Mother to Son Analysis

Langston Hughes' moving poem "Mother to Son" empowers not only the son, but also the reader with precious words of wisdom. Through the skillful use of literary devices such as informal language, symbolism, metaphors, repetition, as well as clever use of format, Hughes manages to assemble up the image of a mother lovingly, yet firmly, talking to her son about life. This poem is an advice from a mother to son about life that will be challenging and do not think about giving it up. The advice is simple but pertinent to the poetic theme: in order to overcome the hurdles of life, a person must possess courage and determination.

The theme that this poet conveyed in the poem is determination to live without ever thinking giving up although the obstacles are harsh. Besides, it also emphasize regarding the struggle for life that the one will experience but still have the strength to face it day by day. It also shows about affection and as motivation of a mother to son that takes care of his son and gives advice so that the son will somehow be prepared to face the life.

Langston Hughes’ poem, “Mother to Son” resemble to the well-known expression “let’s have a father to son chat”. However, in this case, the saying is altered to “mother to son”. Poetic devices such as informal language, symbolisms, metaphors and repetition were used in this poem. This poem is written from the mother’s point of view in the advice form so the audience could feel the warmth and approachability of southern dialect. Readers will immediately have an impression of a middle-aged women battered by life’s struggles, with no formal education but plenty of life experiences to share with the son.

Informal language is cleverly used to visually portray a truthful motherly figure that has valuable advice to offer. The persona of the poem is an African-American showed by the dialect used with the missing ‘g’ such as in “climbin’, turning’ ” etceteras. It also use the word “ain’t” which is often used by the African-American.

In addition, symbols like “tacks” is used to illustrate the sharpness and discomfort of life’s obstacle. Splinters represent the inflammatory pain and the difficulties in removing and overcoming this pain in life. Even the metaphor of life being compared to stairs symbolizes the exhaustive uphill climb in life. In contrast, the crystal stair represents clarity and perfection, a life that the mother makes obvious was not given to her. In this poem, Hughes develops a sort of negative extended metaphor by having the speaker compare her life to a staircase that “ain’t been no crystal clear”. In other words, she develops the metaphor b describing what it isn’t rather than what it is.

Moreover, repetition adds to the imagery of the poem and helps support the theme. "Tell", "ain't", "crystal stair", "tacks", "splinters", "torn", "places", "carpet", "time", "peace", "climb", "corners", "steps": the constant repetition of p's, t's,and s's render the reader completely breathless imitating the exhaustive uphill climb of stairs. Even the repeated use of specific words adds to the effect of repetition. Using the word "and" repeatedly creates a constant feeling of never-ending continuation, consequently reinforcing the theme of courage and determination, both vital factors necessary to continue the "stair climbing."

An Extended Metaphor
The metaphor is indeed very symbolic. The emblem of the staircase echoes that to reach the top, one has to start from the bottom rung. It at once stands as a potent emblem of luxury. The crystal staircase also gives one the impression of it not being there though it is, there, thereby connoting ease. It also emblematizes transparency. Again, its texture represents smoothness. Life, she signifies is not always a 'smooth ride'.
Explication
As she walked up the staircase of Life, she came across tacks. The word 'tack' stands for both nails and fasteners. This line is reminiscent of the saying that 'Life is not a bed of roses', as it may have its own share of thorns (nails).The word 'tack' also means fastener. Sometimes it may also act as a fastener rendering the pace of life stagnant and tiring. The meaning of the word 'tack' is also 'path' or 'direction'. Sometimes Life by itself may act as a guiding force, where each experience acts as a pointer .Each experience may also be a cursor to the right direction. There are sometimes no boards on the floor and places devoid of carpet.

Explication
The word 'splinter' has the following meanings 'fragment',' chip', 'disintegrate' ,'fall part', 'silver' - all of these are applicable here. There are moments of falling apart, instances of disintegration. On the brighter side, there may also be moments of a 'silver'lining, equipping one with hope. There may be turnings as the corner brings in unexpected situations. On the other hand, there will also be turning points. The mother warns him that there should be no turning back, and no descending down the steps.This expression connotes that one should not lose hope or let one's past haunt him. One must not fall down losing one's balance. The son is advised that he must not descend back because of the simple reason that ascending the stairs is 'hard'..The mother still continues to climb that staircase of life with steel resolve and determination. Though the experience of life has not proved to be a crystal staircase for her.

“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes is a short twenty line poem that packs significant meaning in the short verse. Hughes uses an older female speaker to give advice to a son who is part of the younger generation.

In the poem Hughes uses the device of an extended metaphor to describe the life of the mother. The extended metaphor compares the mother’s life to a staircase. The line “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” begins and ends the poem. With this line, Hughes quickly establishes for the reader that the speaker in the poem has not had an easy life. The concept of a crystal staircase gives the reader the impression of complete opulence. Who might be the type of person whose life is compared to a crystal staircase? The reader can indulge in inferring that it would be someone with supreme wealth and someone who did not have to work as hard as the speaker did. By using the imagery of a crystal staircase as the opposite of her staircase, the reader immediately knows before learning any of the details of her staircase that she has not had an easy life.

Hughes then goes on to illustrate the staircase of life that the speaker has lived. The speaker’s staircase has splinters and tacks. Both of these would be symbolic of the mother having suffered many hurts. A splinter or a tack will not cause life threatening injury, but they certainly will cause pain. If the splinters and tacks are on every step along the way, it is symbolic that her life has always had pain.

