Langston Hughes was a prominent African American poet and writer during the Harlem Renaissance, a period of artistic and intellectual flourishing in the African American community in the 1920s and 1930s. In his essay "Salvation," Hughes reflects on his own personal experience with religion and the expectations placed on him by society as a young boy.
The purpose of "Salvation" is to explore the theme of hypocrisy in religious faith and the ways in which it can be damaging to individuals. Hughes writes about his own experience as a young boy attending a revival meeting with his aunt, who had been urging him to be saved. At the meeting, Hughes felt a sense of pressure to conform to the expectations of those around him and to pretend that he had been saved, even though he did not truly feel a sense of spiritual enlightenment.
Through his essay, Hughes highlights the contradictions and inconsistencies that can exist within religious faith and how they can cause individuals to feel a sense of disconnection and disillusionment. He writes about the ways in which religious faith can be used as a means of control, particularly in the African American community, where religion has often been used to reinforce societal expectations and to reinforce the status quo.
Ultimately, Hughes' purpose in writing "Salvation" is to shed light on the ways in which religious faith can be used as a tool of oppression and to encourage readers to think critically about their own experiences with religion. He encourages readers to question the expectations placed on them by society and to consider whether their own spiritual beliefs are truly their own or whether they have been influenced by external forces.
In conclusion, "Salvation" by Langston Hughes is a powerful and thought-provoking essay that explores the theme of hypocrisy in religious faith and encourages readers to think critically about their own experiences with religion. Hughes' writing is a poignant reminder of the importance of individual authenticity and the dangers of conforming to the expectations of others.
Salvation Langston Hughes Analysis
When you leave the lake, untouched and come back to it later, to find that it will not be stirred, proves that White views this place as being a sacred place finding salvation. Self, and Faith vs. His use of exclamation marks punctuating these sentences portrays a picture of a child who was excited and enthused about this upcoming event. And the whole building rocked with prayer and song. During a church revival refreshing, getting rid of sins, and being saved Langston was surrounded by older members of the church, the congregations, and young lambs, who may have had prior experience of waiting on the Holy Ghost or Jesus to come save them. Being young, Hughes took this "light" by its literal meaning.
In " That Hughes feels the need to write about this sudden loss of faith years after it happened suggests that it was a formative experience in his life, something that put him on a completely different path. Langston Hughes Salvation 831 Words 4 Pages 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 his lifetime, Hughes wrote two autobiographies, The Big Sea, which was published in 1940, and I Wonder as I Wander, which first came into print in the year 1956. Langston, amongst all the other children, waited patiently to be delivered before his Aunt and all those in the church. He started to believe that he would get salvation when there was a light ushered upon him by Christ himself. He did not want to just express the feelings he had during the event; he wanted to show what and who had changed his life.
See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. It was not just my life that changed, but everything about me had changed. This also results in his lying to the church and his feeling of guilt for doing so. Through his use of a childhood perspective, Hughes demonstrates to the reader the thoughts that go through the mind of a child, to demonstrate the irony of himself not actually being saved on that day in church. Westley's lie and confidence causes Hughes to question the christian beliefs. Leaving Langston to live with his grandmother. Copyright renewed 1968 by Arna Bontemps and George Houston Bass.
My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and song swirled all around me in the little church. . This argument, or set of arguments, will probably employ both deductive and inductive reasoning. Oh, Lamb of God! Hughes understood the term salvation in a literal perspective, instead of getting the deeper meaning of the term. Finally all the young people had gone to the altar and were saved, but one boy and me. Written in first person point of view so all thought process is shared, "Salvation" opens with the hopeful 12 year old being told of and excited about being "saved from sin". Growing up as a child we can feel pressure into doing something that we do not want to do.
Then he announces he was not really saved, explaining what happened. Then, present that support by constructing an argument. Most importantly completing a college degree. The adults pressed the children to accept Jesus thinking the natural occurrence would take place, but they did not realize that the children would conform so easily even if they had not accepted or seen Jesus. At the time, Auntie Reed was seen as a religious icon who could save one from anything, so Langston and his parents were hopeful. Words: 1859 - Pages: 8 Free Essay Salvation. However, he soon discovers that he has questioned his beliefs and is unsure about them.
The title of the essay, Salvation, is ironic because Hughes is not actually talking about salvation in the traditional sense of the word. In this service, many young children like Hughes were gathered to be spiritually cleansed by the light of Jesus. One is not saved by going to church or saying prayers but by living a life of love and service. So I got up. In the story, Hughes describes how he was "saved from sin" when he was almost thirteen—except "not really. Because of the way religion has been explained to him, Hughes imagines the entry of Jesus into his life will be a moment of great clarity and epiphany: Jesus will arrive and it will be immediately obvious to Hughes, just as it was apparently immediately obvious to Auntie Reed.
The author, Langston Hughes, uses Salvation to show how religious organizations can be more concerned with appearances than actual salvation. The Grandmother has a sense that reality should revolve around her and that she should manipulate tools such as religion to benefit her outcome. This is because of his tender age, which limits his understanding capacity. Only he is never truly saved. It leads us to fact that people may believe strongly in an idea or thought but will overlook that belief to be obedient. And God was with you from then on! And some of them jumped up and went to Jesus right away.
What is Hughes's purpose in recalling this event in "Salvation"?
Hughes created what sounded like a chaotic Salvation Langston Hughes Analysis interpretations of the word. Weeks before the end of a great rival and the special meeting to "bring the young lambs into the fold", Hughes's aunt talked grandly of seeing lights and seeing Jesus while being saved. On the final evening, the churchgoers' children. He saw Christianity as a way to combat racism and promote social justice. God had not struck Westley dead for taking his name in vain or for lying in the temple.
And Jesus came into your life! This soon transitioned to a spiritual crisis both between the Grandmother and the Misfit as she uses Jesus's name to try and escape her fate. Later that night, he cried over deceiving the congregation and lying about being awakened with the grace of Christ's love. Hughes and another little boy, Westley were left as all the other children jumped and went to Jesus. Figurative speech is difficult and problematic for a young mind to grasp. After a long discussion the misfit ends up kipling the grandmother anyway. If there was any change,.
What is the purpose of the story Salvation by Langston Hughes?
Many children got up right away signifying that they had found Jesus right away. Hughes portrays an event that occurred to him when he was close to the age of thirteen. Some of the girls sitting just next to the author stood up and cried as if they saw the light that their elders talked about. Hughes lost his faith in Christ. Throughout the reading, the author explains the process that these young children are put through during a ritualistic ceremony. Jarena Lee, Lee gave an account to preach the gospel to change the world eternally.
