There are lots of symbolic terms throughout the poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes. Reading the poem, you could probably figure out that this Mother is comparing life to stairs. Although it is thought there is not more, if you dig deeper, you can find the true meanings to other phrases as well.
For example, this poem talks about tacks and splinters. These items represent the challenges faced in life. Both of these things though, have double meanings. They can be thought of as the hard-ships of life, but, looking at a tack, can’t it be useful as well? A tack can either hold things together or break things apart—in this case, being used for breaking apart. A splinter resembles how worn out and old life really is. If stairs were being worked hard for years, they would produce splinters. A splinter is also showing tiny faults and mistakes made along the path of life as a tiny splinter can make all of the difference when stepped on. Another term used in Mother to Son is the idea of “boards torn up.” I think that this relates to life because although you have set down the “construction for your life,” they can still be ripped apart by others, and you have to lay the ground-work again. “Places with no carpet on the floor” is mentioned in this poem as well and I think that it symbolizes the fact that carpeting is really a want not a need; we use carpet to make our floors look prettier, to hide the flaws underneath. Everyone has insecurities in their life and I think that Langston Hughes is portraying this by stating “places with no carpet on the floor.”
After reading all of these symbolic phrases sprinkled throughout Mother to Son, I was left in a very inspired and achieving mood.
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