Persona of a Black Mother to Her Son
Persona
of a Black Mother to Her Son
K.S.
Amrithaa,
I
M.A. English, Bishop Heber College,
Trichy.
Langston Hughes (1902-67) was an African American poet. He also founded theatres and gave public
readings. He became an important force in the Harlem Renaissance of 1920 to 1940. The Harlem Renaissance drew new
attention to and redefined the unique African American culture of art, music
and dance. Hughes’ poem “Mother to Son” was first published in Crisis magazine
in December 1922. It reappeared in The Weary Blues, Hughes’ first collection of
poetry, in 1926. The poem is addressed from a mother to a son warning him about
life’s obstacles.
Mother to Son is a dramatic monologue, spoken by the persona of
a black mother to her son. Using the metaphor of a stairway, the mother tells
her son that the journey of life more closely resembles a long, trying walk up
the dark, decrepit stairways of a tenement than a glide down a “crystal stair.”
The “crystal stair” is a metaphor for the American dream and its promise that
all Americans shall have equal opportunities. The mother warns her son not to
expect an easy climb or a tangible reward. Through the metaphor of ascent,
however, the speaker suggests that her endurance and struggle are necessary to
progress toward racial justice and to maintain spiritual hope and faith. In
this poem, Hughes represents the personal, collective, and spiritual importance
of struggle, endurance, and faith.
The
anonymous mother in the poem may be suggestive of the African American women of
predepression America encouraging their sons to strive for success. The poem is
written in the form of a dramatic monolgue in black dialect. The
idiomatic style of the speech is invoked in the context of the courage, endurance and sense of duty of the African American race.
The language also imparts a charged colloquial element to the poem. The theme of the poem is perseverence.
As
the poem opens with “Well, son, I’ll tell
you”, it is possible that the son has asked or said something before to
which she is responding. In the next line, she says that her life “ain’t” been a “crystal stair”. The use of the word “ain’t” indicates that the mother is not a learned person and “crystal stair” is symbolic of smoothness,
beauty and luster. “Tacks”,
“splinters”, “boards torn up” suggests hurdles of life. Tacks are nails and
splinters are small fragments of wood which make it hard for the person to
step. Boards torn up may symbolise unsteady or rough grounds leading to
uncertainty in the person’s mind. “Bare”
suggests scant furnishings.“I’se been
a-climbin’ on” , “reachin’ landin’s”, “turnin’ corners” suggests movement
and therefore signifies an ascent that is inspiring. “And sometimes goin’ in
the dark / Where there ain’t been no light” makes this poem a story of dark
times. The dilapidated staircase is also representative of the poor living
conditions of the Black Americans under the tyranny of the Whites.
The poem
is suggestive of the effect of racism and oppression on the lives and
experiences of the black Americans. However, this piece of advice from
mother to son has an universal quality as it can be read as an advice from any
mother to any son, anywhere in the world, without keeping the historical
background in mind. The mother urges her
son not to “turn back” or “set down on the
steps” of “fall” when he
recognises life for the never-ending drudgery that it truly is. She does not
want him to lose courage and start descending, or get tired, sit down to rest
and not resume climbing. She also does not want him to “fall” which may mean
literally tumbling down the steps unable to take the pressure, or it may be
associated with the Biblical “Fall”,
which in this context may mean resorting to criminal activities and unfair
means to accomplish his ends.
In the last three lines, she
reveals her own strength and perseverence
as she says
“I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbing
And life for me ain’t been no crystal
stair”.
The
poem is written in free verse and has
a lyrical quality due the idiomatic language used by the poet. The poetic devices
involved in the poem are the extended metaphor of life being a staircase. The
central image of the poem is the “crystal stair”. It echoes the Biblical story
of Jacob ’s ladder. The stairway may be seen as a path to freedom and
liberation which was the goal of the African Americans. To represent the
struggle of the mother Hughes’ uses images
of “tack”, “splinter”, “boards” and “carpet”.
The
mother’s drive and persistence is expressed through the images “a-climbin’ on”, “reachin’ landin’s”, “turnin’
corners”, and “And sometimes goin’ in the dark / Where there ain’t been no
light”. The mother teaches the that he should never collapse under the
pressures that life puts him through. Hughes’ uses repetition in the following
lines,
“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”.
She
emphasizes the mother’s anxious expectation of her son. She wants him to be
tenacious like herself. He uses repetition in “I’se still goin’”, “I’se still climbing”, once again putting
stress on the mother’s struggles and weariness. The image of the “crystal
stair” is repeated in the last line to accentuate again the perpetual toil to
achieve goals and fulfillment.
Over the years many poems have been written by him. But the one poem
that is an inspiration in the midst of adversity expressed in simple words by a
mother to son is what caught my attention. The author Langston Hughes titles
the poem “Mother to Son” very appropriately. The main message that no matter
how hard something is, you should never give up is so well expressed. It is
quite natural that a son listens to a mother when he has a tough time dealing
with life. It is also undoubtedly true that experience can teach life lessons.
A mother, who has gone through very rough times in her life, is hoping to see
her son move forward in life. Her message to her son is to be strong and move
forward no matter how hard the challenges he faces in his life.
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