Mother To Son Literary Devices
Jack Ma once said, “Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.” Life is guaranteed to have some degree of difficult. Everyone comes across obstacles in their life that make them want to just give up and stop moving forward. The poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes shows a mother describing how life, “ain’t been no crystal stair,” (line 2). As the poem continues the mother describes how her life has been difficult as she says, “It’s had tacks in it… and places with no carpet on the floor- Bare.” (Lines 3, 6, 7). The mother then begins to tell her son to not turn back, or give up, when life decides to throw adversity his way, because life was not good to her and she came out okay. This poem is based on the idea of hope, and encouragement to always keep moving forward despite all the difficulties of life.
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Throughout the poem “Mother to Son” Hughes uses a number of different literary devices such as imagery, extended metaphors, repetition, and local vernacular.
As the poem begins the reader can infer that the mother in the poem was born into poverty as the lines from the poem say, “And boards torn up… and places with no carpet on the floor,” (lines 5, 6). This shows the reader that the mother has experienced hazardous situations, in which she had to overcome in order to be where she is. As the poem continues it uses an extended metaphor to compare the mother’s life to a staircase, with the repetition of, “Life ain’t been no crystal stair,” (line 2). The poem also uses local vernacular to help the reader understand the tone of the mother’s voice. As she is giving the son advice, “So boy don’t you turn back,” (line 14), it a loving but stern tone. Hughes wrote the poem in this tone of voice in order to reflect the love that the mother has for her son. She then motivates him to never give up because of his failures. Instead she motivates him to always move forward just as she
did. Throughout life, everyone will have to face difficulties. There will be times of light and times of darkness, but people are not defined by these times. People are defined by whether or not they choose to move forward and not give up. Therefore, even if life, “Ain’t no crystal stair,” (line 2) everyone must keep moving forward to make the best of life.
Throughout the poem “Mother to Son” Hughes uses a number of different literary devices such as imagery, extended metaphors, repetition, and local vernacular.
As the poem begins the reader can infer that the mother in the poem was born into poverty as the lines from the poem say, “And boards torn up… and places with no carpet on the floor,” (lines 5, 6). This shows the reader that the mother has experienced hazardous situations, in which she had to overcome in order to be where she is. As the poem continues it uses an extended metaphor to compare the mother’s life to a staircase, with the repetition of, “Life ain’t been no crystal stair,” (line 2). The poem also uses local vernacular to help the reader understand the tone of the mother’s voice. As she is giving the son advice, “So boy don’t you turn back,” (line 14), it a loving but stern tone. Hughes wrote the poem in this tone of voice in order to reflect the love that the mother has for her son. She then motivates him to never give up because of his failures. Instead she motivates him to always move forward just as she
did. Throughout life, everyone will have to face difficulties. There will be times of light and times of darkness, but people are not defined by these times. People are defined by whether or not they choose to move forward and not give up. Therefore, even if life, “Ain’t no crystal stair,” (line 2) everyone must keep moving forward to make the best of life.