Langston Hughes 'Poem Mother To Son'

under the pain or persevere under the decades of mistreatment as written in his resilient toned poem, Mother to Son. The effectiveness of the poem is emphasized on the unresolved conflict of the long-postponed and frustrated dream of African Americans. This can be seen as, “five of the six answers to the opening questions are interrogative rather than declarative sentences.” As the whole poem is rhetorically structured, it questions the “white race” for their treatment of the African American but also tells a story of the ‘black’ lives. The poetic devices of rhetorical questioning to the white race (or does it explode?), metaphors and similes referring to his people and underlining the obvious yet subtle comparison of the perspective of his race (does it stink like rotten meat?) show anger striking out. All these techniques
with added rhyme give a persuasive poem worth reading with the consistent subtle yet emphasized imagery’s that create an effective poem to audience of both races in America at that time but still carries a universal message of equality to the modern age.

Published in December 1922, Hughes poem ‘Mother to Son’ contains a poetic class due to the idiomatic language used.
The extended theme of perseverance and hope is accentuated through the devices of imagery for a black American that is deferred in the American dream and the extended metaphor of life being lived liked a staircase. A crystal stair, a perception of a perfect easy life is a distant dream that was far from reality for the mother of Langston. The inequality and
discrimination

African Americans suffered in Langston’s mother’s time period is seen as a major sacrifice and show of strength and perseverance that is told to the newer generations in time of struggle. Imagery of tacks, splinters, boards and bare floor whilst climbing life’s steep stairs represent the setbacks, discriminations and struggles of her life. A simple mothers expectation of her son is emphasized as she is seen ‘climbin on’ and ‘reachin landin’s’ leaving a platform to Hughes to be blessed with more opportunities but containing the knowledge of strength and perseverance and the hope to be courageous and bold in the face of the challenges in life. An empathetic touch of a mothers love and strength to give her all to her son adds value to the poem but sentimental value to an audience reading. The irregular musical pattern was written without any regular rhythm or formal rhyme scheme. There are a few lines of rhymes in the poem such as stair in the second line and bare in the seventh line but they perform inconsistently to be a full poem that rhymes. The dialect characterizes the poems theme of perseverance and struggle as an impression is given that the mother is less educated, especially repeated twice in ‘life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.’ The simplicity in the poem alongside the dialect really enforces the idea that the mother’s upbringing was tough. Shown in imagery through the metaphorical lines and similes, the poem is truly voiced through these techniques.

A hopeful man Hughes was.
The poems analysed above talk about racial discrimination, inequality and perseverance through the story of a brave loving mother. Even in an unfair world to the race of Hughes, his legacy remained great due to dream shared among many African Americans. Let America be America again conveys a message of wanting his land to embody liberty and freedom as it once did. He speaks on behalf of all the poor, slaved and starving people of the land who all shared a dream of being equal in America. Langston Hughes represented not only the African American races but all of the mistreated. He gave a message from the ones who struggled forcing
the