"Life for me ain't been no crystal stair"

     The poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes is a poem in which a mother is the speaker and she is talking to her son. The entire poem is written as a metaphor in which life is a stairway. The stairway must be climbed,even though there may be nails and cracks in it. The main theme of the poem is that even though life may be hard at times, keep on pushing forward to reach goals.
    The poem exhibits that life can be hard through many different metaphors. For example, at the beginning of the poem, the mother says "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair." This is a metaphorical way of saying that her life was not beautiful and easy. She also says many other things like "It's had tacks in it,/And splinters,/And boards torn up,/ And places with no carpet on the floor—." In this example, the mother is using the damaged parts of a stairwell to convey that at times, life can be hard.  She conveys this fact by saying "And sometimes goin' in the dark,/ Where there ain't been no light." People cannot see well in the dark, so they can't always see exactly what they are going to do or exactly what is going on. So therefore the mother is also saying that life can be hard because you don't always know exactly what you are doing. All in all, one of the main themes of the poem is that life can sometimes be hard.
     But even though the poem is saying that life can be hard, the poem is also saying to keep on pushing forwards. Life can be even harder when people are no longer driven to reach their goals. For example, in the poem, the mother says, "So, boy, don't you turn back./Don't you set down on the steps./'Cause you finds it's kinder hard." The mother also uses herself as an example as someone who keeps on try in even though life has been hard for her. She says,"Don't you fall now—/ For I'se still goin', honey,I'se still climbin'/And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.'" She expects her son to lead by her example. So in the end, another major theme of the poem "Mother to Son" is that people must keep on trying to reach their goals even when life has been very hard for them.
     In conclusion, the the theme of the poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes is that life can be hard, but that does not mean people should not try to push forward and reach their goals. And this can apply to anyone, no matter what quality of life they live. This theme can apply to things on the big picture, such as trying to achieve world peace, but it can also apply to little things too. Little things such as getting all of your homework done. People should always try to keep climbing up those steps, no matter what situation they are in.