We know by the language and perspective of the narrator that “Salvation” is a coming-of-age story told by an adult looking back on a painful childhood experience, which results in an epiphany. What is the epiphany that occurs in “Salvation?
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The epiphany that occurs in salvation is that at the end of the story the child does not believe that Jesus exists because when he needed Jesus to help him Jesus did not help him. I think the child was disappointed about Jesus because Jesus didn’t come to help him, but that does mean that Jesus do not exists, Jesus is always there to help everyone that need his help. Jesus is the most wonderful men that exist because he always next to you doing all the good things for you.
Kemeli, yes, at the heart of the boy’s epiphany is a loss of faith. I think it’s true that an experience like this might not turn someone into an atheist. I think the adults in this story don’t realize how literally the boy has taken their stories about Jesus and faith. Please make sure your posts meet the 150-word requirement so you can get full credit for your responses.
You are right that Jesus is always with us and around us and helping us in different avatars, so we should be thankful to God and have a wonderful life, which will make us feel suitable for everyone. and connect with people with heart.
In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes an epiphany is exposed unexpectedly in the heat of a very intense situation. The epiphany is that God isn’t real, Langston comes to this epiphany when he becomes present in a situation where he needs the presence of God to help him get out of a difficult situation. If there would ever be a proper time for God to present himself it would be now when Langston needed him the most. Imagine believing in someone or something so much that you expect them to save you from a dire situation, only for you to come the realization that the only person that can save you is yourself. This short story made me also continue to question why people put their faith in something they’ve never seen with their own eyes before. Why do we choose to believe in the existence of a greater power? A greater power that we’ve only heard of in sacred texts and stories that are centuries old. Why do we continue to believe in this greater power when we call upon its presence to save us from defeat, from death only to be shown that there is no greater power coming to save
Giovanni, you ask a lot of very profound questions here. I wonder about this too. I think some people have the gift of faith. If you read Kemeli’s post, you’ll see that she has faith. I think for others there are many reasons why religion is important to them. In this story, we see a young boy who has no parents and who seems a bit isolated from the other children. He wants desperately to have Jesus in his life. His ideas about religion, of course, are very literal and not truly spiritual, but he’s just a child! So his disappointment is huge when Jesus does not come to him. I’ll be interested in hearing your responses to “Araby,” which is a story we’ll be reading soon.
Hi Giovanni,
I enjoyed reading your take on this text. I agree with your points. However, I am unsure whether Langston Hughes intended to say here that what was shattered was his faith in God in general or his faith in Jesus and the tenets of his aunt’s church in particular. The other children all stood up and “came to Jesus.” Yet, the text doesn’t say if they actually did or if they just pretended to please the congregation, as Westley and then Langston did. The fact that some kids immediately jumped up while most of them just stood there awkwardly makes it seem like peer pressure might have a role here. The whole event is depicted as something very ritual-like, as if the children weren’t expected to truly experience Jesus, but simply to play their part in the general chorus. The tension happens as Langston approaches the event “religiously,” expecting a true revelation that doesn’t come. He then rationalizes this event by concluding that Jesus doesn’t exist. Overall, I found the text conveyed very well this stark sense of disconnect from the whole ceremony that Langston must have felt.
Hey, Giovanni and Anastasiia. I particularly found your discussion the most enticing and wanted to add on to it. I asked similar questions in my response to this discussion “Was everyone, like Wesley, faking it just as Hughes eventually did? Or is there such a thing as true belief? Do some truly believe and others don’t?” After reading your thread I came away with this: all of those interpretive possibilities are on the table and that’s what makes this story a profound one. The epiphany that Hughes has can also be interpreted in these possibilities. I find myself agreeing with you Anastasiia – there isn’t one clear way to interpret this narrative Hughes has layed out. If anything is to be inferred from Hughes, it’s that conformity is a powerful in our society. Humans are social creatures who long for camaraderie and will do almost anything to have it.
Hi Giovanni Wright,
After reading the questioning you raised, two quotes from a book jumped to mind. The book is called A Little Story of Literature, written by the British scholar John Sutherland.
I will only paraphrase the quotes in question because I don’t know the exact words used by the author; since I have read this book in my primary language.
While explaining the origin of the mythologic tales, Sutherland wrote that the creation of myths tells about who we are as humans (16). And he continues by saying that the myth we create helps us give a sense of explanation about all things in the world (16).
I totally agree with you! And the questions, I’ve asked them myself too! That realization had to that child hard because it literally did a 360 on his religious beliefs. Yes I do believe that its crazy how people put their faith or sacrifice things for something they never seen before but I believe that this occurs based on the family people are born into. For instance in this “Salvation” his aunt(his family), displays the belief of Jesus existing and that he would save us when we need saving, so family does play a big role in that.
