Mother To Son Analysis

Langston Hughes’ poem “Mother to Son” dramatizes the conflict between perseverance and conceding in life, as depicted in the conversation between a mother and her son. The first line of the poem “ Well, son…” indicates that the mother has been asked a questions about the tribulations of life by her son and responded endearingly to him in an effort t explain that life has pit falls but you must never give up, instead you should continue climbing the ladder of success. The speaker informs her son that life was not smooth uphill climb, when she stated “life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” (2). In fact it has been hurtful, painful, cold and sometimes filled with rejection as indicated by the speaker by using the words tacks, splinters boards torn up and carpet less floors, bare (3-5). Nevertheless, she continued on the road of life making strides but never once entertained the idea of quitting …show more content…
The image illustrates she did not have wealth as a result her life was not a smooth climb to where she is now, quite the opposite she is poor and has to fight and climb the treacherous stairway to achieve her goals. Langston Hughes stresses the importance of determination by using assonance as exemplified in lines nine through eleven with the use of the words ‘a- climbin/ reachin’/ landin/ turnin/goin, they convey a journey to the top of the staircase notwithstanding all the difficulties and uncertainty (“…goin in the dark/ where there ain’t been no light”) (12-13) she encountered . She further offered her wisdom by insisting “Boy, don’t you turn back/ don’t you sit down on the steps/ cause you find it kinder hard/don’t you fall down”. The anaphora in the lines mentioned above is ‘ don’t’ which conveys that he is not allowed to have the struggles of life defeat him, rather he is to exude resiliency and courage she same way she