The Mother’s Staircase

One way in which Hughes characterizes and gives life to the poem is through use of diction. The poem is written from the standpoint of a mother speaking to her son, and the selection of her words is vital to her characterization. Specifically, it is believed that this poem mirrors the life of his own mother who was born “only a generation away from slavery” and faced much civil injustice (Reyes 267). The vernacular the mother in the story uses accents the social status of her time period. Removing the “g” from the endings of multiple words and using slang words, such as “ain’t” and “I’se” gives us an authentic feel for a struggling, poverty-stricken black woman who would not have access to much, if any, formal education in the era during which the poem was written (Hughes 23). Much of Hughes’ writing revolves around the tribulations facing the African American community over the years. This poem is a prime example in which a simple choice of words can make all the difference in a poem’s meaning. If written in proper English, the poem would feel contrived, stripped of the earnestness of its subject matter. Also, the mother’s use of first person when telling her personal history implies that she is a single mother doing her best to raise her child alone. At no time, does she use the third person, which one would expect from someone married or in a relationship dedicated to keeping a family together. This helps illuminate an underlying theme of the trials of motherhood, specifically around the lower-class single mother. This related to Hughes’ own life once again in which his father “abandoned his son and wife” at a young age, leaving Mrs. Hughes alone to fend for herself and son (Reyes 267). It must have been a harsh life living during a time of such racial tension with no formal education and trying to support a family by oneself. Hughes manages to make the audience feel this through a mere 20 lines.
Another way Hughes shows us how the life of a single, African American woman is difficult is through the use of metaphor. “Mother to Son” is a graphic poem, which uses “bold visual images along with the poet’s words” (Calo 351). He uses the stairs as an extended metaphor for life. The mother of the poem explains that life for her has not been effortless like climbing a lovely “crystal stair[case]” (Hughes 23). This image of a pristine, beautiful flight of stairs likely refers to that of the white upper-class, which is in direct contrast to her own. She has had a rough time; the steps of her staircase had "tacks... splinters, and boards torn up” (Hughes 23). These dangers symbolize the precariousness and difficulty of her own life. Not only must she climb these stairs but she most evade all of the hazardous objects in her way. Undoubtedly, these difficulties were direct products of her racial, social, and gender status. This journey of hers to overcome the pains of racism was rough, but through it all she has "been a-climbin' on, and reachin' landin's, and turnin' corners" (Hughes 23). Through all of her trials and tribulations, she has continued on her climb up the ominous staircase. Hughes also uses the archetype of darkness to represent the mother’s struggles. She sometimes must venture into the “dark where there ain’t been no light,” yet she continues on despite these forsaken sections of her staircase (Hughes 23). The reader can almost hear the intensity in her voice as this metaphor pours from the page. Hughes, the “champion of the empowerment of black womanhood” flawlessly creates a visual representation of the mother’s journey (Reyes 269). The power of this metaphor has since been referenced by “Martin Luther King, Jr… Oprah and Obama,” testifying to its resolve over time (Miller 7). All in all, Hughes magnificently use the staircase as a vehicle to describe the life struggles of a single, black woman in society.

Miller, W. Jason. "Foregrounding And Prereading: Using Langston Hughes's Poetry To Teach A Raisin In The Sun." Notes On American Literature 21.(2012): 4-14. Literary Reference Center. Web. 11 June 2013.
Reyes, Angelita D. "Memory Telling And Praise-Singing Of The Genius Of Langston Hughes." Journal Of African American History 94.2 (2009): 266-273. Literary Reference Center. Web. 11 June 2013