Josh Nicholas
Professor Graham
English 1301
8:00-9:30
September 12, 2013
“Salvation” by Langston Hughes No one person is without sin. Everyone has done wrong, and nobody is perfect. A lot of people seek salvation and forgiveness for what they have done in their life. The definition of salvation is the deliverance of sin and its consequences brought by faith in Christ. Of the many people that seek salvation, some may not find what they are looking for. In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, the main character has lied to and deceived most of his church members about being salvaged, or in other words, saved, and he should be supported for his actions. The author of “Salvation” is Langston Hughes, and he is also the main character himself. Hughes was born in Joplin Missouri on February 1, 1902. Soon after his birth, his parents split and his mother moved around, so Hughes was mainly raised by his maternal grandmother. After moving to several different cities, he eventually settled in Cleveland which is where he began to write poetry. Poetry was not the only type of writing that Hughes partook in. He wrote novels and short stories along with his poetry. In the short story “Salvation” Langston is a twelve year old boy going on thirteen attending a revival at his Auntie Reeds church. Towards the end of the revival, all of the “sinner children” were brought upon the mourners’ bench. The reason for this? To find Jesus and to let him into the children’s lives. One by one the children stand up and proceed to the altar as they have “found “Jesus. The only two children left are Langston and a boy named Westley. Westley was tired of waiting, so he stood up pretending to find Jesus while taking the lords name in vain. Langston does the same, minus using the lord’s name in vain, and later that night Langston is weeping in bed. His Auntie Reed believes it is because he let Jesus into his life. The real reason is because he did not see Jesus, and Jesus did not save him. A reason that Langston should be supported for his decision is because the pressure that the adults and elders put on him. Langston was told stories of seeing a light and physically seeing Jesus. He expected to feel Jesus in his soul, and all of these high hopes he was expecting leave him disappointed. He only expected all of those things because it is what his Auntie Reed and listen to what his elders tell him. Amy Carrillo, a blogger, states that the description of being saved only caused Langston to be disappointed in himself which is why he lies to the church and feels so guilty (Carrillo 1). Along with the pressure from the elders and his Auntie Reed, Langston felt tremendous pressure from the other children. Children tend to want to be with the “in crowd” and deal with peer pressure. Langston saw that one by one the children were experiencing and he wanted to experience the same thing. Langston finally gives in after seeing that “god had not struck Westley dead for taking his name in vain or for lying in the temple” (Hughes 1). He finally stood up because he believed it was justified after seeing Westley was perfectly fine, which makes sense to a young child. A person or group of people that condemns Langston’s actions may say that lying in his church, a holy place, is unacceptable, or some may say that losing faith in Jesus Christ is the worst thing someone can do. Yes, those are somewhat true, but we need to understand that Langston is a young child. A child his age does not really know that what he is doing is bad. “This just shows the reader how the pressure than an adult can have on a child causes so much damage to the infant who is not aware of what exactly is going on (Carrillo 1). Langston has lost his faith in Christ only because he has not saved him. He did not save him at church or while he was weeping in bed. When a young child expects something and doesn’t receive it, sadness will most likely occur. Langston is basically left with a hole in his life. There are many reason to condemn or support Langston’s actions in the story. Everybody has their own views and opinions, but Langston was just facing pressure, he was a very young child, and he was let down resulting in the loss of faith. Langston did lie to all of his church, and he should be and deserves to be supported due to the circumstances.