Mother To Son By Langston Hughes

African Americans resorted to poems when faced with hardships. In the poem “mother to son” by Langston Hughes African Americans are depicted as an oppressed and inferior minority due to racism through figurative language, sound devices, and imagery in December 1922. His life experiences have been shown throughout his poems, and he has adapted the persona of a mother to share his experiences.

Hughes wrote about a crystal stair as an extended metaphor, with the journey as an African American struggle. He used polysyndeton to mirror the climbing of stairs. He used “And” at the beginning of successive lines 6 times. This echoes the biblical story of Jacob’s Ladder, which in this case would represent the path of freedom and liberation for African

Hughes uses colloquial language for the mother in the poem such as “Cause you find it’s kinder hard.” This kind of language gives the impression the mother has come from a rural, less educated area, showing how her circumstances might not allow for financial prosperity although she is shown to be determined in almost every line. This also gives an authentic voice to the mother and mimics authentic speech. Additionally, the use of action verbs help to emphasize the struggles of African Americans. Hughes uses the verbs “ climbin’ ”, “ reachin’ ”, “ turnin’ “ and “goin’ “ in successive lines. This diction conveys a sense of struggle and effort required for the mother to keep moving forward as she is not as privileged as others. Finally, Hughes writes this poem un-rhymed, and varying in beats from line to line. The number of syllables vary from 1 syllable in line 7 “bare” to 10 in line 20. Aside from capturing the normal variations of speech, the irregular structure of this poem with longer or shorter lines captures setbacks, turns, and uneven progress of the speaker on her life’s

The mother compares the life of an oppressed black person to the stairs. She says, “It’s had tacks in it, / And splinters, / And boards torn up, / And places with no carpet on the floor— / Bare.” These lines evoke the image of the crowded multi-occupancy buildings where poor and disadvantaged African Americans were forced to live in the northern cities, particularly after the Civil War when many left the South due to terrifying social condition. This dereliction juxtaposes the smooth white stairs to tacks and splinters to contrast between an ideal life and harsh reality. The mother is born into poverty. The imagery reveals “And boards torn up,/And places with no carpet on the floor.” This indicates that she needed to step over these boards and places with no carpet to still be surviving today, or else she would end up like many African Americans, dead or in jail. This is a use of metaphor, comparing her life to the real life standard of housing she lived in. While climbing the stairs in the poem, the mother may have been depressed or in a very bad mood. She says “sometimes goin’ in the dark / Where there ain’t been no light.” The imagery of darkness conveys the idea of being without hope, adding on to her struggle in being where she is today, as well as uncertainty with where she is headed in life. The mother continues to emphasize how dar she came. “I’se