Who Burns For The Perfection Of Paper And Mother To Son

The lives of people of color have long been marked by hardships experienced in order to achieve the American Dream. In the poems “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, and “Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper” by Martin Espada, both speak about these hardships, explaining what most people of color deal with, or have dealt with. Though both poems speak out about the hardships faced by people of color, Hughes emphasizes that life is a struggle for all generations that must be fought, while Espada indicates that painful obstacles are part of the journey to achieve the ultimate dream.
Despite their different messages, both poems share the same topic of the hardships that surround the American Dream and use negatively connotated diction associated

with pain to emphasize these difficulties. In “Mother to Son” the speaker goes into detail about how life “Ain’t been no crystal stair”, as she repeats to her son. She explains that her life has been difficult when she uses words associated with pain, such as “splinters” and “tacks”. Similarly, “Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper” uses the same kind of diction to describe his own pain. His word choice consists of “oozing”, “burned”, “sting” and “cuts” to vividly describe how his life hasn’t been easy either, yet he succeeded. Both poems clearly convey how the American Dream is full of obstacles, barring people from achieving it, but give inspiration for others to keep going.
The poem “Mother to Son” is based on the idea of hope and encouragement to not give up on life despite all of its obstacles.

Hughes reveals the message that when life seems overwhelming, one must remember to keep pushing because life isn’t easy when she encourages her son to never give up. The main symbolism is seen when the speaker, who is the mother, compares her life to a staircase. The staircase is used to motivate her son, as it is symbolic of progressing through life’s hardships and having the will to keep going up. When she says “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair”, she reveals that her journey through life hasn’t been easy, especially considering that she was a black woman in a time period where life for all generations was full of hardships. Her hardships are highlighted when she recalls the “boards torn up” and “places with no carpet”, suggesting that poverty was also something that she had to endure. This highlights how her generation had to deal with hardships, but she had to “Keep on climbing”, and wants her son to do the same. She repeats, “Don’t you fall”, “Don’t you turn back” and “Don’t you set down” which all give the same motherly push of encouragement, that she hopes will push him to continue

fighting.
“Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper” explains the journey of someone’s success story.

They started off working in painful conditions to ultimately become a lawyer. The speaker’s success can be seen through the use of a hyperbole when he describes his papers stacked “seven feet high and leaning”, proving his hard work. This reveals that his journey wasn’t easy, and he goes on to describe his pain caused by it. The pain, however, is ironic- even though it caused suffering, the “oozing”, “burning palms” and “sting of hidden cuts” are the same that drive him to success. The legal pads that caused this pain as a student are used as a reminder of success, later on when he become a lawyer, suggesting that hardships are inevitable. Still, when he says “hidden”, it suggests that his hard work and pain is ignored. This is the case for many people of color, who struggle to achieve their goals despite putting all of their effort into them. Ultimately, this poem conveys that in order to be successful, there will be hardships

involved.
Both poems share the same topic of obstacles through lived as a result of achieving the American Dream, however, their different tones are able to create contrasting themes. The resilient tone in “Mother to Son” reminds the reader that life is full of hardships that are meant to be fought, while the tone of pride in “Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper” reveals that the road to success isn’t easy.