In chemistry, there are specific laws, which ensure to separate some liquids and powders that are incompatible with each other, but if by mistake one or two incompatible chemical substances or powders are put together a negative reaction occurs and similar to the set of laws of chemistry, “there are people like those certain liquids or powders; at a given moment they enter a room, or a city, even a town, and the place is no longer the same. Things simmer and simmer and change. Sometimes the whole world has changed” (227). In Langston Hughes' The Ways of White Folks, the story of “Father and Son” echoes violence and tragedy, but, more importantly, the story challenges the notion of the “tragic mulatto,” and by developing violence as a major theme, Hughes counters the misconception of “[t]he character [of the tragic mulatto, who] often goes mad, commits suicide because of their inability to deal with their divided racial heritage. All positive qualities come from white people and negative qualities are associated with blackness” (Raynor, lecture notes 1/13). Although Hughes is best known for his satires in The Ways of White Folk, he also uses themes such as violence to mask the protagonist's true intentions to challenge the status quo. Hughes develops violence as a theme in "Father and Son" through the use of foreshadowing, imagery, and satire. The story of “Father and Son” is carefully set up as the reader is informed that Colonel Norwood is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his youngest son. son Bert, even though he was too stubborn to admit it. “This boy, however, was not his real son, for Colonel Thomas Norwood had no real son, nor a white and legal heir to carry on the Norwood name; this boy was a son of his Neg......in the center of the paper......it reads: ""Bert Lewis was lynched last night, and his brother, Willie Lewis, today" (255). This simply shows how, even though Bert refused to be a "white man's nigger" unlike his brother Willie, who was the "white man's nigger" and faced death, but since Bert actually suicide as a final act of rebellion, he has his victory (228) Hughes' use of satire in the last scene is very clever because it challenges the “tragic mulatto” and shows readers that he is not his race mix. to kill Bert, but rather society's rejection of him, the story of "Father and Son" relies heavily on the development of violence as a major theme throughout the story, and as a result, Hughes is able to use it effectively. imagery, foreshadowing, and satire to show readers that Bert's challenge is not a coincidence, but rather a carefully planned execution of the rebellion.