How Does Langston Hughes Use Strength In Mother To Son

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.
Women are equated with water and the greatness that it possesses. In both poems Hughes displays African-American’s view of women and how they the key to maintaining a family. R. Baxter Miller states “her symbolic yet invisible presence pervades the fertility of the earth, the waters and the rebirth

He focuses on that in both poems. Strength is an important aspect in anyone’s life, because without strength one cannot succeed in life. Since the dawn of time African-Americans have been blazing through pain to survive. Strength is extremely noticeable in Mother to Son. The whole poem is based on her strength and courage to endure all her trials and tribulations with grace. “So boy, don't you turn back./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” (Line 14-20 Norton, 2028), is the loudest part of the poem. It speaks volumes on how she truly viewed her struggles. . The mother states “ I’se been a-climbin’ on” (Hughes & Rampersad Line 9, 60), which illustrates her dedication to becoming better. She lets it be known that her struggle is yet to be over, but she does not care how hard it will be, she is going to make it. She details the pain she endured: “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair/ It’s had tacks in it,/ And splinters,/ And boards torn up,/And places with no carpet on the floor-” ( Norton, lines 2-6 2028). Despite the fact that the pain was torture, she made it and she wants her son to do the same. With that being the first stanza of the poem, Hughes was making a bold

Both poems talk about the past and the strength that occurred because of the past. The Negro Speaks of Rivers Hughes says “I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.” (Hughes and Rampersad, Line 6 ,36). That line speaks volumes on the strength that his ancestor’s had, in a literal sense and a metaphorical one. In the literal sense they had the strength to build the pyramids on the Nile River. In the metaphoric sense they endured the travel from their homeland to the unknown, which was brave of them. Mother to Son starts off with the mother referencing to the past by saying “Well son, I’ll tell you:/ Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” She is alluding to her past and how it has been tumultuous, but she is still