A Critical Analysis Of Salvation By Langston Hughes

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.

Religion is a confusing and controversial subject that many people struggle with, much like John Wheelwright. A Prayer for Owen Meany expresses an honest political view of America and their military actions while telling a story of a child becoming a Christian. A little boy full of doubts about his faith meets a miracle of a child named Owen Meany and makes him his best friend. It's not his small size or high-pitched voice that makes Owen unique; it’s his fate. Through the eyes of a man named John Wheelwright we witness the events that change a skeptical little boy to a faithful Christian.

The Reb and Pastor Henry both were strongly committed to their religious doctrines and spent a great deal of their lives contributing to the well beings of others. Their stories began fairly similar, young men that strived for greatness, but came in contact with abounding obstacles in life . Pastor Henry grew up in an unstable home environment. The importance of school and God wasn’t reinforced constantly, but the use of drugs instantaneously became a way of life. During his adolescence, he developed a strong love for God and took him as his savior at the age of twelve, but then took a path in his teenage years that led him to drugs and violence.

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.”

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.

Writing about controversial subjects can often be difficult; however Hughes executed his story, Salvation, in an intriguing manner that is suitable to all audiences and religions. In this story, the writer retells an experience from his childhood describing his journey to Jesus Christ. Discussing the complications, the main character, Hughes, faced while trying to come to Jesus is what makes the story interesting to read. On many occasions, you will read a story or watch a movie that shows the main character coming to Jesus and having an immediate and obvious realization of their Savior. For this reason, I found this story to be unique and relatable in the way that it shows a journey that countless Christians face, but you are not often granted the opportunity to read about this type of experience.

In Hughes’s short essay, which he ironically titles “Salvation,” he tells the reader about one of his most significant childhood memories. Hughes provides background about a huge revival at his aunt’s church. He flashes forward to the day where he was supposed to be called upon by Jesus and greeted by a bright light his aunt repeatedly tells him about. Hughes recalls that he sat on the mourners’ bench right in the front row with the rest of the unsaved children.

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.

“Salvation” is a short story by Langston Hughes describing a boy when he discovered a significant truth about faith and religion. The last paragraph of “Salvation” functions as an epiphany for the boy. An epiphany is an experience of sudden and striking realization. It can also mean the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi. This event helps shape the boy’s religious understanding far differently from what his Aunt Reed believes.

Hughes getting up and lying shows the reader Hughes has lost faith and no longer believes in religion, as he resorted to lying. From these experiences, Hughes goes on to tell the reader “That night, for the first time in my life but one for I was a big boy twelve years old - I cried. I cried, in bed alone, and couldn 't stop.” (Hughes 187) Here, we can see how the events that occured that night impacted Hughes in a negative way that same night.

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.

“He go’n do it,” my aunt said. “Oh,” I said. “You go’n do it,” she said.”” (111) ““He ain’t saved.” “I can’t help you there, Reverend.”

This infuriates the older brother who believes he has been a righteous son. His father replies, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” Christ teaches that no matter the sin, those that believe in Him and have true repentance may always return to the

It helps us to understand the position of both Jesus and his parents. In modern society, if we were in Mary and Joseph’s position we would be extremely concerned for the safety of our child. But as Jesus, and children, we have the amazing ability to adapt to situations with ‘not a care in the world’ because we are intrigued by the new experiences but we also feel warmth, especially within the church, as if everyone belongs and is loved in God’s eyes.