Giovanni, I think these questions are the ones that we ask ourselves at least once in a lifetime. The reason people choose to believe in something that they have not seen can be found in the culture that they are born in. I cannot either confirm of disapprove the existence of greater power but we all have our own perspectives and probably personal reasons why we choose to believe. I know certain people who has faith in god and it really helps them in difficulties and whenever I am looking at those people, I never doubt the existence of greater power – in that moment, I feel like it’s unnecessary to start questioning because no matter what, this particular person in front of me is able to persevere because of the faith they have.
The epiphany that is portrayed in “Salvation” is when Langston Hughes is in a way forced to accept Jesus and believe that this higher being was in his presence. Faith is shown very well in this story because it shows how different it is for everyone because even though the author himself could not see Jesus, some of the other children ran straight to Jesus as if they could see Jesus. This then begins to make you think since all these children are seeing Jesus. Is he real? Do I not have enough faith to be able to see him? Why has Jesus not revealed himself now that I need him the most? In my perspective, I don’t understand how people have the ability to have faith in “Jesus” because when they need guidance the most and someone to help them when they need it, Jesus doesn’t show himself to the people who I have been faithful. Faith is a very controversial topic because not everyone believes in “god” a lot of people choose to believe in what they could see not what people tell them is there. In the story, he waits desperately to be able to see Jesus, while the people are expecting him to reach out his hand and accept Jesus when he can’t see him.
Rances, yes, you raise so many interesting points in this post. It is curious that the other children appear to be “saved,” but we don’t know from the text what they are feeling or believing. We only hear the protagonist’s perspective. This too is part of the boy’s pain. He sees others being saved and wonders why he has been left out. He also sees Wesley flat out lying, pretending to be saved, and observes that there are no divine consequences. Then when Jesus does not appear to him in the way he has imagined, all these elements come together in his personal realization that Jesus does not exist as a divine force.
Hi Rances, i really enjoyed reading your post and thought it was very interesting. I thought you made a great point when you stated, “Faith is shown very well in this story because it shows how different it is for everyone…” This is very important and if Hughes had known of this maybe he would have not given up on God because of how different his experience was from everyone else around him. I agree faith is controversial, which is why Langston Hughes was able to stir up conversation and fame for his book; especially by using situational irony since he titles his chapter “salvation” to speak about doubting Jesus and turning away from his religion.
Rances, you have mentioned very important aspect in your response: everyone has a different perspective and if one doesn’t see god, it doesn’t mean that god does not exist and vice versa. People have the ability to have faith in god because the help they get may be manifested into various ways. I do not think all is about what is actually happening to you but rather what do you attribute these events to. If for instance, you are ill and suddenly you get healed, you may attribute it to good medication or god’s help. So it depends on how each one of us see things and interpret situation. Therefore I understand why some people have faith in god and some of them do not.
The epiphany that occurs in the short story Salvation is that we visualize while reading that Langston comes to the realization that he in fact has a loss of faith due to misconception. The way he interpreted seeing Jesus was something that he needed to physically see and that would be completely understandable being that it is coming from a child’s perspective. Though being saved lies much deeper than what our eyes allows us to see, so placing such an important factor of how you will grow up in life in a certain perspective lens is very important to every child that is indeed growing. With the misconception that’s told that he sees a light doesn’t necessarily means he actually sees a light but more so that there is a realization phase that once he accepts God into his life, his life tends to change. How he views the world and the earthly things of the world changes but being that he’s a child with a child’s mindset he takes what is told to him literal which causes the epiphany to play a role in the childhood experience. That causes the loss/lack of faith and also it strips him away from his childhood innocence because of how a child’s mindset works. They can easily confused themselves especially if they are placed in a situation where they are in the force of having to interpret things like an adult.
Samijah, as I read your post I kept thinking that if you, Samijah, were explaining religion to the young protagonist, he might not have had such a traumatic experience. We can see how imperfectly the adults explain religion and faith to the boy. Like most children, he takes their words literally, so, as you write, he is expecting a beautiful light and some cinematic manifestation of Jesus. You make a great point when you say that the child in the story is put in the position of interpreting adult words. And he does not do it very well! Thanks for the good cmments.
In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes the character has an epiphany where he doubts that god is real. This epiphany that he suddenly has brings tears and guilt out of him. The young boy is bought to a church where he believes that he will be saved by Jesus but he thinks he will physically see Jesus. As the ceremony goes on and everyone steps up to the platform the young boy then realizes that everyone is ” lying in the temple” claiming they had seen Jesus which causes confusion to him. In my opinion the boy is just very young which makes him very naive in certain situations because I strongly believe that religion is a spiritual thing, it is a feeling of faith not a physical thing that can be shown right in front of a persons face such as the young boy seeing Jesus in front of him.
Hi Giovanna,
I too believe spirituality cannot be seen, but must be felt in the heart. Feeling pressure to attain false acceptance was challenging to him and forced him to lose several things that night. He was too young to have to make a decision like that. But unfortunately, he believes he needs to lie to make others around him satisfied and comfortable in old school traditions and ideas. His influences growing up are doing more harm than good.
Hi, ilana
I agree that he was being forced to accept Jesus and instead of it being good for him, it resulted in him believing that Jesus is not real. I like how you said that know he thinks he needs to lie to make others around him satisfied. but as shown in the story he ended up faking his belief because of the pressure he was under.
