Read this passage from the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. Keeping in mind the figurative meaning of the staircase, what does the speaker mean by “…sometimes goin’ in the dark / Where there ain’t been no light”?
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
Sometimes it seemed like there was no hope.
Sometimes she would sit down to rest.
The lightbulbs in the stair case were burned out.
The staircase was not easy to navigate.