Negro Mother

 “The Negro Mother” Analysis Langston’s Hughes’ “The Negro Mother” is a lyrical poem about a negro mother  addressing to her sons about her struggles in her past life. The poem displays a passionate  journey of a woman striing for the rights and e!uality of the "frican#"merican "frican#"merican people as she elaborates her emotions to show the hardship she has been through. $n addition to her past e%perience the narrator uses her struggle as a reminder for her son about the struggles herself  and their ancestors hae gone through in order to encourage them to continue their fight. $n the poem& the poet uses of the narrator’s diction& o%ymoron and metaphor to portray the theme of how "frican "mericans should always strie to fight for their rights and e!uality in society. $nitially the poet’s use of diction creates a tone that urges "frican "mericans to strie for their e!uality in society. $n the beginning of the poem& the poet emphasi'es on the usage of the words such as “dar(”)*+& “night”)*+& “labored” ),,+& ),,+& “slae”),,+ “slae”),,+ and “mistreated”),-+ to e%press how oppressed oppressed and subjugated subjugated the lac( /eople /eople are& especially under the racism and discrimination. The diction contributes to the hardship and the abusie situation that the narrator must face throughout the course of her strie for freedom. 0n the contrary& as the  poem progresses& the poet uses a positie tone to counteract the miserable tone that was depicted in the beginning of the poem. 1iction such as “torch for tomorrow”)23+& “road to the light”)24+ and “loo( eer upward at the sun and the stars” )53+ creates a hopeful and relieing tone tone that that corr corresp espon onds ds to the the nega negati tie e tone tone&& gii giing ng a messa message ge that that een een if the the futu future re generations of lac( /eople hae to face the hardship of being discriminated and mistreated& there will always be hope for them as long as they fight li(e the narrator. The narrator claims herse herself lf as “the “the seed seed for for the the comi coming ng 6ree” 6ree”))-7+ 7+&& the the “6re “6ree”) e”)-7 -7++ is capita capitali' li'ee in orde orderr to emphasi'e the important dreams as the narrator “nourished”)-8+ the dream “deep in my 9Negro mother: breast”)2;+. Moreoer& the narrator claim that “ write.> 9she: 9she: had nothing& bac( there in the night” )-,#--+ and as “?ometimes& the alley was filled with tears”>she would still “9(eep: trudging on through the lonely years”)-2#-5+. 6urthermore& there there is a contras contrastt between between the dar(ne dar(ness ss of the "frican "frican#"me #"meric rican’ an’ss treatme treatment nt and their  their  optimistic encouragement towards their goals in achieing grand grand e!uality. e!uality. The narrator used her struggles as a reminder for the young "frican#"merican people as she reminded them of  her “sweat&” )25+ “pain” )25+& “despair” )25+ and years& heay with sorrow> and ma(e those year a torch for tomorrow>ma(e9s: of my pass a road to the light>0ut of the dar(ness& the ignora ignorance nce&& the night” night”)23 )23#27 #27+. +. The The contras contrastt is shown shown as she struggl struggles es with with the ariou ariouss dramatic obstacles in life and as the negatiity is put down on her& she would still (eep wal(ing and moing forward to fight for a better place& both for her and her people. The contrast between the negatie force and the narrator’s will power shows the narrator’s intent to inspire the blac( people to not gie up their goals of being free. 6inally& the poet employs metaphors to further elaborate the message of how the "frican "merican people should not gie up their rights and e!uality. y ta(ing the figuratie meaning of certain conte%ts from the poem& the reelation of the poet’s message will be e%posed& such as “?ometimes& the road was hot with the sun>ut $ had to (eep on till my

wor( was done” )-*#-3+. The metaphorical meaning of the road that was “hot with the sun”)-*+ relates the obstacles that the narrator had to face. The sun’s connotation correlates to the hardship and all the troublesome path that the narrator has been through. Li(ewise& the narrator says “ma(e those years a torch for tomorrow>Ma(e of my pass a road to the light” )23#24+& which simply connotes the fact that the narrator’s struggle is worthwhile as her and their ancestor’s effort become another step of “great stair” )57+ to win the e!uality of the "frican "merican will be a goal of this long effort. The use of this figuratie language is to create an elaboration of the feelings of the narrator and her intentions to show both of the hardship that she’s been through& and the intent that will inspire the further generations. "s a result& through the use of diction& o%ymoron and metaphors& the poet achiees in e%pressing the message the narrator is trying to imply@ the pursue for e!uality of the lac(  /eople should not be gien up& but should be in pursue regardless of the hardship until absolute e!uality is achieed.