Literary Analysis Essay on Salvation by Langston Hughes

Introduction

Salvation is a short story written by Langston Hughes on the experiences the protagonist underwent as a youth in becoming a Christian. The author attends the revival meetings with the expectation of sin purification but turns out to be a complex exercise beyond his understanding as a teen. Instead of the writer receiving salvation, the narrative ends up with him losing faith in religion. Therefore, the paper focuses on the reader's response towards salvation by Langston Hughes.

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As a child, the author is obsessed with what his aunt informs him about Christianity. The innocence in the teen misinterpreted the statement of Jesus to come as a bright light during the process of salvation (Best 236). He believed and expected to see, hear, and even touch, if possible, Jesus in his means of salvation. Therefore, he watched from the seat as fellow teenagers stood up, claiming salvation. As a solution, the elderly pressurized the protagonist through praying as well as crying in his presence. This act resulted in him standing and weeping. The scenario deceived the whole congregation, believing that it was Holy Spirit causal, which was not the case with the writer.

When I was a child, I went through the same experience as that of Langston. He provides that you can see, hear, and feel in the soul Jesus' presence. It was the same language my parents spoke that I genuinely trusted in them. I always accompanied my parents to church and frequently read the Bible. However, the way I perceived Christ changed when some of my friends claimed that Jesus showed up when they are in trouble and rescue them. For me, things were different, no matter how much I continued to pray and to go to church. The situation of poor living standards in the family persisted regardless of teaming up with my parents in prayers to salvage the situation. From this point, I commenced disliking Jesus for being biased by favoring others over me. However, in my senior classes in high school as a Christian was able to understand the way the element of faith works in the religion.

The saddest part of the story is the questions of God's existence that the author asked himself as a result of how other people perceived religion. The challenge deprived him of some innocence to understanding. I can critic that the perception aided Langston to lose ignorance and put faith in doubt. He solely waited in the chair for the appearance of Jesus, which indicated that he was being pushed to comply with the normal practice of others who had already received salvation without question. However, it is difficult for the teens to understand the way God reveals Himself; therefore, the easiest way is to conform with people around and sacrifice part what is you believe in, such as the physical presence of the supreme being. The protagonist applies both senses of humor as well as sadness in his tale. There are portions of the narrative, where he employs excellent details to discuss the drama, which paints a clear picture to the reader (Hughes & McLaren 41). I found the church meeting description in the story to be fundamentally practical since I could imagine the incidence in my mind.

Conclusion

In conclusion, salvation is a process that requires a better understanding of both adults and teens. The way mature people view a situation is not the same way a child sees a circumstance. Children take the literal meaning of a statement regardless of its hidden meaning. Since the Bible is written in parables, the pastors and the parents should avail themselves to elaborate the definition to the youth to avoid loss of faith in religion due to unanswered questions as seen in the salvation by Langston Hughes.

Works Cited

Best, Wallace D. Langston's Salvation: American Religion and the Bard of Harlem. , 2019.

Hughes, Langston, and Joseph McLaren. Autobiography: Autobiography; the Big Sea. Columbia, Mo: University of Missouri Press, 2002. Print.