Life can be sweet as odorous white lilies. It can also turn as sour as a lemon. Don’t give up because there’s always a way to move forward in life. In Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son” the story illustrates that no matter what the circumstances are in life it can be difficult sometimes, but you can’t give up. You must do with what you have and still progress on. One can’t let something that can be fixed stop you or make you fail so don’t give up. Even though the mother has gone through a lot in her life, she didn’t have everything she wanted, but she has always found ways to move onward enduring life even when it throws challenges in ones direction. “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it and splinters, and boards torn up, and places with no carpet on floor-bare. But all this time I’se been a- climbin’ on, and reachin landin’s and turnin’ corners”. The character in the story is simply saying that life hasn’t been this monumental home with a picket white fence and a Labrador. She has been through a lot in her life, and has had many trials, and tribulations. She slept in places where there hasn’t been any carpet on the floor it was just bare. One can only imagine what it would be like to experience going through life not knowing if you’re going to have lights in your house or if you get kicked out of that one and have to go sleep on the bare floor. So when one feels they have a hard life, sit and think if ones bad day is someone else’s best day.
When things in one’s life seem as though life is crumbling into emotional distress, don’t turn your back from everything, and shut down. Life will only get more challenging and make you want give up. “ I’ve gone in the dark where there ain’t been no light. So boy don’t turn your back. Don’t you set down on the steps cause you finds it kinder hard”. The character in the story is implicating that she’s been through it all. She has been through a tuff time where there hasn’t been any hope for her. So don’t turn and run away from your problems because you will find it much more difficult to try and get away from something that can build up and bite you in the butt. The story symbolizes strength
