Mother To Son By Langston Hughes: Poem Analysis

Throughout one’s life, a person may consider giving up when “the going got tough”. These things can vary from little everyday tasks, to even one’s life. Although it might seem like the best and easiest option at the time, it’s important to ask yourself, “Is it worth giving up?” A lot of the time, it isn’t. Life can become very hard to live through, but the trait of perseverance is one of the strongest traits to have, and it’s important to keep pushing on no matter what happens. There are stories and writings of people who never gave up, despite having a very difficult or miserable time. These accounts have been recorded in an article, “The Lost Boys”, a poem, “Mother to Son”, and an illustration.

The theme of perseverance is never giving

A poem titled, “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, shows perseverance, not by direct context, but rather by the way Hughes was able to tell the audience that mother’s life was difficult by comparing it to a stairway. One of the best quotes out of the story is, “Don’t you fall now- Fir I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” The quote centers around the idea, that the mother’s life has not been easy, but that she has also refused to be beat and “thrown down the stairs”. She tells her son, that he shouldn’t give up, because she was able to make it through all the difficult times in her life, and that even now she continues to climb her stairs. This connects with the theme of perseverance because of the mother’s determination to not fall, and continue

The picture is a photo of two trapeze artist swinging and finally grabbing each other’s hands. The girl is say, “We’ve got it!” and the text at the bottom of the paper says, “It’s the previous 382 attempts you become ‘a natural’.” Piecing it together, this means that the girl and guy in the picture have failed 381 times before they were able to finally complete their task. This picture fits perfectly with the theme of perseverance, and it just says one sentence. To break down the picture, the first thing to note, is the two friends inside it. These two people symbol how friendship can help you make it through difficult problem. The next part of the picture to note, is what they’re doing. The two of them are trapeze-artist. This is a very daring and dangerous job. You could end up falling and getting hurt, and it’s obvious that most people would feel really scared while doing this. This symbolizes how problems might be dangerous or even scary to go through, but persistence will help you conquer your fears and master the problem. The final part to analyze, is the text itself. Like said above, the continuance of pushing through difficult task, despite failure, will help you become great at it. The text however, says ‘a natural’. This means that sometimes, even when you do get it right, but something was a little off, going back and fixing it will be more beneficial for self-mastery, and boosting your overall