Perseverance Despite Persecution Essays -- Literary Analysis, Langston

The founding fathers constructed the Constitution with the notion that â€Å"all men were created equal.† However, many minorities still struggle for the same rights and opportunities as others. â€Å"Mother to Son† and â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† are poems written by Langston Hughes that use symbolism to exemplify the struggles of African Americans as they attempt to persevere through adversity. Hughes utilizes the stairs in â€Å"Mother to Son† and the rivers in â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† as his main mode of symbolism. Symbolism in the two works develop the overall themes of the poems, perseverance. In â€Å"Mother to Son,† Hughes uses a worn staircase as an extended metaphor to parallel its flaws to the struggles of African Americans. She urges her son not to give in to the pressures of society, because she has not. By stating â€Å"Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair, (Mother to Son â€Å"MS† line 2) Mother is able to portray that her life is far from perfect. In fact, she describes her life as having â€Å"tacks and splinters†¦with boards torn up† (MS lines 3-5). These defects symbolize the problems in her life that were caused by her race, her gender, or both. In addition, Hans J. Massaquoi’s article â€Å"The Black Family Nobody Knows,† exemplifies that the African American race is a strong and versatile race. He argues that many people tend to depict Blacks through negative stereotypes, such as â€Å"drug abuse,† â€Å"teenage pregnancy,† and â€Å"gang affiliation† (Massaquoi 28). Massaquoi’s article, much like â€Å"Mother to... ... Hughes uses â€Å"geographical landscapes† (Hogan 20), such as the river, as a common passage and a common place for African Americans. Hogan, much like me sees the rivers in â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† as â€Å"a symbol of both rooted connectedness and fluid mobility† and of â€Å"cultural flow across both space and time.† Through the exemplary use of symbolism, Langston Hughes produced two poems that spoke to a singular idea: Black people have prevailed through trials and tribulations to carry on their legacy as a persevering people. From rivers to stairs, Hughes use of extended metaphor emphasizes the feeling of motion which epitomizes the determination of the people. Overall, the driving feeling of the poems coupled with their strong imagery produce two different works that solidify and validate one main idea.