revise essay

Langston Hughes informs the readers that life is challenging when he begins the poem by saying, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” (Hughes 2). Here, the audience learns that the narrator in the poem has experienced numerous challenges in her life. Thus, she has had to find ways of dealing with them, rather than giving up. In life, persons have dreams and goals, which they would want to achieve during certain periods. For instance, an individual would want to complete school at a certain age, find a job, and the start a family at specified times. However, Hughes’ says that this will not always be the case. There are numerous obstacles that persons encounter in their lives as seen in the mother. Her life is not what she had envisioned while young. Several factors have put her down by preventing her to achieve her dreams seen through the statement, “And places with no carpet on the floor.” However, she never gave up on the fight when she says says that, “I’se been a-climbin’ on” (Hughes 9). For this reason, the son should prepare to face the adversities that he comes across.

In the poem, Langston Hughes shows that the mother’s only hope is for the son not to fall when he writes, “don’t fall now” (Hughes 17).Here, the mother hopes that the son would emulate her while climbing stays. The hope of all parents is to see their children becoming successful in their lives buy achieving their goals. However, African Americans did have access to the resources they needed to pursue their goals. Thus, Langston Hughes’ poem was a reflection of the African Americans who struggled immensely to achieve the American dream because of limited economic and educational opportunities (Jones, 25). They could not compete with whites for the scarce opportunities in the U.S. society, a condition that condemned them to poverty. However, the poem shows that they were not going to allow their conditions to shape their future. For this reason, they believed they would be successful if they overcame the adversities that they faced. Thus, the mother in this poem symbolizes determination to become successful despite being underprivileged (Hughes and Downey 37). This is the only hope she has of her son surviving in the brutal world they live in, which is not meant for the weak-hearted.

In the poem, Hughes shows that people should embrace the adversities they encounter in life instead of avoiding them when he says, “Don’t you set down on the step” (Hughes 15). The statement implies that persons should never give up whenever they are facing challenges. No one has an easy ride up, thus stepping back is not an option. Most people view the challenges they encounter in life negatively. They fail to understand that they make them better by providing them with important lessons about life. Hughes’ says that people should not walk away from challenging situations when he writes, “’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard” (16). The outlook is supported by his life where he had to do several jobs before he got the opportunity to pursue literature. If he had given up because of lacking a platform to publish his work, he could not have nurtured his gift. However, he never gave in to his talent and continued to write poems despite not having the means to publish them. Consequently, he was ready to utilize the opportunities that Dr. Locke gave him as he was already prepared (Rampersad 27). Thus, people should know that difficulties they face define who they become, hence should never back down from a challenge.

Langston Hughes’ shows in the poem that everyone has a dark past, and the only way to succeed in life is through overcoming dealing with it. Some people’s lives are compromised by the hardships they experienced during their childhood, such as sexual abuse, poverty, and negligence. The viewpoint is exhibited by the mother comparing her life to missing and broken boards when she says, “And boards torn up” ( Hughes 5).Thus, life for her has not been easy as she had to keep on fighting against the injustices, despair, and discriminations that she encounters (Sarfield 15). She says that she has found herself in the dark to imply that she has hit dead-ends in several occasions in her life. However, her character of not giving up enables her to overcome these challenges and continues to fight. Her sentiments highlight the plight of African Americans at the time the poem was written. Hughes composed the narrative in the mid-1990s at a time when the members of the Negroid community were fighting for their civil rights. The period was filled with anxiety as they did not know the exact outcome of their struggles. Nonetheless, they kept fighting for what they believed was right. Similarly, people should not be afraid of the uncertainties they face in their lives. The outlook is driven by the belief that they can overcome any challenges with determination and focus.

In conclusion Langston Hughes shows the readers the importance of embracing the struggles that people face in their lives. In the poem, the mother tells the son that life has not been a crystal stair to her and she had to overcome numerous challenges to survive the harsh conditions. She shows the struggles that she had had to go through in her life by comparing it to broken boards. She says that she had overcome anxiety in her life because of the uncertainties. Despite these challenges, she continued to fight and never gave up. For this reason, she wants the son to continue with the struggle and never give up when the going gets tough. Therefore, she prepares him for life by informing him that he should not be afraid of any challenge he encounters. Instead, he should embrace them and fight to the end.

Work Cited

Hughes, Langston. “Mother to Son.” The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, 1994.

Hughes, Langston, and Glen Downey. Mother to Son: Harlem Night Song. Markham, ON: Scholastic Canada Ltd, 2009.

Jones, Angela. African American Civil Rights: Early Activism and the Niagara Movement. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2011.

Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume Ii. , 2002.

Sarsfield, Mairuth. No Crystal Stair: A Novel. Toronto: Women's Press, 2004.