Life for some will be an uphill battle. We never want to see our children suffer and we try to prepare them or guide them the best we can as parents. In Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son," and Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl," the mothers play a somewhat harsh role to infix and prepare their child for a life of struggle. In each of these stories, you will read the mother telling them how to act or what to expect in life or certain situations. Hughes’ story is a mother telling her young son about the struggles she has overcome. In Kincaid’s story, you will read a young woman preparing to become a wife.
Hughes’ story really touched and moved me. The metaphors used painted such a vivid picture and had no troubles understanding or feeling her story. The first metaphor, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” represents how rough her life was and the endeavor she went through. Another verse the author wrote, “I’se been a climbin’ on, and reachin’ landin’s, and turnin’ corners…”, this to me means the mother has persevered through all the obstacles that she has faced. In the poem, she references her son and she wants to make sure he understands what
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It was strange for me to think the ‘girl’s’ mother was not very confident her daughter would grow up as a respectful young woman in which a gentleman would want to marry. I kept reading this short as if the mother was going to sell her daughter and needed to impress the buyers. The line “cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil”, depicted the vision of a mother showing her daughter how to cook to impress a man. They say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. As for the line, “this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all”, this depicted a vision of how a nice lady would act with morals. The mother in this story is very well bent and determined her daughter is amongst the best of the best and is adamant on her daughter growing up very well and makes a well-rounded