In Richard WrightÆs (1993) ôLong Black Songö and Langston HughesÆ (2004) ôMother to Son,ö there are distinct similarities and differences. Both of these works of literature are written by African Americans. Both of these works express the harsh nature of existing in a racist and prejudiced culture. However, both of the characters in these works react to this harshness in distinct ways.
In ôLong Black Song,ö Wright portrays the injustice and abuse that African Americans typically suffer at the hands of Whites. Silas is a traveling salesman who becomes irate when he discovers his wife, Sarah, has committed adultery with a White salesman. He murders the salesman and accepts his fate by waiting for the Whites to arrive. We see in this work that the mistreatment of African Americans by Whites has robbed Silas of any hope or belief that an African American male can succeed in a White racist society. As he tells Sarah, ôThe white folks ain never gimme a chance! They ain never give no black man a chance! There ain nothing in yo whole life yuh kin keep from em! They take you lan! They take yo freedom! They take yo women! N then they take yo life!ö (Wright 1993, 152).
In HughesÆ ôMother to Son,ö the speaker is an African American mother talking to her son. In this work, we see the speaker has led a life of harshness and injustice that is similar to SilasÆs. However, the motherÆs reaction to this harsh existence is much more hopeful and positive than SilasÆ reaction. In ôMother to Son,ö the mother shares with her son that she keeps persevering despite the harshness and that he should do the same: ôDonÆt you set down on the steps / æCause you finds itÆs kinder hard. / DonÆt you fall now -- / For IÆse still goinÆ, honey, / IÆse still climbinÆ, / And life for me ainÆt been no crystal stair,ö (Hughes 2004, 1).
In conclusion, though both Silas and the mother have been treated
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