Giovanna, yes, you are so right that religion is a spiritual, rather than a literal, thing. The boy has a naive and simplistic view of Jesus and faith. But, of course, this isn’t his fault. It’s the adults around him who have failed to explain the spiritual nature of being “saved.” The boy ends up not believing in Jesus as a god, and his faith in adults is also shaken. What have they been telling him all this time?
Hello Giovanni,
I strongly agree with you and deeply believe that when you start to realize the spiritual essence of believing in a higher power you realize that it’s so much more than it being physical but more so in the spiritual. You start to interpret things differently especially when you realize there’s such a deeper meaning to the spiritual world.
Giovanna, yes, the boy has a couple of devastating realizations in this very short story. It’s true that now he feels that everyone is “lying in the temple.” It’s not just Wesley; it’s also the adults who told him Jesus would appear to him. The central realization, as you note, is that he now does not believe in Jesus. Clearly, he is naive and absorbed what he’d heard about being saved in a very literal way. This makes sense since he’s just a kid. It’s the adults who haven’t explained spirituality.
For over twelve years of his life, Langston Hughes had believed in Jesus as his savior, just like everyone else in his town. Guided by his Auntie Reed, he looked forward to being revived by his savior, Jesus. He knew exactly what it feels like to be revived, at least from the experience of his aunt. As he sat there awaiting his revival, he began to feel the pressure set by the preacher, his family, and even his friends. He did not see the light, or feel Jesus in his soul. He knew that his friend Westley felt the same way as him, yet he went to the altar and was not punished by God for the lie. This had led Langston to give into the peer pressure and finally got up to take his place at the altar. That night, a realization hit Langston—that there was no Jesus to save him.
Thin, yes, there are several painful realizations in this story, but as you write, the central epiphany is that the boy no longer believes in Jesus as a divinity. Along the way, his faith is also weakened when he sees Wesley pretend to be saved with no consequences for this lie. He has disappointed his aunt and the congregation, as well. But, as you say, the main realization is that he no longer has faith.
“Salvation”” is about a young man torn between religion and personal choice. Shouting members of the church leap to “salvation”, or deliverance to their god. The young man is escorted to an area exclusively for “sinners”. And told how he will be saved. He’ll “see a light”, they say. To wait for the moment. As he waited for his time to approach his god, a sign never arrived. Feeling pressure from his elders and peers, the boy stands and asks to be saved. What was supposed to be a moment of forgiveness and faith, turns to frustration and loss of trust in religion.
His epiphany begins when he realizes his god isn’t real and can longer trust the influences of his elders. With emotion and honesty, he makes the decision to believe what he wants to believe, not believe what he is told to believe. And begin a path of free will with a more broad perspective.
Iliana, you do a very good job here of showing the build-up to the boy’s epiphany and loss of faith. At first, he is excited and happy about the prospect of being saved. The peer pressure increases to an almost unbearable point. It’s also true, as you say, that he begins to lose faith in the elders who have fostered these beliefs and expectations in him. In the end, he realizes he no longer believes in Jesus as a god. One word of caution—and this is for everyone as we read stories during the semester—we can only discuss what is actually in the text. In this text we don’t hear anything about what happens after the boy’s epiphany. We aren’t told that he is setting off on a path of free will, so we can’t make that leap. The story ends without a denouement or resolution. For all we know, he might join some atheist cult and give up his free will to that cause.
The epiphany he shows us in “Salvation” is When Langston’s experience of being “saved” only made him feel disappointed in himself. and as a result, it leads Him to lose faith in Jesus Christ. In my opinion, I think that the mood created by the young boy throughout the story changes drastically. At first, he was curious and excited, but when he realized that nothing he expected happened, he was disappointed and as I said above he lost interest in his faith in Jesus. Personally, sometimes I think that believing in something that you haven’t seen is losing your time, but anyway I do it because deep down I think that if there is something spiritual.
Luis, I smiled when I read your last lines. Sometimes you feel that believing in something you haven’t seen is a waste of time, but you do believe anyway even though you don’t quite understand it. I will be interested in hearing more of your ideas about faith (which entails believing in what is not seen) when we get to the story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.”
Hello Luis,
I agree with you that although everyone else thinks that he is “saved”, only he himself knows that it is quite the opposite. This makes him feel sad and maybe even lonely. I think there are many individuals who go through the same experience as Langston. We put our faith in what our society tells us about. And as we grow up, we start to question our beliefs sometimes end up becoming an atheist. I can also relate with you on the last remark as well. Sometimes, although things can be hard and disappointing, I tell myself that it’ll get better because there is a divine being working on it.
Langston describes in his memoir that he had an epiphany at the church when he was expecting to see Jesus and feel something different, but nothing happened. Later that night, Langston cried. He did not believe in Jesus anymore, even though affirming otherwise. He said he had seen Jesus due to the peer pressure of the congregation and for seeing that his friend Westley was not punished by God for lying and being disrespectful in the church.
