Keep On Climbin' - Langston Hughes

Keep on climbin’ is another way of saying never give up. That is what the poem “ Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes is all about. In this poem a mother is giving advice to her son on how to go about life. This woman has had a tough life. She describes her life a torn up broken down stair case with many twists and turns. She tells her son I’m still climbing and so should you, even when times get hard.

Langston Hughes describes the mother’s view of life hard and grueling. Her life isn’t rich and luxurious and it has many obstacles and tribulations waiting to be overcome. My reasoning’s for my inference are based on how the mother describes her life as not being a crystal staircase.

“It’s had tacks in it,” she says, “ And boards torn up. And places with no carpets on the floor.” Her life is full of hardships yet; she never stopped climbing and reaching for the top.

There have been times when the mother felt as if there was nothing to look forward to. Sometimes she stumbled into the darkness, were there wasn’t any light at all; but, did she give up? Did she quit going? No sir, she kept on-you guessed it, climbing. Somehow she managed to free herself from the hard parts in life and went on reaching landings and discovering new turning points by making better decisions.

“ So, boy,” is what the mother said to her son, “ don’t turn back. Don’t set down on the steps ‘cause you find it kinder hard. Don’t you fall now- for I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin.” Primarily throughout this poem what the mother said to her son was keep on going, never give up and lose hope, and don’t stop now, especially when you’re ahead. The boy’s mother tells him that she has gone through times were she felt as if she wanted to lay down on the steps of the stair case and give up; yet, one way or another in the end she never quit going.

The mother in this poem never strolled down easy street. She tells her son that she has had a very rigorous life growing up. The metaphor she uses to describe her life is a run down staircase. Throughout the poem she tells her son over and over again that she kept on climbing the bare, torn up stair case never stopping because of all the curve balls life threw at her. The vital utterance the mother gets at in this poem is to never give up and lose hope. The importance of what she says is: there are bad times in life that need to be overcomed so you can get to the good parts.

Article name: Keep On Climbin' - Langston Hughes essay, research paper, dissertation