“Salvation” by Langston Hughes presents the life of an innocent young boy who was torn between his fantasy of faith and the reality of his faith. When he attended church with his aunt, she informed him that in order to be saved, he would see a light and feel Jesus inside of him. He took her words literally. As a child of innocence, he perceived his aunts guidance that Jesus is someone that can actually be seen and felt.
When he witnessed the other children turning from sinners to being saved, yet he felt and saw nothing, he lost hope. He realized that the idea of faith that was painted for him by the adults in his life was just a fantasy. He felt that he had been lied to by everyone to make him happy.
The young boy had the epiphany that faith was not real to him. It did not exist because he did not see or feel it. This made him realize the adults he went to for guidance had lied to him. He was also faced with the decision of his telling the truth or lying by pretending to be saved to make everyone else happy. Which only caused more pain and sadness. At the end, everyone was happy but him.
One thought on “Anjuli McNeil Discussion 1”
Hi Anjuli! I think your response was well written and well organized. I like that you included paragraph breaks. I agree with you that in the end, everyone was left happier than young Langston Hughes, because they all were happy that he joined their faith and fulfilled their expectations, instead of worrying about what he thought about it.