Hello Deanne,
I do believe that expectations sometimes can lead to failure. But in this situation it only failed because he expected to physically see a light and as a child their imagination only runs deep to their understanding of knowledge. If something is told to them through an adults perspective they can only limit how much they can actually interpret because apart of it comes from not fully understanding what is being told in the first place. Though I do agree with what you stated.
Deanne, yes, a number of things contribute to the protagonist’s disillusionment in this story. His literal ideas about faith are proven to be false. In addition, he sees Wesley lying with no consequence. All his illusions about religion are shattered, along with his ideas about himself. Please be sure that your comments meet the length requirements so you can receive full credit.
Langston describes in his memoir that he had an epiphany at the church when he was expecting to see Jesus and feel something spiritual, but nothing happened. Later that night, Langston cried. He did not believe in Jesus anymore, even though affirming otherwise. He said he had seen Jesus due to the peer pressure of the congregation. And seeing that his friend Westley was not punished by God for lying and being disrespectful in the church, he felt encourage to lie.
I believed Langstone, even though just being 12 years old, knew he would perhaps only experience something spiritual rather than physical since he wrote, “I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened” (7).
I felt sad for the boy because he was a true believer before, and the epiphany was impactful on him. It crushed his beliefs and consequently affected how he saw and thought about the world from that point forward. I believe that people exercise faith to find comfort and hope. in the case of the young Langston, he lost his assurance that if he had a problem Jesus would come to help him.
Deanne, thanks for the good follow-up!
In this third chapter of his memoir “The Big Sea,” entitled “Salvation,” Langston Hughes relates a pivotal moment in his childhood. When he was twelve years old, his aunt took him to church during a revival. On that particular day, children were to be brought to Jesus with prayers and songs. However, as the ceremony unfolded, soon only two kids remained on the mourner’s bench: Langston and a boy named Westley. The others had seen the light and stood up to the encouragements of the crowd. As he wants this to be over already, Westley chooses to fake it and stand up. Langston is now the last on the bench. Pressured by his sobbing aunt, a grinning Westley, and an entire congregation of churchgoers in hysterics, an ashamed Langston begrudgingly decides to pretend as well. That night, reflecting on the day’s events, he concludes that if he didn’t experience Jesus, and if neither Westley nor him were stuck by lightning by God for lying, maybe Jesus doesn’t exist. Torn by the realization, he bursts into tears.
While Langston undergoes an array of emotions, we can follow the development of his character. At the beginning of the story, Langston talks of how he eagerly expected seeing the light and having Christ come into his life, as described to him many times by his aunt and other adults when he was growing up. Despite approaching the ceremony in good faith, unlike the cynical Westley, he does not experience what the others apparently did. As the opening lines of the chapter says, “[Langston] was saved from sin […]. But not really saved.” The event shatters his faith. This epiphany, however, is eventually his salvation from sin, as he turns away from religion while preserving his strong moral integrity.
The epiphany that occurs in “Salvation” was the sudden awareness that Jesus wasn’t real. The boy finds this out as he’s in the church and realizes Jesus never really “came”, even after he faked it. The gist is that he didn’t catch the holy ghost that the other children claimed to have caught. He was nervous about just sitting there because the people in the church were counting on him to find Jesus, so he ended up acting as if he found Jesus anyways. The guilt was building up as he stated in the beginning that he has sinned as a child, which led to him telling the truth in the end, but then claimed to his religious aunt that he now doesn’t believe in Jesus. His reasoning being that Christ didn’t help him in a time where he was actually waiting and expecting him to come. I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinions when it comes to religion, even if you were born in a strongly religious family, you should have all control and freedom into what you want to believe in. Especially since it includes the belief of spirits; some people may not want to let that kind of worship into their lives. A prime example of someone being brought into a religion and knowing nothing of it, is the boy in this short story “Salvation”, where he now doesn’t believe in God.
Hiii Antasia:) I hope things are going wonderfully with you. I agree with what you were saying about being able to have control over what you want to believe in even if you aren’t religious but come from a religious family. I want to add onto that, most religious families despise the idea of their families not staying true to their beliefs. Religion and freedom go hand in hand because having freedom means having free will, It means believing in whatever you want to believe in and standing by it no matter how many people oppose you. People will always have opinions on how you should run your life, but true freedom and strength lies within working a path that no one else may understand.
“Salvation” was written by Langston Hughes. This short essay claim that the thirteen years old boy loss of faith with the god. Because Jesus didn’t show up to help him when he was most in need, but others were still able to receive Jesus’ care, which led Langston to become an atheist. In my opinion, believe and disbelief are persisted in accordance with their own efforts. If a person has a strong belief in his heart, it is not to be pushed, nothing can be shaken.
