In the story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, 12 year old Hughes cycles through a wide range of emotions when he is confronted by the members of his church as a part of a ceremony. The author starts off confused as church goers chant what seems to be nonsense to him at first. When he gets a grasp of the idea that the event is about Jesus saving him and the kids he attended the church with, he becomes curious. Through all the confusion you can almost say Hughes grew with excitement when he realized he’ll finally meet this “Jesus” person that his aunt rambled on about. Jesus never arrives and Hughes becomes impatient and resorts to acting like Jesus has saved him to satisfy his family and church members. By the end of the story the author is ashamed for not only lying to the church, but for doubting their religious beliefs. I would describe Langston as open minded, curious, self aware, and most importantly, Innocent. Before questioning religion as a whole, Langston started off as the common adolescent church goer that played along and questioned nothing.
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One thought on “Toribio Mendez Discussion 3”
Toribio, thank you for the valuable character description. I have treated this story as a criticism of grownups on children. Your point of view has broadened my understanding of this story, particularly the idea about the author’s criticism of the ordinary church goers, who go to the church just because they use to do it and don’t inquire anything about the faith and don’t ask the questions, and especially to themselves.