Author’s Note: This essay is about the poem Mother to Son, by Langston Hughes. The purpose is to explain my thoughts of the differences of figurative language the meaning/purpose or that and the mood and tone of the poem.
“Life for me ain't been no crystal stair” is a metaphor; it is relating the life of the mother to a crystal stair. For her, it is the opposite of an elegant life. I believe that the purpose of relating the life to a crystal stair is because crystal is pure and elegant. When the mother said “Life for me ain't been no crystal stair” the purpose of it was to explain the her son that life for her wasn’t even easy. It was difficult. For example;
"It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare."
This personification is showing the reader in description that the “stair” she has been climbing her life wasn’t exactly ideal perfect. Which gives off the mood for the reader. For me I felt like the mother was trying to encourage her son into never give up in something he believes in or wants. Yet I think the tone Langston Hughes was trying to give off was as well to never give up. The reason why is because Langston was part of the Harlem Recusants. So he might have put his life in it to help others understand that he never gave up and look at how successful you can be after it all.
I really like how you explained how this makes the poem better! You use specific examples from the poem, which is great! Overall, magnificent job!
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