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The epiphany that occurred in “Salvation” was one of disbelief, not only in the boys faith in Jesus and religion, but also in the adults that he had listened to so readily. The adults, not only the childs parents, but “a great many old people” had told him that if he were to wait on the bench, Jesus would come down and shine a great light upon him and “save” him. Despite not being able to see Jesus, the boy saw many of the other children act as if they had and leave, and then was left alone as the final child on the bench when Westley had made it clear that although he had not seen Jesus, he was tired of waiting and left. After seeing no punishment befall Westley, who had just lied in church, the boy decided that he too could simply get up as well. This is when the disbelief set in strongest, and the epiphany took place. Jesus would never come down to save him, and he no longer held faith the same he had before.
Emily, you do a wonderful thing in this post, which is to quote directly from the story to make your point. Your chosen quote about the “great many old people” points to the boy’s belief not only in Jesus but in the adults around him who are telling him about Jesus. He loses faith in Jesus and in the community of adults who have instructed him. Watching Wesley lie with no consequences is another nail in the coffin for his believe in what he has been taught.
Epiphany of the story is not seeing Jesus but on the contrary – we see epiphany when boy starts crying for the first time because he lost faith in Jesus who did not come to save him. When we are young, there is no doubt that our mind is most vulnerable and mostly based on the ideas that comes from culture that we live in. We may start believing in certain things because we were told so but at some point there is a chance that we may face harsh reality. I think boy was too young to lose faith in religion. What I mean is that he had a long path to walk and may have changed his attitudes based on his future experiences. In other words, there may have been a time where Jesus would come to help him. On the other hand, this story is told by an adult, so we can assume that he lost his faith forever.
While reading the story, I thought to myself “did other children actually feel something?”. Probably, some of them did because when we believe in something, there is a great chance that we’ll see it even though it may not exist.
Mariam, you make some excellent observations here. You are so right that this epiphany is not a positive one—at least not at the point where the story ends. Sometimes we think that epiphanies should be wonderful realizations that change our life for the better, but often the change they bring is a painful one. You also make a great point when you mention that the narrator is an adult looking back on this incident, which suggests to you that the loss of faith was permanent.
The epiphany that Langston comes to at the end of “Salvation,” is that Jesus doesn’t exist. In the story, Langston is awaiting his salvation from Jesus. He expects a special feeling to happen, as his aunt tells him that “when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside” (Hughes). Langston is waiting for something tangible to occur when he is saved by Jesus. However, he waits all day, and doesn’t feel this. Langston watches as kid after kid continues to be saved by Jesus, wondering why he isn’t one of them. After waiting for so long, and feeling the intense pressure of his church, Langston fakes his salvation. He “kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting — but he didn’t come” (Hughes). It is this disappointment that causes Langston to conclude that Jesus isn’t real. Langston feels guilty to come to this conclusion, as he thinks that out of all the kids who were saved, he is the only one who faked his salvation.
Anna, yes, among other emotions, the young narrator is plagued with guilt in this story. Do you think he believes the other children were actually saved? He clearly knows that Wesley was faking it. And he no longer believes in Jesus as a divine figure. If he no longer believes Jesus is real, would he think that others were actually saved? Something to wonder about.
In the story, Hughes depicts how he was “saved from wrongdoing” when he was right around thirteen, except “not actually.” A major recovery is being held at his Aunt Reed’s congregation. This has been continuing for a little while, with much lecturing, singing and supplication expected to bring “in-your-face delinquents” into the congregation’s overlap. Toward the finish of the recovery, nonetheless, an exceptional gathering is held for youngsters, so the people who have not yet been “brought to Jesus” can be saved. Hughes’ aunt clarifies the course of salvation to him, depicting it as seeing “a light,” which demonstrates that Jesus is coming into one’s life. Having heard other more seasoned individuals express comparable things, Hughes takes their importance in a real sense and sits in the first column of the congregation with different kids, persistently trusting that Jesus will show up before him. Due to the manner in which religion has been disclosed to him, Hughes envisions the section of Jesus into his life will be a snapshot of extraordinary lucidity and revelation. Jesus will show up and it will be promptly clear to Hughes, similarly as it was evidently quickly clear to Aunt Reed.
Salvation, by Langston Hughes is a fascinating and controversial piece that raises lots of issues about belief, peer pressure, and how on Earth should we behave when everyone else wants us to conform to a certain belief, and what is the result of that. All of this is compounded by the fact that thing that is in question isn’t something as menial as smoking a cigarette in the bathroom in high school or saying something mean to someone because your friends want you to – it’s a matter of religion itself. There’s all of this pressure on Hughes, even from his friend – who Hughes knows hasn’t seen Jesus who went along with it as well. Hughes, still waiting, just breaks and goes up and says that he believes. You can think whatever you want of Hughes (the narrator) in this situation: was it his doubt that lead him to not see? Was everyone, like Wesley, faking it just as Hughes eventually did? Or is there such a thing as true belief? Do some truly believe and others don’t? All of those interpretive possibilities are on the table and that’s what makes this story a profound one. The epiphany that Hughes has can also be interpreted in these possibilities. I believe it goes against the narrative that Hughes lays out to simply come to one conclusion. If anything is to be inferred from Hughes, it’s that conformity is a powerful vice in our society. Humans as social creatures long for camaraderie and will do anything to have it.
hello Gamby,
Hope all is well. You bring up some interesting points. I agree that conformity plays a major rule in society, especially in religious groups. I like that you asked the questions to further your point that this story is up for interpretation. It made me go back and reread to really further digest my own interpretation. Langston being pushed into peer pressure caused his lack of faith, the theme of the power of conformity is very present in this story.
