Langston Hughes short story “Salvation” epitomizes what is an internal struggle for many people, especially children, who want so badly to believe what they have been taught all their lives by their relatives, elders in the church and the preacher; that to have a relationship with God, you must be saved and only then will you be able to see him. Hughes’ Aunt Reed paints such a vivid picture of that idea beginning in the story’s second chapter: “My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul.” (Hughes) What happens though when what a child expects to occur doesn’t? Adults …show more content…
“Then I was left all alone on the mourners ' bench. My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and song swirled all around me in the little church. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices. And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting - but he didn 't come. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened” (Hughes) In what is described as “mob psychology” (https://www.iwebfolio.com/Salvation) Langston finally gives in to the insurmountable pressure placed on him and pretends to “go to Jesus” even though he is not convinced anymore that there is a real Jesus. He deceives his aunt, the preacher and church people as a way to save face. In other words he bends to pressure even though he isn’t ready to be saved. This leads to another theme in the story – sadness. He is heartbreakingly sad for not seeing Jesus and for lying to his aunt. “But I was really crying because I couldn 't bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church that I hadn 't seen Jesus, and that now I didn 't believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn 't come to help me.
Few religions outline the exact steps towards salvation. They follow this practice with the belief that no mortal can truly know whether they will see heaven’s pearly gates, even if he or she spends years knocking on doors with tracts and Bibles in hand. In Langston Hughes’ “Salvation,” however, a church in the midst of a revival pleads and shouts that a young Hughes simply needs to see Jesus to be saved. But when Hughes can’t see Jesus, he loses faith in both salvation and himself. To help his readers understand his younger self’s reasoning for his loss of faith, Hughes manipulates his syntax to immerse the audience in his naive 13-year-old mind.
He witnesses the pain and death in his town and feels unable to do anything about it. His spiritual crisis is typical of those who experience such catastrophic situations as they try to reconcile their trust in a loving God with the existence of such great
Many may believe that reading a book about religion would be challenging to accomplish for someone who is not religious. But those people have never read Anne Lamott’s, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith. If one were to ask non-religious college students to read a book by a random author about spirituality and “Finding God” through conversion, they would most likely roll their eyes and bear through it. In Lamott’s series of essays, one does not have to “suffer through the readings” because her writing style is one of a kind. She has strategically chosen every word because she is aware of how important her spiritual experiences are to so many people, religious or not.
In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, he recalls a time from his childhood when he was at church. All the children of the church were being “saved” until he was eventually the last one who wasn’t. Feeling tired and pressured, Langston stood, declaring he had been saved. He felt horrible for lying, but the pressure placed upon him by the entire church outweighed the feeling of guilt. Similarly, people of all types experience a feeling similar to Langston’s; something called peer pressure.
In Hughes story, Salvation, a young boy is worshipping with his aunt when he is soon escorted to the front of the church and placed on the mourners’ bench with several other children his
While pleading for her life, grandmother experiences a moment of grace as she realizes that she and the Misfit are both human being as she exclaims, “Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!” (430). The compassion she shows for the Misfit lets her reader know that grandmother has been redeemed and now has Jesus in her caring
McDowell begins the book with an anecdote of his life; a familiar story of the sceptical university Agnostic, ready to fire back a retort at the slightest mention of God, Christianity, and anything (or anyone) within. He recounted the all too common feeling of a meaningless life, the seemingly innate itch of human existence, and how it brought him to various places in his life—until he stumbled upon a particular group of people and was changed forever. This introduction, though short, is crucial to understand, for it sets the stage for the remainder of the book. It tells not only the story of a former non-believer, but the story of everyone—it presents us the life of Jesus Christ, not as a gentle sermon or a feel-good retelling, but as an assertive, rational reply to the accusation: ‘Christianity is a myth, and so is your God.’
Langston Hughes used rhetoric words in his story “Salvation,” to provide foreshadows, and emotional appeals to his struggles in becoming religiously saved. Hughes began his story by stating “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen (179).” The irony in this opening is that Hughes initially believed in the presence of Jesus, but unexpected pressures pushed him to betray and deceive his faith. The setting of Hughes struggles took place in a religious ceremony in his Auntie Reed’s church. In this service, many young children like Hughes were gathered to be spiritually cleansed by the light of Jesus.
Langston Hughes 's shifting attitude toward salvation in his essay was disappointing and at the same time upsetting. He 's disappointed and upset because he was forced to believe in the situation that something will happen to him inside before he accept Jesus but instead it did not happen. Most of the time we are pressured to accept an idea of what others belief, not because we agree to it but instead we intentionally do it for them to stop asking. Some felt the guilt after, and do something about it but most of the time we just let it go and move on.
Hughes tells the reader he began to feel ashamed as he was the last child left. Hughes begins to examine the situation as it is unfolding. It is known to him that Westley lied about seeing Jesus because he was tired of sitting there. Hughes wondered after that why God himself has “not struck Westley dead” for lying. After examining all these events that occurred during the revival, he realises he will not see anything and should lie as well.
In the poem “I, Too”, the author Langston Hughes illustrates the key aspect of racial discrimination faces against the African Americans to further appeals the people to challenge white supremacy. He conveys the idea that black Americans are as important in the society. Frist, Hughes utilizes the shift of tones to indicate the thrive of African American power. In the first stanza, the speaker shows the sense of nation pride through the use of patriotic tone. The first line of the poem, “I, too, sing America” states the speaker’s state of mind.
In the two short stories, “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Prodigal Son,” by St. Luke there is a parallel struggle of faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown” is a very dark tale of mystery and deceit that surrounds a young man’s test of true faith in his battle against the evil one. In the parable of “The Prodigal Son,” Christ gives the reader a picture of God’s unfailing love toward His children and His ever constant surrounding presence. Faith is tested in each of these stories and the choice becomes to either succumb to this evil world, turn to God, or perhaps something else altogether. Although each story differs in climactic endings, both protagonists in each story reflect the struggle of one’s very soul by their reluctance to fully submit to God.
A central theme in the short story “Thank you Ma 'am” by Langston Hughes is a little kindness goes a long way. One act of kindness can change a person’s life forever. Her unnecessary kindness made a major impact on Roger and changes him. As the story progresses, we see that Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones shows empathy and kindness for Roger. That kindness appears to pass onto Roger near the end of the story.
Langston Hughes was an American poem born in the early nineteen hundreds, who became known as the leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He published many poems that brought light to the life of people of color in the twentieth century. There are three poems that the speakers are used to portray three major themes of each poem. Racism, the American Dream, and Hopes are all the major themes that Hughes uses to highlight the average life of a person of color. Theme for English B,” “Harlem,” and “Let America Be America Again” were three of Hughes’s poems that was selected to underline the themes.
So I got up.” (Hughes, 300). The only reason he had gotten up because he had waited and waited to see Jesus and the other little boy had also lied about seeing Jesus. Hughes was the last person in the church that was