Another descriptive detail of the mother’s staircase is that of boards being torn up. If a person walks on a staircase in which boards are missing, it gives the symbolic value that the mother’s life was filled with more dangerous situations than just tacks and splinters. It is symbolic that the mother has had gaping holes in her life that she had to somehow step over to arrive at the place in life that she is now. Not every step along the way was an safe one, but despite this she perseveres.

After describing the staircase of the mother, Hughes has the speaker address the son by saying that he should not sit down or fall down just because his staircase is hard to climb. In the mother’s eyes, the son should never give up. Instead he should see her as an example because it wasn’t easy for her, but she never gave up.

With the extended metaphor of a staircase as a symbol of the steps one takes in life, one can infer that as long as a person is living, there will be more steps to climb. It is like a precursor to the concept of the popular modern song lyric “stairway to heaven”. The mother is symbolically climbing the stairway to heaven and the path to heaven is not always an easy journey. The mother wants the son to know that heaven is worth working toward by taking life one step at a time, even if the stairs are full of tacks and splinters.

Hughes also illustrates the sense of identity in the speaker with the use of vernacular language. Hughes writes using the language that the mother would actually speak with. Some examples of the vernacular language include: ain’t, finds it’s kinder hard, and dropping the final “g” in words such as goin’ or turnin’. The use of vernacular language gives the sense that this is a less educated woman. The less grammatical language gives the sense that the speaker wants something better for the son, but she know he will still have to work for it.

The short free verse poem has no set rhythm, but Hughes uses line length to give emphasis to specific words and phrases. He uses the word “Bare” on a line by itself to emphasize the word’s symbolic meaning of alone. The shorter lines move faster when reading and other lines have a longer lasting meaning due to more words in the line.

Alliteration is spare in the poem but the line “Don’t you set down on the steps” uses two examples in repeating the “s” sound as well as the “d” sound. Hughes uses the device of repetition in lines 10-12 by beginning the lines with the word “And”. This helps to convey the impression of the speaker turning up new flights of stairs in life and reaching landings to pause before climbing on.

The poem “Mother to Son” is a rich example of an extended metaphor that allows the reader to think about what one personal staircase of life might be depicts as.

The poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes reminds me of a mother teaching her son the facts of life, but it can also be applicable to any parent that cares for their child. In the beginning of the poem the Mother tells her son, "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair" (line 2). Some believe that this statement in the poem is a biblical reference to the story of Jacob in Genesis 28. In this story, Jacob dreamed of a ladder on earth that went into the heavens, and on this ladder God's angels ascended and descended doing God's work. The fact that the Mother says "life for me ain't been no crystal stair" can mean that because of the life of turmoil that she has lived, she may not believe that God's angels are on earth doing his work (2). I think that the biblical reference is a good interpretation of the moral of the story, but I also believe that the statement may have another meaning. When I first read the poem, my first interpretation was that Hughes was using the crystal stair as a metaphor for an easy life. This interpretation also complements the first, because if God's angels are not on earth doing his work, this may be a reason that the Mother's life has not been easy.

Using either interpretation, it is clear to see that this Mother is trying get across to her son that life is not easy. She explains that life for her has not been effortless like ascending a beautiful crystal staircase. She has had a rough time; the steps of her staircase had "tacks," "splinters," and the "boards were all torn up" (3-5). This journey of hers to overcome the pains of racism was uncomfortable, and she tells her son that there was "no carpet on the floor" under her feet was "Bare" (6-7). Through all this, she has "been a-climbin' on, and reachin' landin's, and turnin' corners" (9-11). Through all her trials and tribulations, she has continued making progress.

The Mother tells her son that she has been "sometimes goin in the dark where there ain't been no light" (12-13). I interpreted this to mean that she and maybe black people in general have experienced the worst of times first, and maybe the load will be a little lighter for later generations. Towards the end of the poem, the Mother urges the son to climb the staircase of life, and tells him in a caring but stern motherly way, "don't you turn back" or "set down on the steps" (14-15). She ends giving him reassurance that she is still climbing, and she is up ahead of him paving the way.

I think that it was ingenious of Langston Hughes to write "Mother to Son" in African American Vernacular. The poem's message would not have been credible in "proper English," because most people who lived rough and tumble lives in 1922 did not have access to a formal education. I feel that by using the Vernacular, Hughes helps more people relate to the woman's struggle in the story. I know that I felt more connected reading the poem in the Vernacular.

It is not often that I am moved by a piece of literature, but this piece provoked many thoughts and emotions in me. I cried a lot while writing this paper, but it was a good cry. It was a very therapeutic cry, and I felt a weight was lifted off my shoulders afterwards. This poem touched me on many levels because it reminded me of my father, may God bless and rest his soul. My father was a very hard working black man, and I know that his journey through life was not easy. The hardships he faced most likely attributed to his short life; he passed away at the young age of 52. My father's life was not a crystal stair. I am sure that his staircase had tacks and splinters in it too, but he never looked back or took a rest and sat down on a step. He kept a constant ascent because he wanted to light the way for me and our family, so that we would not have to suffer as he did. If my father could come down and give me some last words of encouragement, I think it would go something like this poem: life for him was not a crystal stair, but he "kept a-climbin' on, and reachin' landin's" (9-10).