In my opinion, the boy in the story “Salvation” is very honest about himself, since he knew it wasn’t his time or turn to be saved by Jesus like everyone around him. The boy changed throughout the story, because he started feeling guilty for giving into peer pressure and not telling everyone the truth. According to the text, “But I was really crying because I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn’t seen Jesus, and that now I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me.” (Langston Hughes). Furthermore, the boy did not want to be seemed as a disappointment to his aunt and everyone at church, since his aunt wanted him to have a bigger connection with Jesus and be “saved.” Everyone has their time and the right moment, but the boy knew it wasn’t his time so he lied to be on the same page as everyone else on Salvation. At the same time everyone else was being “saved”, there was irony involving with the boy’s saving.
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3 thoughts on “Ismael Valerio Discussion 3”
Ismael, thanks for starting off the week’s discussion. You offer a very good character analysis of the boy in “Salvation.” You really pinpoint specific examples of his good behavior. He really is a boy who wants to please others, especially those he loves. He is trusting and basically very honest. In fact, the only reasons he ends up faking his experience is because he is concerned about the others and how long he has been holding them up. By the end of the story, he has such a different perspective.
I definitely agree with you on the part where you say how he started feeling guilty for giving into peer pressure. In my opinion time will tell when it is time, and according to his problem it was not his time yet. I do believe that he should have been honest about not being able to see Jesus. Maybe things would have been different, but I do understand his frustration on waiting for him, and not coming as he wanted. He wanted to seem like the other kids, and to me it is sad because I understand people want to believe in Jesus, and because he did not see or feel what other kids were I think he felt a way, and was ashamed of the fact he could not see Jesus.
I agree with you that the boy is very honest. He feels guilty for lying and not telling everyone the truth. I also agree with your point about the irony of the story. An honest boy who lied because everyone wanted him to be saved. It’s an ironic thing that he made a change to please others. He should have had his own opinion, but when everyone was saved by Jesus and he was the only one left, he lied.