The epiphany that occurred for Langston is that Jesus was not real and was not going to save him. He was the last of the young sinners on the bench, and knew that in that moment he needed Jesus the most to come and save him. Because Jesus was not there at a critical time, Langston felt the weight of the truth that Jesus would never come. I find that there is a lot of irony in religion from personal experience. Religion is supposed to help you feel whole and saved, but ends up making you feel incomplete and doubt your self worth. The situational irony was present when the boy laid in his bed crying from disappointment rather than crying tears of joy at the presence of God. Often with religion, the interpreters and teachers twist the messages and meaning behind their religion, which leads people to abandon their faith. The ones who taught these children are at fault for Langston’s experience with religion. He was taught Jesus to be tangible and a light would appear. Langston was left to not experience the benefit of faith.
Hi Caroline McGarey,
I like your analysis, and I got stuck when you wrote that their religion leaves its participants doubting their self-worthiness. I did not agree at first, but I happened to change my mind about it. I believe you were right. It is this doubt that keeps the practicians in a hostage relationship with religion. If they end up not practicing the rules of the religion, they feel guilt for abandoning the only thing that they believe makes them worthy of anything good.
Hi Caroline,
I also agree that there is a lot of irony in the concept of Religion. Despite the fact that the moment on the bench was likely one when the boy needed Jesus the most, he, of course, never came. I believe that it is very wrong to use parental and elderly influence on children to lead them down a path of faith that might not be right for them. While Religion can serve a beneficial purpose, it is founded on falsehoods and teaching that to children is incredibly misleading.
An epiphany is a moment of sudden revelation or insight. I believe the narrator’s (Hughes) epiphany occurred late at night when he was crying over the event of his revival; Hughes stated, “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, that I hadn’t seen Jesus, and that now I didn’t believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn’t come to help me.” (Hughes) He had this epiphany, a sudden belief where he doubted both Jesus and his religion. Author Mathew Sharpe mentions the irony of Hughes chapter title being called “salvation” and I have to agree; I believe this is called situational irony. Google defines salvation as deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ. Hughes believed he would be saved from sin after his revival only for the exact opposite to happen and instead began to doubt his religion and the existence of Jesus.
In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, this scene makes you ask yourself many deep questions here. I acknowledge that each person has his own personal experience of faith, such as the stage he is going through now. There are many religious stories that my parents believe in that I absolutely can’t believe, and I can’t face them as well because they believe that this is acrimony and unbelief. I think some people have the ability to blind faith. My personal belief is that belief in the unseen and believe in it are nothing but a psychological reflection of my upbringing, and my geographical location. Just like the protagonist, who I believe represents me and my life at the point I’m in now, disbelief makes you feel alone in this world and different from everyone else. I think there are many reasons why religion is important to others. In this story, we see a young boy who has no parents and who appears to be withdrawn from the other children. He desperately wants to have Jesus in his life. His thoughts on religion are auditory and not really spiritual, but he’s just a kid! So his disappointment is great when Jesus does not come to him. My personal belief is that the experience of faith is a very special spiritual experience and a child should not be forced to choose his or her religion.
I can highly relate with you.I have seen people with blind faith but very less when they have to educate.They always pressure into making one believe rather than educating them about it.One should always educate themselves first about something before preaching about it or believing in it.Brings me back to something someone once told me that ‘ Never make false statements about God but always question and try to search for the answer’.Questioning is never bad or a sin.
I very much agree with you that everyone can have their own will to choose what they want. Every child wants to be cared when he grows up, but the little boy in the article is disappointed because he didn’t get the care of Jesus, which also means that he chose to give up this belief.
Hi, Arm. I agree with you and sometimes I do not believe some stories that my parents or friends told me. There is a saying “seeing is believing”. I only believe what I see. Speaking of faith, as you said, we should not be forced to choose to believe something. We have our own choosing. You mentioned about your bad situation. You can talk to your friends and parents. Maybe they can give you some advices. I hope you will be fine.
‘Faith and belief works differently for everyone’.The story I believe talks about the social and emotional pressure that society puts on young people.A 13 year old is pretty brand new to this world and has way too much to figure out.That age period is fragile.Being forced at that age to believe in something that one does not have clear perception about can really put a negative impact.
In the story the writer is taken to the church to see Jesus.And when he fails to do so everybody peer pressures him into lying.From trying to make him see Jesus they made him lie and turned him into a liar.Which did leave a negative burden on him that he lied to his own community and on top of that he thought Jesus would come and help him but that never happened which made him believe that theres no Jesus.Peer pressure put my elderly to make one religious did not only take away his belief from him but made him question the whole idea.I honestly believe one should be introduced to religion but also given the chance to explore learn and educate themself about it.So they just don’t follow the religion blindly without any knowledge but actually know about it.This reminds me of something i heard back when i was young ‘A religious man with knowledge and belief is always better than someone with no knowledge’.
