Epiphany In Langston Hughes's 'Salvation'

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.

Flannery O’Connor uses the literary device of the epiphany in many of her short stories. The epiphany, typically used at the conclusion of the short story, highlights the redemptive possibilities for characters that have become engulfed by the increasing secular world. That being said, the chance for redemption is not a smooth and carefree process. Several of O’Connor’s short stories contain a protagonist that experiences an epiphany that transforms them, only then to suffer from some act of violence that solidifies their move towards Christianity. In Good Country People and Revelation, the development of the protagonists and their eventual epiphanies reveal the fullest implications of the stories’ themes.

It is, thus, a pressuring and life-changing moment. Langston Hughes, the author and narrator of the composition, “Salvation,” is met with a barrage of thought and emotion come deliverance. Langton’s naivete mistook his aunt’s metaphoric description of salvation, and this led to an absence of spiritual epiphany when the time came. Ultimately, this evoked great dismay and skepticism toward his indoctrinated ideology. Langton's failure to understand the nuances of language is thus the cause of him losing faith in the church and

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 Langston Hughes short story Salvation, he reminiscences about his Auntie Reed’s churches attempt to “save” him at the age of twelve. The preacher holds a distinctive affair for the children which he calls “bringing the young lambs to the fold.” Each child sits on a mourner’s bench and slowly but surely each one stands, are received by the preacher, and subsequently saved by Jesus. Langston observes while all his peers stand up and are saved, while he sits and waits for Jesus to truly reveal himself; however, he is dumbfounded when another boy named Wesley blasphemes and is not subsequently struck dead. Langston had sat at the mourner’s bench for a considerable amount of time and was badgered by the grinning Wesley who sat proudly on the platform above.

African American poet, Langston Hughes (1902-1967), born in Joplin, Missouri, was a passionate writer and thinker that used jazz and black folk rhythms of the Harlem Renaissance that helped shape American literature and politics. The Harlem Renaissance that traversed from the 1920s to 1930s, was a name given to the cultural, social, artistic, literary and intellectual movement sought to celebrate black life and culture, as well as “reconceptualise ‘the negro’ apart from the white stereotype.” Skilfully conveyed through the utilization of numerous poetic devices, mainly through the device of imagery, Hughes died of prostate cancer at 65 in 1967 but his legacy lives to today from his work of celebrating the lives of black people and the words that spoke out against their struggles. The power of poems such as Harlem (dream deferred), mother to son and Let America be America again keep relevance and interest to audience of the current age as they inspire and teach the story through the themes of struggle of the African American race that is still a resistance in this generation through movements such as black lives matter and the continuous themes of many African American singers/rappers but with the legacy

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.

In the essay “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, Hughes argues that one should make decisions themselves instead of being forced by other people in your life. At the start of the essay, Hughes explains to the reader that his aunt was excited about anl at church where kids would get saved. Seeing Jesus,Hughes aunt told him, means you are saved and have accepted Jesus into your life. Right there is where the pressure starts for

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.

We can define the word salvation as deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ. One can be saved by accepting Jesus Christ into your life, but this wasn’t the case for Langston Hughes when he wrote “Salvation”. Having portrayed himself as a young teenage boy when this piece was written and using the first person perspective, the pressure he felt wanting to actually see and feel Jesus is the main reason why he ruined it for himself, and he was not “saved”. The first two lines even say “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved.”

Everyone has dreams, but the thing is most people never accomplish them. Some people put off their dreams to the side because something more important than their dreams comes forth. They believe that is better to put their dreams to the side or give up on them and allow their dreams to fade in their minds. In “What happens to a dream deferred?” by Langston Hughes, the poet uses the title, tone, diction, and selection of detail, to express how people are affected by deferred dreams.