"Mother to son"

“Mother to Son”

In this poem, Hughes uses metaphors by having the speaker compare her life to a staircase that "ain't been no crystal stair". In other words, she develops the metaphor by describing what it isn't rather than what it is. The speaker is speaking to her son about the struggles she went through in her life, and how she overcame them to be what she is today. Hughes symbolizes the afflictions of life through a damaged staircase. He uses cold images such as: “And boards torn up, and places with no carpet on the floor”. (Line 5-6) This line creates a sense of loneliness, and a image of being n...