Mother To Son by Langston Hughes

A piece of wisdom given from a mother to a son. Langston Hughes, whose full name was James Mercer Langston Hughes, was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He was the only son of James Nathaniel Hughes and Carrie Mercer Langston. Langston Hughes wrote from 1926 to 1967. In that time he wrote more than 60 books, including poems, novels, short stories, plays , childrens poetry, musicals, operas, and autobiographies. He was the first African American to support himself as a writer, and he wrote from his own experience. He wrote this poem Mother to Son where the mother is giving her son advice on how to overcome potential obstacles and hardships that he might face during his life. The mother fights against all hardships and tells her son that determination and perseverance are very essential in life.

Wow! That was a wonderful poem of yours. Now if you dont mind, can you summarize your poem for me? The poem is a conversation between a mother and son. The mother who has suffered a lot in life is explaining to her son that her life was not very beautiful and easy going. The poem explains the obstacles that came in her way while she was making her way to reach to the top. The stairs are compared to the way of life she had lead and is opposite of crystal stairs which has no difficulties. Her stairs had splinters and tacks and this shows symbolically how she has suffered in her life. Her stairs had torn boards which again shows how her life was filled with dangerous situations and the torn boards which left holes in the stairs were like gaps in her life which she had to cross over to arrive safely. Challenges were like tacks and splinters and torn boards. All of which will make climbing the 'stairs of life' more difficult. She continues explaining to her son that despite all the tacks and splinters that came in her way, she still kept going on and never looked back. Finally, in the end she feels that life does not give everything in a silver platter but we should earn it by our hard work and dedication. I repeat this message very clearly that life is never easy, you will have to keep faith and keep going and never give up.

As this poem was from a mother to a son, what was your message and why is it important to you? The message I wanted to convey from this poem is to never give up, but rather push forward and don't ever expect things in life to be handed to you. The mother explains that nothing was ever given to her and that life for her was filled with countless obstacles and challenges. For example in the poem I wrote: Life for me aint been no crystal stair this shows the mother explaining to her son that her life has not been very beautiful or easy for her. Its had tacks in it, and splinters, the tacks and splinters are hazards that can cause pain, just like hazards in life. And boards torn up, The torn up boards represent obstacles, damage and hardships in life. But, despite the obstacles, the mother explains to her son that he must keep going and overcome the splinters and broken boards that get in the way to of his progression. The quotes, But all the time, I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's,

And turnin' corners, push the ideas of endurance in life and trying new things to achieve her goal. Another example is, And sometimes going in the dark where there aint been no light. Since she went through a tough life, she doesnt want her son to have a hard life. This message is important for me as it taught me many things in life like never give up, keep going, keep faith in yourself despite all obstacles that come in your way. These messages helped and motivated me.

Now that I have understood your message very clearly, what symbols did you use to bring your message across the audience? In line two of Mother to Son, I wrote Life for me aint been no crystal stair. This line from my poem shows that I have compared a crystal stair case with life. Therefore the one and only symbol I used was a crystal stair case. Tacks and splinters are other small symbols I used to show how these are dangerous obstacles that come in the way of your progression.

People compare life with many different things but what is your purpose of comparing a crystal staircase to life? As you know life is represented as a staircase in my poem, and the mother in the poem refers to the more fortunate ones as having crystal stairs. By using the imagery of a crystal staircase which is the opposite of her staircase, I get to know that she has not had an easy life. A crystal staircase is a life which is not faced with difficulties and life was easy going and perfect but the mothers stairs were opposite of crystal staircase with many splinters and gaping holes and broken boards which tells us the life she has lead was filled with difficulties and challenges. I have used a crystal stair case to represent life as stairs are used by everyone to show the progress made during their life span. The staircase symbolizes exactly how life was for the mother. I have clearly explained through my poem how the mothers life had not been a crystal stair. Which means that life for her was not very easy to climb instead had many obstacles like splinters and tacks in it. Then she explains that no matter how many obstacles come in the way, dont stop climbing, and keep walking. These quotes, And sometimes goin in the dark, Where there aint been no light, So, boy, dont you turn back, Dont you set down on the steps, makes me remember how my mother explained to me not to lose courage, fight and to keep going. Going in the dark can represent courage and faith. No light represents unexplored and new places. Basically, this one symbol is used throughout the poem explaining that life is more of a staircase with splinters, tacks, and boards all torn up.

Every poet uses different poetic devices to enhance their poems. How did you use poetic devices ( eg: metaphors/extended metaphor and imagery) to convey your message? The metaphor that I used throughout the entire poem is the crystal staircase. The extended metaphor in this poem is compared with the uphill climb that represents life. Finally, I have included a lot of imagery in the poem. I wanted people to really be able to

visualize what I am saying which is why I added a lot of details. The descriptions of tacks and splinters, and the image of the crystal stair itself, are very specific and allow you to visualize the difficulties that were faced by the mother. I have used strong vocabulary and words like, "Climbin'," "reachin'," "turnin'" and "goin which shows that inspite of difficulties, challenges, hurdles in life, we have to be positive and never lose hope and get shattered but take all these as climbing steps to reach our goal in life (destination).

All the poems written by you have been accepted by the audience and have made them think, accordingly from this one what do you intend for people to feel or think while reading? I wrote Mother to Son with the intentions of creating a poem about a loving mother passing on advice and wisdom to a much younger son who may be coming into some struggles in the future. I want people to think that despite any obstacles that come in your way, you need to still keep going. I want people to be able to feel the motherly love that is shown in this poem. People need to understand the message that is in the poem and not stop but follow it and never be disheartened in life as every new day brings new hope in life. Like there is a sunrise after every sunset, there is happiness after every sadness and there is success after every failure. Failures are the steps for success. Also, I would like people to connect this poem with their lives. This is a very important message which everyone should know, so I would like people to understand the message in the poem and hopefully follow it too.

Thank you, hope you all are inspired by the amazing author Langston Hughes.