When reading the poem "Mother to Son", illiterate people may get confused. There is a ton of figurative language, like metaphors and similes, but also just strange grammar idiosyncrasies. In the poem, Langston Hughes refers to life. "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair". Well, obviously life is not a step made out of a shiny rock, but that's not what he means. Hughes wants us to get the point that he is not talking about a staircase. The crystal stair is rich, white-people life. Sorry to say, but in the past white people had better lives. They had free lives, they had worthy lives, they had crystal lives.
When you sit down with your mom to talk about life, chances are she isn't going to scream. She isn't going to yell, but she's going to be firm. She isn't going to start crying either, she'll just be using a firm tone. That's the tone of this piece (ironic, isn't it? How I say tone -- and that magically is the tone). She's talking to her son about life, giving off an inspirational feeling. The mood of this piece makes you feel very inspired, and happy about life. It helps you keep going, and making you feel inspired and to never give up your life.
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