How Does Langston Hughes Uses The Theme Of Adversity In 'Mother To Son'

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“Mother to Son” is a poem that emphasizes the love and concern a mother has for her son and the life advice she bestows upon him. Langston Hughes conveys a theme of perseverance in the face of adversity through the use of imagery, extended metaphor and symbolism.
In “Mother to Son”, Langston Hughes uses a massive amount of imagery in order to really bring his poem to life. The speaker of the poem, the mother, describes her life in the second line, saying: “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair”. The imagery Hughes uses here is very specific because he wants the reader to imagine what a crystal staircase looks like sparkling like diamonds. Hughes then changes the reader’s image of the crystal staircase by having the speaker say, “It’s had