The epiphany that occurred to Langston Hughe in his childhood was that he lost his faith since Jesus did not come to help him. When he was at Auntie Reed’s church, he was the last one saw Jesus. However, he had lied and did not see Jesus. That night was painful for Langston. “Finally, all the young people had gone to the altar and were saved” when I read here, I am curious if other children really saw Jesus and Jesus saved them. He cried in the bed alone and could not stop. At the same time, I can feel his feeling. There is nothing in the world can help you. You are lonely and helpless. Especially, he was only 12-year-old. In this short chapter, he didn’t mention his parents and we know he lived with his uncle and aunt.
Hi, Deli wu
I agree that he did lose faith because he thought Jesus would be there for him when he most needed him. He was forced to accept Jesus even though he didn’t see him. This shows how much of an influence adults can have on children. Then later in the story when he was crying in his bed he felt guilty for lying, which shows the impact people can have when forcing faith on someone.
The “Epiphany” that occurs in “Salvation” is a divine moment leading to change. In the story, Langston Hughes and a group of other children sit on a bench in Hughes Auntie Reed’s church. The children get up one by one as the congregation sings and prays for full salvation, indicating that they have discovered Jesus into their life. Hughes anxiously waits until he is the last one standing, expecting to see Jesus there to save him, after a long wait Hughes loses it. The congregation stands together in salvation to try to keep him steady, but Hughes, who has lost all his faith as a whole, cries on his bed the same night which leads to change in his belief. Giving the chance to finally see, Hughes divine moment did not go so well.
“Salvation” was written by Langston Hughes. This short essay claim that the thirteen years old boy loss of faith with the god. Because Jesus didn’t show up to help him when he was most in need, but others were still able to receive Jesus’ care, which led Langston to become an atheist. However, he sat on the bed and cried, because he lied and bore this sin silently. Maybe it’s not that Jesus didn’t come, it’s just that the time has not come, but this caused the little boy’s misunderstanding. When a child does something wrong and mistake when he is young, he can still correct, but his position cannot be shaken. In my opinion, believe and disbelief are persisted in accordance with their own efforts. If a person has a strong belief in his heart, it is not to be pushed, nothing can be shaken. Not everything in life is going smoothly, only yourself can really save you in difficult times. As long as you don’t give up, everything is possible, so you must have your own stand.
Yes, I agree with you. We have to stand ourselves in the problematic situation. so we can have our own decision which can always be good for our future. Because nobody can understand our actual situation, not even God, so we don’t have to give up. We should keep going on in our life no matter what. Hoping God is always with us.
The epiphany that occurs in “Salvation” is the realization that Jesus as a physical entity does not exist and won’t be coming to our rescue anytime soon. The author is seemingly peer pressured into accepting Jesus which causes him to lose faith in religion and god general. This is not the way anyone should be introduced to spirituality as it promotes a sort of blind faith. Without any first hand experiential insights, it’s hard to buy into to something just on the basis “well my friend felt Jesus.” This lack of faith can lead to many instances of hopelessness and nihilism. Without a proper introduction to spirituality one could feel without a purpose, self centered, and perhaps apathetic. Religion and spirituality’s main purpose is to give one a sense of connectedness to the universe and our fellow human beings, a sense of a larger purpose. That there is Devine will that moves us in every step and everything occurs with meaning and purpose. Losing this perspective at a young age is the true tragedy of this story.
Salvation is a short story by Langston Hughes’s where the small boy was in the revival at church, and he was waiting to see Jesus to his revival, but he was not able to see Jesus, and he was so sad because Jesus didn’t come to him when he needs that’s why he loses his faith in Jesus. After all, he didn’t show up when he was in real trouble, and he thought that Jesus didn’t care about him. So he becomes an atheist to God. Like him, many people believe in God and follow God blindly, and they expect that good should be with them in their difficult situations and to bear with them and help them till their things to be okay. If that doesn’t happen, they stop believing the God I think the same thing happened with the boy in this story. When I was a child, I was also like him and imagined God to be with me in every difficult situation, but nowadays, I know God is not people like us who comes to us and show up everyday god was this universe that is giving all the resources to all of living beings to survive in this world.
The epiphany that comes about in “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, is the child ultimately loosing faith in Jesus even though in a way he was forced to believe that he existed and believe that Jesus would save him when he needed him to. He looses faith in Jesus due to the fact that he needed Jesus to save him and he didn’t save him. The child watched every other kid on the bench in church get saved by Jesus besides him. That contributed to the kid being disappointed and loosing faith in that Jesus does exist. The kid was being told that Jesus would save him when he need him to save him and since that didn’t happen it makes sense why the child stop believing in Jesus. The epiphany was a life changing experience for the child due to the fact that there was like a complete 360 change in the child religious beliefs.
