “crystal stair”, for this reason, she has had to work for it. When you think of a “crystal stair,” the first thing that comes to your mind is something prized, high-priced, and extravagant; therefore, someone who climbs a “crystal stair” would be someone who has great fortune, and has lived a glamorous, perhaps easy, life. The mother in this poem has had no such life; in fact, the description of hers seems more tough and unpleasant.

To draw a bigger picture to the hardships that the mother has faced, the author uses imagery to express the staircase that she had to climb to get to where she is now. In lines 3-7 this is the example she uses how the hardships were, “It’s had tacks in it, and splinters and boards were torn up, and places with no carpet on the floor–Bare. The use of “tacks” and “splinters” demonstrate the agony and uneasiness that the mother has gone through and torn up boards could symbolize possibly a risky situation. If you step on a stair that is broken, there is a risk that you may fall through. Along with the uneasiness, the mother may have had to escape threatening situations. The image of the broken-down staircase also gives the readers a notion of insufficiency of funds. Also, a staircase that is broken wouldn’t be in a rich persons’ home, so this also makes us see that she is poor or lacks the finer things. In the 1920s, which was when this poem was written, many African Americans were moving from the South into cities for a possibility at a better living situation. Most of them were penniless and lived in poverty-stricken ways, which is why the staircase is displayed as broken down, bare, and no carpet.

The title, “Mother to Son,” tells us that this is a mother giving her son advice Langston Hughes opens the poem by saying, “Well, son, I’ll tell you:”(1), which could mean that her son had asked her about her life when she was young or that maybe he was nagging about his current problems. The mother then begins to go into detail to tell him that her life has not been easy, but she gave up on herself and she is instilling him to do the same. In lines 14-17 it shows what I am meaning “So boy, don’t you turn back./ Don’t you set down on the step/ ‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard./ Don’t you fall now-” instructs that she wants him to counter it onward and upward. The mother is telling her son that he should never put himself down or stop because it is becoming tough, and she uses herself as an example for it all. She is just encouraging him to climb those stairs that life throws at him by telling him that she herself went through the same struggles as he will because she never gave up in lines 18-19, “For I’se still goin’, honey. /I’se still climbin’.” Through these lines, she shows that’s no matter how tough it may have been for her that hasn’t destroyed her spirits because she keeps on climbing. She demonstrates life as rising up a staircase: it’s a tough climb, but one that must be attempted and reached.

You can see the willpower that this mother has. She keeps trying to continue through her disruptions that are pulling her back, even when it seems like there is no faith for her, “And sometimes goin’ in the dark/ Where there ain’t been no light.”(12-13).”And sometimes goin’ in the dark” (12) could mean that she felt worthless at certain times in her life or that is was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If a town is completely abandoned with no trace of human life, it is extremely difficult to find help. There may have been instances in a women’s life where she did not know the way out of a situation, but she never thought of quitting. We also see that she is climbing the stairs and it is a never-ending cycle, “For I’se still goin’, honey,/ I’se climbin’,”(18-19). This gives the readers an interpretation that no matter what age you are, you will eventually begin climbing your staircase of life. It leads me to think that this staircase only stops if you die.

Langston Hughes uses dialect to reveal to the readers that the mother may not have been well educated. In this line “But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, and reachin’ landin’s, and turnin’ corners, and sometimes goin’ in the dark, where there aint been no light” (8-13) it indicates why I have reason to believe so. By leaving out the “g” at the end of each words and using the words “aint,” we get the notion that this is an older, Southern woman who has not been educated in correct English. She uses words like ain’t, I’se, and climbin’ which is a general language in the black culture. The language she uses gives the interpretation that though she may not be “well-educated” but is street smart and intelligent because of all the problematic experiences that she has overcome in her life. The rhythm of the poem has no rhyme but it has no beat that flows in a jaded but it does builds like a stairway, one step at a time.

Although there is not much structure to this poem, it does mimic a blues song. Blues was a very popular genre in the 1920s, especially down there many Southern African Americans popularized it as well. In most blues songs, they will sing about progressing on and never giving up on yourself, which is what this poem really tries to instill into the child. Additionally, a blues song will have the reappearance of words. For instance, this poem repeats the phrase “crystal stair.” It begins and ends the poem by saying that, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair,”(2,20).

In conclusion, Langston Hughes uses extended metaphor, imagery, dialect, and structure to reveal a weary mother who gives her son guidance about the strength of character. We realize that although her life has given her many hardships, she never gave up her willpower to keep on and she pushes on. With the use of the extended metaphor of the staircase and the crystal-clear imagery, the readers take on a clear picture of struggle, perseverance, and hope that the mother had to go through.

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My Son and Gus Walz Deserve a Champion Like Tim Walz

By Tina Brown

Ms. Brown is the author, most recently, of “The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor — the Truth and the Turmoil."

The sight at the Democratic convention on Wednesday night of Tim Walz’s 17-year-old son leaping to his feet, with streaming eyes, a hand to his chest with a cry of “That’s my Dad” was heart piercing.

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And yet for people who are different and have no support, the world can be bleak. Their loneliness can be agonizing. Some people assume the school days are the hardest, but it’s the years after that are the social desert. Having a friendly, forgiving workplace to go to is critical. It’s often their only taste of community and what makes them such reliable and rewarding employees. The work from home movement has been a killer for people with special needs, often depriving them of the only social connections they have.

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