In Langston Hughes’s “Salvation,” the boy is an interesting character to study. At the beginning of the story, the boy is young, interested, and maybe even naive about being saved. Adults in his life, like his aunt and the people in the church, try to get him to accept Jesus Christ into his life. The adults around the boy are able to force him and get him to do what they want.
The young boy is shown to be at odds with himself because he wants to be like the other kids but also wants to be honest and tell the truth. Even though he doesn’t have much faith, he feels like he has to live up to what the adults around him expect. So, he lies and says he is saved and has met Jesus, even though he hasn’t.
At the end of the story, the boy’s disappointment and loss of hope are clear signs that he has changed. He used to believe in Jesus and salvation as a young boy, but now he feels lost, alone, and let down by his religious beliefs. Adults and the pressure to fit in with social norms have a big impact on what he thinks and how he feels.
In the end, the boy in Langston Hughes’s “Salvation” is a complicated character that shows how society and culture can shape a person’s religious beliefs and how hard it is to fit in with the norms of society. At the beginning of the story, the young boy is interested, open, and naive. By the end of the story, he is disappointed in his beliefs, lost, and disillusioned.
2 thoughts on “Ihab Gomaa Discussion 3”
I agree with many of the key points you have made in regard to how Langston must have felt. He is a young boy at only 12 years old, it was bound for him to believe what the member of the church and his aunt said. I believe the way his aunt described the experience to be almost tangible and real, Langston didn’t know any better other than to believe it. However, he portrays a lack of connection as the story moves on and then is struck with disappointment after not seeing Jesus. This was a very interesting story to read and analyze. This story can hold many meanings to why everything played out the way it did. There can be many conclusions that can be made by the events that took place. However, that is for the readers to come up with as mentioned in the YouTube video.
Ihab, I love the chronological organization of your discussion as you show the evolution of the boy’s character.