Discussion 3 Vaman Dass

“Salvation” is a short story by Langston Hughes that describes the experience of a young boy named Langston who is taken to church by his aunt to be saved from sin. The boy has a skeptical but honest nature. Even though everyone around him is so deeply engrossed in their faith, he believes in rationality i.e. he kept waiting to see Jesus, and eventually went along with the crowd so as not to disappoint them, but eventually gets overcome by his grief for deceiving others. Despite his disappointment, the child keeps going to the revival service in the hopes of finding the redemption he seeks. But as the night wears on, he comes to the bitter and furious realization that he has not been rescued. The fact that his aunt is informing everyone that he has been saved, even if the child is aware that this is not the truth, just serves to fuel his grief. He understands that the spiritual experience he was looking for is not what he had anticipated, and that churchgoers are only acting religiously without actually experiencing salvation.