Well, son, I’ll tell you: 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 the floor–Bare.”
Langston Hughes
The vivid image of a staircase occupies your brain and allows you to imagine what your life would be if it had to be narrowed down to a staircase. In this poem, Mother to Son, Langston Huges does a phenomenal job of describing the life of the mother through the use of a metaphor. A metaphor is a way of describing one thing with another. It allows us to use our creativity and to relay a message in a non literal way. While in this case, the staircase does not literally exist, we are able to clearly understand that the tacks and splinters represent the difficulties in her life and how the bare floor may represent a lack of comfort. While individual interpretations may slightly differ, metaphors are a great way to enhance your writing.
The book Sula, by Toni Morrison also utilizes metaphors to portray a deepening meaning. One example being when Nel describes, “Talking to Sula had always been a conversation with herself”(95). While she was not literally talking to herself, when talking to Sula, she found similarities within their differences. They were both polar opposites in their own domain. Sula was so unrestricted, while Nel preferred remaining in the comfort of social order. However, these extremes made their paths extremely difficult. It is clear that their approach to life differed which in some cases lead to judgment. Overall, we are able to follow this relationship throughout the novel and analyze their friendship and betrayal. . The good times and the hardship. The juxtaposition of their characters reminds us that balance in anything is important.