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Critical appreciation of the poem ‘Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes., , ‘Mother to Son’ is one of the most famous poems of Langston Hughes. The poem is a, , dramatic monologue and it is based on the idea of hope and encouragement to move forward in, life, despite all difficulties and no matter how tough life may become., , The speaker is a Black American mother, who gives advice to her son, who may also be, seen to represent the younger generation. Since, the mother has successfully faced the challenges, of life. She wishes her son to be courageous and bold in the face of these challenges and to also, succeed in life., , The mother tells her son that her life had not been very smooth. The steps she had to, climb were broken here and there and she had to be careful not to fall down. The floor is not, carpeted showing that life had been very rough for her. But in spite of all the problems she faced,, she had been steadily climbing and reaching and landings. Sometimes she had been walking in, darkness without any light at all. She had to negotiate dangerous bends., , She then asks the boy to walks in her foot steps and keep moving forward without turning, back or giving up because he finds the journey arduous. He should be careful not to fall down. In, the end she tells her son that all her life she had been climbing in spite of all the problems and, she is still climbing., , In this poem the poet uses different poetic devices such as metaphor, alliteration,, anaphora etc. The poem is written in a free verse and has a lyrical quality due to the idiomatic, language used by the poet. The central image of the poem is ‘crystal stair’. It echoes the Biblical, story of ‘Jacobs Ladder’. The tone of the poem is didactic., , The poem is grounded in the memories and experience of a mother. The poem ends with, an optimistic note. She asks the son not to give up and continue climbing following her model.