Langston Hughes's 'Mother To Son'

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Inspired by the words the mother told her son in Langston Hughes’s piece “Mother to Son,” I couldn’t help but to reminisce back to the most memorable day of my life; my first day of kindergarten. To a child, their first day of kindergarten is the day for which their fantasy of being considered a “big kid” going to a “big kid school” finally comes true. Yes, officially feeling like a “big kid” while being surrounded by the endless stacks of colorful Play-Doh does play a slight role on why this day was memorable. However, it is what my mother told me right before I entered the classroom for which makes me remember this day so vividly like a “crystal stair.” Before entering the doors which will spark the beginning of my journey towards my education, my mother set me aside to say to me on this very special day, “Jessica, your life is now beginning. I will not lie to you and say that it is easy and everything will always be okay. But always remember this; when difficult obstacles come your way, never give up nor turn your back on your dreams.” I couldn’t help but smile when I relate the relationship between the mother and her son to the one my mother and I share. The mother in “Mother to Son,” for which…show more content…
Escaping from her homeland at a very young age caused her to face many “tacks” and “splinters” throughout her life. Reading the lines where the mother shared about the days she lived with “….goin’ in the dark where there ain’t been no light,” triggered back a memory to when my mother shared to me her stories about her living arrangements upon her arrival to the United States. She lived in a small studio where electricity was not a guarantee and for which they shared with 6-8 other people. However, alike the mother in the poem, my mother never stopped “climbin’on” for the sake of supporting herself and her
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