Mother To Son Literary Devices

Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in the 1920s? The two works I chose to do this essay on are “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes and “next to of course god america I” by E.E Cummings. The theme developed in these poems is that if you stay in the box and follow society’s expectations then you will face disillusionment from reality. This is shown through many literary devices used throughout both of the poems. For instance, Mother to Son is the mother talking to her son directly about the hardships that he may have to face and she tries to prepare him for his future which causes disillusionment. The multiple devices used will be shown in the following paragraphs.

One literary device that I found in “Mother to Son” is a metaphor.

This is shown when E.E Cummings states “why talk of beauty what could be more beautiful than these heroic happy dead”. (Stanza 9-10) This shows how people in the early ages wanted to be heroic and have glory and if they weren’t protecting their country then they were probably judged for it. They were pressured to follow into society’s footsteps as that is what was considered important back then. In “Mother to Son '' this is shown when she states “But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark. Where there ain’t been no light. So boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps.” (Stanza 8-15) The mother is trying to portray to the son that she never gave up no matter the hard circumstances she faced so she wants him to be resilient and face his fears and try to do something positive with his life. She also is writing it in a more casual tone so it’s written from her perspective. She is trying to give him the confidence to move further in life and resist the stereotypes that society wants to push on him. She wants him to be confident like she is and to look fear in the face and

As you progress through the poem it is more and more obvious that the author is using verbal irony. This is shown because in the beginning of the poem he seems to be a very patriotic person but as you get to the end you see that they are using irony to show that their patriotic personality is lacking. It is also shown when they state “and are no more of what of it we should worry in every language even deafanddumb” (Stanza 5-6) which implies that the person is implying that people are following blindly the standards society stands for them which he thinks differently and wants to create his own path. Lastly, the “Mother to Son” dialect is used by the mother stating “‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard. Don’t you fall now – For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.” (Stanza 16-20) This shows how the mother spoke to the son and she wanted to make sure that he didn’t give up on his goals and get broken down by society. She fought her life to be able to make it where she wanted to be and still tried to climb the ladder to hopefully one day being successful. She also seems to learn more the more she tries different things in order to fulfill her