Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son” Poem

Mother to Son is a narrative poem written by Langston Hughes, an American poet, novelist, and playwright. The poem is constructed in the form of a monologue of a mother addressing her son. She states that life has been hard for her and compares overcoming the struggles to climbing stairs. In spite of everything, she continued to move forward, even when she felt like surrendering. Mother wants to inspire her son to keep fighting because she has never stopped doing that.

One of the major themes Hughes explores in this work is the view of race. Mother employs an extended metaphor of climbing stairs to describe the hardships that Black people have to face in a racist American society. “Crystal stair” is symbolic of a light and smooth climb up the social levels accessible to white people, while Blacks have to surmount obstacles – “tacks”, “splinters”, “boards torn up” – to succeed (Hughes 1994, 2-5). In general, in his poetry, Hughes constantly uses metaphors to articulate cultural concepts of whiteness and blackness.¹ With the help of these concepts, he shows the reader how tough it is for a Black person to live in a white society.

Another prominent theme in Mother to Son is the view of courage and hope. The poem explores one’s fortitude and willingness to stay positive in the face of adversity. Mother proudly states that “all the time [she’s] been a-climbin’ on”, even if sometimes there was no hope (Hughes 1994, 8-9). Hughes demonstrates that Black people are not always the victims of circumstances and they have the mental strength to cope with what life throws at them.² Mother hopes to inspire her son to follow her example and confront all the challenges with determination.

In that regard, the poem promotes one of the key biblical principles: living with faith. Even in bad times – “goin’ in the dark/Where there ain’t been no light” – Mother continued to believe in the better future (Hughes 1994, 12-13). Moreover, she keeps on doing that – “For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin” – in spite of everything she has been through (Hughes 1994, 18-19). According to Bible, faith gives one strength to do that: “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:38). Thus, Mother to Son encourages one to have faith and never surrender.

References

Al-Ramahi, Raed Awad, Radzuwan Ab Rashid, Omar Ali Al-Smadi, and Hanita Hanim Ismail. “The discursive strategies used by Langston Hughes in the construction of whiteness and blackness.” Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies 17, no. 1 (2021): 662-674.

Bible Gateway. “John 7:38”.

Hughes, Langston. “Mother to son.” The collected poems of Langston Hughes 30 (1994).

Footnotes

1. Raed Awad Al-Ramahi, Radzuwan Ab Rashid, Omar Ali Al-Smadi, and Hanita Hanim Ismail. “The discursive strategies used by Langston Hughes in the construction of whiteness and blackness.” Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies 17, no. 1 (2021): 662.
2. Al-Ramahi et al., “The discursive strategies”, 667.