Hardships Expressed in Hughes On the Road and Mother to Son
African-American citizens who live in the United States have experienced a tough life through personal experiences. They have struggled to obtain basic civil rights--a struggle that has spanned many centuries (Mabunda 311).
Langston Hughes, author of the short story "On the Road" and the poem "Mother to Son," often illustrated in his writing the hardships experienced by the characters--products of African American life in the United States. While Hughes and other young African-American authors wanted to define and celebrate black art and culture, they were also responsible for changing the preconceived notions of most Americans' erroneous ideas of black life (Mabunda 696). The cultural aspects of Hughes' poems exhibited life as an African-American in the late 1910s to the early 1960s. His views, like many writers in his era, came directly from personal experience, which provided the reader with a sense of communication that illustrated--with art rather than essay--the ills of the racist world. L. Mpho Mabunda proclaims that the issues and grim realities of the African-American "could be experienced through the lives of characters and in verse, and the message delivered more subtly and effectively" (696).
The overall theme and purpose of "On the Road" and "Mother to Son" are centered around an illustration of the hardships experienced by most African-American citizens in the early part of the century. Both genres graphically detail the lifestyle and environment in which the African-American lived. In the 20th century, many of the black communities in America have existed in a perpetual state of crisis ("Black American"). According to Kenneth Clark in his add...
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Hughes, Langston. "Mother to Son." Bridges: Literature across Cultures. Eds. Gilbert H. Muller and John A. Williams. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. 52.
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Langston Hughes wrote during a very critical time in American History, the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes wrote many poems, but most of his most captivating works centered around women and power that they hold. They also targeted light and darkness and strength. The Negro Speaks of Rivers and Mother to Son, both explain the importance of the woman, light and darkness and strength in the African-American community. They both go about it in different ways.
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Chapter 2: Canada’s Physical Base emphasizes reasoning for which its physical geography attributes to its regional geography, along with the population distribution and developing core regions. This chapter outlines main geological structure, landforms, climate, and impact on human a...
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...on American soil, they were treated with disrespect and forced into a life of servitude and pain. However, they were able to change adapt and find hope even when it didn’t seem as though there was any to be found. The African American culture has been greatly shaped around what their ancestors were put through and the struggles that they endured. The pain and suffering that was inflicted among them will never be forgotten and will forever be apart of the African American culture.
1920’s Harlem was a time of contrast and contradiction, on one hand it was a hotbed of crime and vice and on the other it was a time of creativity and rebirth of literature and at this movement’s head was Langston Hughes. Hughes was a torchbearer for the Harlem Renaissance, a literary and musical movement that began in Harlem during the Roaring 20’s that promoted not only African-American culture in the mainstream, but gave African-Americans a sense of identity and pride.
Langston Hughes was probably the most well-known literary force during the Harlem Renaissance. He was one of the first known black artists to stress a need for his contemporaries to embrace the black jazz culture of the 1920s, as well as the cultural roots in Africa and not-so-distant memory of enslavement in the United States. In formal aspects, Hughes was innovative in that other writers of the Harlem Renaissance stuck with existing literary conventions, while Hughes wrote several poems and stories inspired by the improvised, oral traditions of black culture (Baym, 2221). Proud of his cultural identity, but saddened and angry about racial injustice, the content of much of Hughes’ work is filled with conflict between simply doing as one is told as a black member of society and standing up for injustice and being proud of one’s identity. This relates to a common theme in many of Hughes’ poems: that dignity is something that has to be fought for by those who are held back by segregation, poverty, and racial bigotry.
Hughes, Langston. "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)." Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River. Prentice, 2002. 534.
Hughes, Langston. The Negro mother, and other dramatic recitations. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1971. Print.
The comparison between two poems are best analyzed through the form and meaning of the pieces. “Mother to Son” and “Harlem (A Dream Deferred)” both written by the profound poet Langston Hughes, depicts many similarities and differences between the poems. Between these two poems the reader can identify his flow of writing through analyzing the form and meaning of each line.
Langston Hughes', "On the Road," uses beautiful symbolism and imagery. He offers a gift to his readers: Open your heart and life will provide unlimited abundance. During this literary analysis, we will take a look at how Hughes uses nature to demonstrate his main character's unwillingness to participate in life. Another point we'll examine is the use of anger and survival and how it can be used as a powerful force in breaking down racial barriers. Next, we'II look at Jesus Christ as a metaphor for how we experience life and how traditional church values contradict each other when it comes to the acceptance of human beings. Finally, we'll briefly take an historic look at how the Depression gave blacks an even playing field with whites.
It is hard to deny the fact that a good body will get you more attention. Women have always wanted the perfect body and would do just about anything to get it. These days, women are not the only ones concerned with their image. Studies have shown that more and more men are worrying about their appearance, especially because of peer pressure. However, there are fewer things for men to do in order to get well built, muscular bodies. This means that in many cases, men must turn to steroids. Steroids are a very dangerous drug, with many terrible side effects (InfoFacts).
Hughes, a.k.a. Langston, a.k.a. The "Harlem". The [1951] Literature. 5th ed.