Some ways that I relate to the young narrator in “Salvation” is because I also journal my experiences as they happen, and when I write, the language I use is informal and the tone is direct. In “Salvation,” the narrator is conversational and informal, and I feel that it enhances the authenticity of the narrative and allows readers to empathize. An example of this is when the young narrator starts off the story with “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved. It happened like this.” (Hughes). This portrays the writer’s innocence and the sincerity of a child while maintaining straightforward sentence structures to show us that informal and direct tone. Another way I relate to the young narrator is that he is a people pleaser. The definition of a people pleaser is the want/need to please others even at their own expense. This can be seen twice when the narrator is at church and says “I began to be ashamed of myself, holding everything up so long… I decided that maybe to save further trouble, I’d better lie.” (Hughes). Another example of this can be viewed toward the end of the story when Jesus did not come to the narrator, and he states “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.” (Hughes). I feel like these two quotes give some insight into a people pleaser’s mind and how complex it is because he went from pleasing everybody by pretending to be saved to crying about lying to everybody that he got saved and let his aunt push the narrative that he was crying because he saw Jesus, which was ironic. While reading this story, it really hit a soft spot for me because I feel as if everything I do is for the benefit of somebody else and how I can never be selfish.
Powered by:
top
3 thoughts on “Jahnay Butler DB2”
Those internal conflicts during which it feels difficult to help oneself as well as others are ones I can empathize with. For Langston, asking for guidance was likely particularly hard when the pressure to please came from people he deferred to for his entire life beforehand: especially since he went to church that day expecting that they had already told him what he needed to know in a way that he could understand! When confronted with the idea that he had been told what he would feel but something was implacably wrong, the onus of the fault could fall on no one but him.
As a kid, there’s pretty much nothing where “pillars of self that motivate someone to be self-reliant” are concerned; that’s probably why I created a salt one in high school! And, if you’d like a layman piece of advice that you’ve probably heard before: to get the will to stand up for yourself, you have to figure out what it is about YOU that you can’t live without, I think.
Hello Jahny
I agree with you the that Langston Hughes vividly captures the church environment, resonating with personal experiences like yours. The portrayal of passionate prayer and individual physical traits evokes authenticity and comfort. Hughes accurately reflects the anticipation for a spiritual encounter, echoing sentiments shared by many. Your connection to the narrator’s informal tone and struggle with people pleasing adds depth to the narrative, highlighting the conflict between authenticity and societal pressures.
This is one thing I differentiate between me and Hughes is that I am honest. He tried to create a facade of being a part of the religion and got up during the ceremony and him saying that he pretend to be saved by crying but in reality it was because he was hurt about the situation but yet he did not want to stand up for himself while me on the other hand when I started noticing things I instantly spoke up and made everyone aware of my feelings about religion and I demanded respect.