Mother to Son

Author’s Note: This is a short response to the short story Mother to Son, it is meant to explain the detail and figurative language it possesses.

Mother to Son does an amazing job of describing the emotion and mood of the story. Using slang terms such as ain’t, turnin’, I’se, and a-climbin,’ it interprets that the setting is in the more southern parts of the United States. Another great way the writer Langston Hughes uses figurative language is by using the metaphor, “Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.” This phrase is explaining that the mother’s life has been difficult and maybe even poor. That her life has rarely been good at all, the mother also wants her son to do better than she did and have a better life. Using another metaphor; “So boy, don't you turn back” the mother is telling her son and maybe Langston Hughes is telling the reader to never give up on life and always chase your dreams.