HCCS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

ENGLISH COMPULSORY

MOTHER TO SON BY LANGSTON HUGHES

Well, son, I‟ll tell you:
Life for me ain‟t been no crystal stair. (Metaphor / Allusion)
It‟s had tacks in it, (Symbolism / Metaphor)
And splinters, (Anaphora) (Symbolism / Metaphor
And boards torn up, (Symbolism / Metaphor
And places with no carpet on the floor— (Imagery)
Bare.
But all the time
I‟se been a-climbin‟ on,
And reachin‟ landin‟s,
And turnin‟ corners,
And sometimes goin‟ in the dark (Enjambment)
Where there ain‟t been no light. (Consonance)
So boy, don‟t you turn back. (Assonance)
Don‟t you set down on the steps
‟Cause you finds it‟s kinder hard.
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.

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INTRODUCTION:

„Mother to Son‟ by Langston Hughes uses the metaphor of a staircase to depict the difficulties
and dangers one will face in life. In his dramatic monologue (self-conversation, speech, or
talks which include an interlocutor presented dramatically) “Mother to Son,” Langston Hughes
shows a mother teaching her son how to succeed in life full of racism. She advises him that she
has faced tough obstacles in her life. The main ideas of the poem are the obstacles that racism
poses and the ways to cope with such a life to achieve success.

A dramatic monologue has these common features in them.

 A single person delivering a speech on one aspect of his life

 The audience may or may not be present
 Speaker reveals his temperament and character only through his speech

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The poem contains a mother‟s warning to her son about the stairs one is forced to climb
throughout life. He must watch out for broken boards, splinters, and tacks. These things are
there in order to throw him off. Additionally, she explains that although he might get
exhausted or desperate, he is never to turn around or sit down. She is still trudging up the
stairs, and he can get too.

THEME AND CENTRAL IDEA:

“Mother to Son” poem by Langston Hughes teaches a lesson to those people who get scared
of hardships in life. And, loose hopes to overcome from their hardships. This poem
demonstrates that if we have strong determination and courage then we can win any race in
this world no matter how rough is our way.

STRUCTRE AND FORM:

‘Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes is a twenty-line poem that is contained within

one stanza of text. Hughes composed the text in free verse. This means that there is no
pattern of rhyme or rhythm. That does not mean that the word choices are unimportant. In
fact, they are lyrical in nature. This can be seen through Hughes‟ thoughtful selection of words
that reflect a specific dialect and examples of half-rhyme throughout the text.

LITERARY DEVICES:

literary devices are tools that enable writers to present their ideas, emotions, and feelings with
the use of these devices. Langston has also employed some literary devices in this poem to
show the courage and optimism of a mother. The analysis of some of the literary devices used
in this poem is given below.

 Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the
sound of /o/ in “So boy, don‟t you turn back”.

 Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such
as the sound of /t/ and /r/ in “Where there ain‟t been no light”.

 Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things with their five senses. For
example, “Life for me ain‟t been no crystal stair”, “And places with no carpet on the
floor” and “Don‟t you set down on the steps.”

 Allusions: Allusion is a belief and an indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea
of a historical, cultural, political or literary significance. He used this device in the
opening line of the poem, such as “Crystal Stair” which refers to Jacob‟s stair from the
Old Testament in The Bible.

 Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made

between objects different in nature. Langston used an extended metaphor to compare
the mother‟s life to a staircase throughout the poem.

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  Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them
symbolic meanings different from literal meanings. Similarly, “Staircase” symbolizes
hardships. It also symbolizes the life that we spend.

 Enjambment: Enjambment refers to the continuation of a sentence without a pause

beyond the end of a line, couplet or stanza, such as,

“Don‟t you set down on the steps

‟Cause you finds it‟s kinder hard.”

IMPORTANT Q/As:
Q1. Who is speaking in the poem and to whom are the words addressed?

A. A mother is speaking in the poem and her words are addressed to her son.

Q2. What kind of life has the mother led? What does she compare her life to?

A. The mother has led a struggle some life. She explains the hard and harsh experiences of
her life to her son. She shares the cruel reality that she has never led a luxurious, comfortable
or a beautiful life as it might appear to her son. She compares her life not to be like a crystal
staircase, and states that it has always been full of tacks, splinters and torn up boards.
According to her, she went through difficult times, trying to live with the bare minimum that
she had. There was no one to guide her yet she kept climbing the stairs of life. Even today, the
hopeless and helpless situations do not demotivate her. There is hope yet in her life and she
boldly determine to face the challenges.

Q3. What does the speaker encounter on the stairs?

A. The speaker encounters tacks, splinters, holes, bare boards and patches of darkness on
the stairs.

Q4. Why do you think she is telling her son about her life in this way?

A. She is telling her son about her life in this way because she wishes to share her
experience and encourage him to never give up.

Q5. Even though there have been obstacles in the way what has the speaker done
to continue her journey?

A. Even though there have been obstacles in the way she has kept climbing up to continue
her journey.

Q6. What three pieces of advice does the speaker give the boy?

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A. The three pieces of advice that the speaker gives the boy are:

 Don't turn back.

 Don't sit down.
 Don't fall.

Q7. Which line is the shortest? Why do you think the poet made this line so short?

A. 'Bare' is the line which is the shortest. The poet made this line so short as 'bare' stresses
the importance to be patient and calm during the hardships.

Q8. Explain the metaphor in the line, "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair." What
do metaphors such as tacks, splinters and boards torn up suggest?

A. According to the above line, the poet highlights that the mother's life has never been a
"crystal stair" for her. It had lots of gaps, splinters (obstacles) and places without carpet.
Despite these hinderances, she had managed to move ahead. The ragged staircase that she
climbed had twists and turns, uneven surfaces etc. which she faced boldly, without any
apprehensions and achieved most of her goals of life. Similarly, she wants her son to conjure
up an idea in him that one should not give up hard work to reach his destination. Tacks,
splinters and boards torn apart means pointed objects and ragged paths that make the journey
uncomfortable.

Q9. What sense do you get about the son's character? What impact do the mother's
advice have on him?

A. The son here seems to be a skeptical, frail hearted and fickle minded. He seems to have
lost hope and confidence. At this juncture, his mother advises him to be strong and move
ahead to achieve the result. Through her experiences, she tries to pillar him to strive hard and
constantly keep working without being worried about result. Probably, his confidence is uplifted
and he determines to work hard.

Q10. What is the tone and mood of the speaker?

A. The speaker through this poem highlights the racial oppression faced by the blacks in
America. The mother seems to be quite optimistic inspite of a troublesome life that she has
already experienced. She wants her son to keep on striving hard towards his goal and never
look back or give up helplessly. The poem appears to be sad yet an inspiring one and
motivates the readers to believe in hard work rather than to nurture hope.

Q11. Read and answer the questions:

It's had tacks in it, And splinters,

(a) What does the word "tacks' refer to in this line?

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A. The word 'tacks' refer to nails or pins spread on the poet's path of life. They basically
refer to all the hinderances that he might face in his life.

(b) Why do you think did the mother advise her son?

A. The mother advised her son because she saw him losing hope in his life. She did this so
that he could gain confidence to bounce back from his failures.

(c) What was the speaker's life full of?

A. The speaker's life was full of tacks and splinters.

Q12. Read and answer the questions:

So boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps.

(a) Who is the speaker of the above lines?

A. The mother is the speaker of the above line.

(b) Who is referred to as 'boy' in the above line? What does the speaker ask the boy
to do?

A. 'Boy' is referred to the son of the mother. She advises him not to turn back and step
down from his path towards success.

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