After reading “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, I think the character of this boy is very honest, to be precise, he is a very honest person to himself. Until the end of the story, he did not lie to himself, he was convinced that he had not seen Jesus. Secondly, the boy is a very innocent person. He could not bear to deceive the one he loved, and he felt ashamed and guilty for lying to himself. I found a very ironic fact in this story, that people always think it is right to follow the masses. They ignore their inner thoughts. The boy saw that other people were saved, and his aunt and pastor wanted him to admit that he saw Jesus. He did so, he followed the masses and lied that he saw Jesus. This was his change. At first, the boy held on to his thoughts, but in the end, he followed the masses and was saved.
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2 thoughts on “Jiaying Chen Discussion 3”
Hi, Jiaying i had a completely different view to this story. I didn’t acknowledge his honesty. I didn’t notice his innocence and i believe that’s because I judged him for doing something I would’ve done also. I agree with your thought on people following the masses when it’s all you know you tend to follow. Your intuition is all you have and once you let that go you have nothing.
JIaying, thanks for the wonderful character analysis. Yes, the boy is so honest. This is part of the reason he is so filled with guilt at the end of the story. I love what you write about how he does not lie to himself. At the end, even though he pretends to be saved for the crowd, he doesn’t lie to himself about being saved. He knows Jesus has not come to him, and that he no longer believes in Jesus. I feel that even though he followed the masses publicly, he is now going in a different direction. He is a changed person by the end of the story. Some readers even go so far as to say that his real salvation is being saved from being part of the masses that mindlessly follow religion. Please be sure not to check any boxes under “Category Sticky” when you post. Leave that to read “Select Category.” Thanks. If students check this box, my post with the directions loses its first place position.