An Explication Of Langston Hughes' 'Mother To Son'

In the poem, “Mother to Son,” Langston Hughes writes about a mother that encourages her son to move forward in life, even when obstacles arise. The mother tells her story of the hardships that she was forced to endure in order to motivate her son to become the best that he can be. Throughout the poem, the author’s use of diction and rhetorical devices make the mother’s message more powerful to the reader.

Langston Hughes was a large influence on the African-American population of America. Some of the ways he did this was how his poetry influenced Martin Luther King Jr. and the Harlem Renaissance. These caused the civil rights movement that resulted in African-Americans getting the rights that they deserved in the United States. Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was young and his grandmother raised him. She got him into literature and education; she was one of the most important influences on him. He moved around a lot when he was young, due to his parents divorce, but remained a good student and graduated high school. After this he traveled the world and worked in different places, all the things he

The theme of the poem and short story is that parents only want the best for their children and they try their hardest to meet their children’s needs. In both readings, the parents always tried their hardest to care for their children no matter what situation they're in. In the poem, “Mother to Son”, the mother states that life for her hasn't been easy for her but she didn't give up and neither should her son. I see this in both the poem and short story. Both mothers don't think that their child should give up on their dreams so they would be successful in life and not have to go through what they went through. Langston Hughes describes how the mother's life has been using figurative language. He described that the mother’s life isn't

He explains, “I was only an American Negro—who had loved the surface of Africa—but I was not Africa. I was Chicago and Kansas City and Broadway and Harlem. I was not what she wanted me to be” (Hughes as quoted in Cobb 44). Hughes wants to make sure people are aware that the life and culture of African Americans differ drastically from the romantic view of the Negro in Africa. In his poem “Mother to Son,” Hughes provides the story of struggle, poverty overcame by hard work, and hope for a more dignified life for the entire African American people (Niemi 1). Hughes recognizes that despite being oppressed, the black community is strong enough to empower itself with determination to succeed. When discussing working-class life, Hughes consistently “asserts blacks as fully complex, fully human, and equals in the American democratic experiment” and does not play into the thought that blacks should be kept down (Sanders 107). Langston Hughes’ “concern for the lives and oppression of poor and working-class blacks” is apparent in most of his work (Sanders 107). Through his writing he makes the population aware of the deep-set oppression put upon the black community.

     On the road of life, many trials arise that one must overcome to make his or her life feel complete. In Langston Hughes’s poem, “Mother to Son,” these trials are a subject of concern for one mother. Hughes’ “ability to project himself” is seen in his use of dialect, metaphors, and tone (Barksdale 3).

“Mother to Son” , by Langston Hughes is based on the view of hope and inspiration to continue moving forward in life, regardless of difficulties, and no matter how hard life may be. The speaker in this poem is a mother who gives advice to her son. Since the mother has overcame challenges in life, she encourages her son to be fearless, face challenges and succeed in life. He includes rhetorical devices such as, figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and sound devices to make the points of being fearless, to face challenges, and succeed in life.

The poet, Langston Hughes, was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes’s grandmother was an activist for women’s education and rights. Both of Hughes’s parents were mulattos, meaning he had interracial maternal and paternal grandparents. Hughes writes about this situation in his poem titled, “Mulatto.” Hughes states things like “...a black mother and an uncaring white father” (Slovey and Howes 211). By using many writing styles and tools, Hughes gets his point across easier by making the reader feel like they’re in the moment of the poem. In Hughes’s poem, “Mother to Son,” a mother offers wisdom to her son and the younger generations using her way of language and old slang that connect them to each other’s life and hardships.

James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was very small, and his father (who found American racism made his desires to be a lawyer impossible) left the family and emigrated to Mexico. Hughes' mother moved with her child to Lawrence, Kansas, so she and he could live with his grandmother, Mary Langston.

And the poem “Mother to Son” is about how a mother is telling her son that she had to go through rough times like her son.She says she also keeps going no matter how difficult life gets.Both poems share the theme of overcoming obstacles in life. Both authors use figurative language for example,Tupac uses a Rose and Langston Hughes uses stairs to compare them to how hard life can be to develop the theme.

Many Americans did not know how and African American’s daily life went. Through Hughes’ writing he portrayed their lives to help show their desire and need for civil rights. In his poem, “Mother to Son”, a mother is talking to her son about how life is much harder for them, but that he must never give up, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair...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”(Lines 1, 17-20). Hughes has assumed the role of speaking for the black community and the way that they live. Rita Dove and Marilyn Nelson write in their work, “Langston Hughes and Harlem”, how Hughes gives other Americans a glimpse of their lives, “His work offers white readers a glimpse into the social and the personal lives of Black America;”(1152). Hughes uses the simple conversation between a mother and son to show the American people how much different and harder their lives

Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. He was named after his father, James Hughes, but was known as Langston. He was the only child from his parents James and Carrie Hughes. His parents were not married for long because of an unhappy marriage. When they separated, Langston was left with his mother, who left him behind to move from city to city to find work. Langston ended up living with his 70 year-old grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas. He lived with her until he was 13, and then he moved back with his mother in Lincoln, Kansas after his grandmother died in 1915.

Struggles of African Americans in Langston Hughes’ Poems, Mother to Son and Lenox Avenue: Midnight

According to Becky Bradley in American Cultural History, Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. Growing up, he dealt with some hard times. His parents divorced when he was little and he grew up with neither of his parents. Hughes was raised by his grandmother since his father moved to Mexico after their divorce and his mother moved to Illinois. It was when Hughes was thirteen that he moved out to Lincoln, Illinois to be reunited with his mother. This is where Hughes began writing poetry. However, the family moved again and finally settled in Cleveland, Ohio (Bradley, pars. 1-3).

Every mother would like to see her child succeed in life. The following passage from the poem, "Mother to Son", by Langston Hughes demonstrates the love and concern a mother has for her son. She teaches him using her own life as an example; her life as a climb up a staircase. The imagery from the advice given in the stanza is explicit and poignant:

The poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes is the story of a mother speaking of life’s hardships to her son. The poem starts off with the protagonist’s haunting words about the difficulty of life; however, as the story goes on, her words of despair become words of wisdom to her son on never giving up. Hughes organizes this poem by transitioning the tone from hopelessness to encouragement to convey the raw message that although life can be hard, anyone can reach their goals with effort.