Mother to Son Analysis

Bibliography

Coghlan, Michael. Washing Dishes. Digital image. Wikimedia. Wikimedia Commons, 4 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 May 2016.

Denyer, Circe. Staircase In Ruins. Digital image. Public Domain Pictures. Bobek Ltd., n.d. Web. 18 May 2016.

Hughes, Langston, Arnold Rampersad, and David E. Roessel. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Knopf, 1994. Print.

Kubrick, Stanley. African American Children at Table. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikimedia, n.d. Web. 18 May 2016.

Poor, Drunk Man in Park. Digital image. Pixabay. N.p., 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 18 May 2016.

Street Scene in Harlem. Digital image. Wikimedia. Wikimedia Commons, June 1943. Web. 18 May 2016.

Vechten, Carl. Langston Hughes photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1936. Digital image. Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2016.

White-Only Coca-Cola Machine. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 1943. Web. 18 May 2016.

Purpose & Theme

1. Purpose: To persuade and encouraged the reader never to give up even when life isn't easy. He commnuicates this thorugh an unfinished story between a mother and son

2. Thematic subjects: Perseverance, determination, tenacity through hardships, living through difficulties in life

3. Historically, the "staircase" that the mother describes is similar to the houses of poor African Americans that lived after the Civil War. It demonstrates that the "staircase"/journey of life for African Americans was painful during a time of oppression, and Hughes paints that picture to the reader.

4. The poem ends in an encouraging end, advising the son never to give up in a situation like the mother lived through.

5. Even when all probabilities are against him, the mother encourages him to fight in the face of an obstacle

Denyer, Circe. Staircase In Ruins. Digital image. Public Domain Pictures. Bobek Ltd., n.d. Web. 18 May 2016.

Literary Analysis

1 Well, son, I’ll tell you:

2 Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

3 It’s had tacks in it,

4 And splinters,

5 And boards torn up,

6 And places with no carpet on the floor—

7 Bare.

8 But all the time

9 I’se been a-climbin’ on,

10 And reachin’ landin’s,

11 And turnin’ corners,

12 And sometimes goin’ in the dark

13 Where there ain’t been no light.

14 So boy, don’t you turn back.

15 Don’t you set down on the steps

16 ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

17 Don’t you fall now—

18 For I’se still goin’, honey,

19 I’se still climbin’,

20 And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

1. Extended metaphor of the crystal stair prevails throughout the entire poem (2-22)

2. It resembles the American Dream, success, and a succesful life

3. African Americans were suppressed in society, making the path to the "American Dream" extremely difficult

4. Hughes demonstrates this obstacle in lines 3-7

5. Allegory is another device that relates the stairs to a person's life journey. The mother's journey is painful and difficult, but she fights on to reach the top.

6. The tone is encouraging and reminds the reader to look past hardships and continue moving up

7. Biblical allusion: Jacob's ladder connected earth and heaven, and was commonly preached among African American communities during the Civil War

Whites-Only Coca-Cola Machine. Digital image. Flickr. N.p., 1943. Web. 18 May 2016.

Structural Analysis

1. No rhyme scheme and an irregular meter makes the poem feel more like a genuine conversation

2. The dialect represents vernacular speech commonly found in Harlem

3. The dialect shows that the woman is uneducated and perhaps poor

3. Through a biographical lens, the poem's structure is a reflection of society & Hughes' life (divorce, oppression)

4. Alliteration/Repetition - "Don’t you turn back...don't you set down...don't you fall back" (14-17) emphasizes importance of perseverance to the son

Street Scene in Harlem. Digital image. Wikimedia. Wikimedia Commons, June 1943. Web. 18 May 2016.

Summary

Mother to Son

1. Conversation between mother and son

2. The speaker is the mother who had a difficult life

3. The son is perhaps going through a difficult time: "Don’t you set down on the steps" (15).

4. She fought against her troubles and did not fall back - a major theme is perseverance against probability

Poor, Drunk Man in Park. Digital image. Pixabay. N.p., 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 18 May 2016.

Introduction

by Langston Hughes

1. Empowering African American poet

2. Wrote about the struggles against poverty, discrimination, racism

3. Wrote in the point of view of African Americans

4. Revered during the Harlem Renaissance

An analysis by Tommy Larsen

Vechten, Carl. Langston Hughes photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1936. Digital image. Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2016.

Kubrick, Stanley. African American Children at Table. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikimedia, n.d. Web. 18 May 2016.