Question

What is the symbolism of “turnin’ corners”?

Answer 1

Answer:

The staircase the mother climbs up and down determinedly is an allusion to the stairway to heaven in the Bible. For a Biblically literate audience, which is what Hughes could assume his black readership to be, the echoes behind the mother's words would resonate as a call to freedom.

Answer 2

Answer:

The staircase the mother climbs up and down determinedly is an allusion to the stairway to heaven in the Bible. For a Biblically literate audience, which is what Hughes could assume his black readership to be, the echoes behind the mother's words would resonate as a call to freedom