I agree that the epiphany Langston experienced was life-changing for it was a pivotal moment in Langston’s life. So much so that he wrote about it. However, I notice that you emphasize that Jesus did not save Langston. More so, you mention everyone else got saved but him. I would argue that Langston’s belief that Jesus didn’t save him was completely based on his expectations of what salvation would look and feel like. Unfortunately, his hope was not actualized. To Langston, this letdown meant that Jesus did not show up as he should have. However, that does not by any means mean that Jesus – in spirit- was absent that day or that he failed to save Langston. Nor does it mean that everyone else got saved but Langston.
In “Salvation” by Langston, The child was to young to understand about Jesus and about how the salvation works maybe because he didnt see Jesus and he does not feel it he thinks that everything its a liar, but at the night he feel bad because he knows that he cheating everybody and thats why Jesus dindt come to her but its a very interesting history because the child its to young and he does thing because other child did it not because he want it and he didnt give his soul to Jesus. Thats why he feel that way but Jesus its always by our side and its different way to feel that Jesus its with us.
My thoughts on Salvation, is that this impressionable young child was so ready to believe in Jesus, so much so that he thought that Jesus was going to come and show himself to this young man, and when that did not happen, and when the young man also saw his friend lie, just to have it over and done with, scorned him and made it where he did not even believe that Jesus was real or existed. He was so disappointed, that he stopped believing. I can only imagine how torn this child must have felt that he was having trouble sleeping even at the thought of not believing in Jesus anymore.
After reading “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, the relevance of religion and spiritual practices play a strong role throughout the text. Salvation takes the perspective of Hughes’s childhood where in it, it describes the inner workings of an African American church as Hughes describes, has heavy influence on the idea of rebirth, aka, the gateway to salvation.
The youngest churchgoers due to their parents have the most influence to be “reborn” at the church, those who weren’t “reborn” would be considered sinners. “My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul. I believed her.” To any other average churchgoer, this is incredibly easy to decipher and understand, but to young Langston, the connection and understanding of this idea are lost. Because of this, Hughes takes Aunt Reed’s words very literally and expects to see, feel, and hear Jesus.
The thing that sparked and solidified the epiphany in Hughes was the young boy who got impatient during the mass. “God damn! I’m Tired o’ sitting here. Let’s get up to get saved.” That boy and Hughes didn’t see nor feel that “light”, thus resulting in the loss of faith in Hughes. The reactions of the churchgoers and Hughes’s aunt pushed him to stand up to be reborn, deep down he knew that he was lying to everyone. This was showed even further when Hughes was crying later that night in response to his actions, I feel that this truly shows what kind of person Hughes was, being able to acknowledge what he had done and appropriately respond to it.
Personally, I can relate to this experience, back when I was younger I figured that if I couldn’t actually see, or feel Jesus, then how can I pray to him and have him answer my prayers. There were moments where I felt alone and I was ready to stop believing, but I saw the truth behind it all through proper guidance and support and I understand now.
in the short story “Salvation” by Langston Hughes the boy had unforeseen a prominent realization about faith and religion. due to the manifestation of Jesus christ to the gentiles, this event has formed the boy’s religious perception that differs from what aunt reed believed. the epiphany is being saved throughout your childhood. some people grow up saved and have strong faith but others can be saved and later doubt his existence.they wonder if they ever felt him or experience such things. the boy was isolated from others and had no parents so he truly wanted to be one with religion to feel wanted. the boy wanted to believe in jesus so bad but when the peer pressure started taking over he lost his faith in jesus. when he looked over to the other kid on the bench and they stood up they was saved and he never got to see what others had seen. he lied and he also stood up believing that he have seen the light because it was taking to long for something to happen. since he has not gotten punished by god for not telling the truth he believed that it wasn’t real. when he needed him the most he wasn’t there to guide him through. he wanted a physical experience or at least see what everyone have been talking about all along. all of his illusions about religion and faith have been shattered into a million pieces when he isn’t left with consequences.
Twelve-year-old Langston realized that his child-like faith had vanished; his hope to ever see Jesus no longer existed. Encouraged by an enthusiastic and desperate congregation, Langston proceeds to the church altar to get saved. Instead of a heart bursting with joy and awe, Lanston returned home that day with a heart full of shame and disappointment. It was as though Langston and Jesus had arranged a meeting, but he showed up and Jesus did not. For he did not ‘see and hear and feel Jesus’ like his aunt had described he would. Sadly, this letdown caused Langston to come to terms with the fact that his faith was now lost.
Such an epiphany is undeniably a coming-of-age experience. Young Langston would no longer choose to be spoonfed belief systems from his family or anyone else. Now he would choose for himself: do I believe, or do I not believe? I am convinced that this realization aroused great fear and anxiety within Langston. In the midst of a faith-driven environment, how would he be able to come out? However, I also believe that Langston’s lost faith is a shame because this disappointment would cause Langston to doubt the existence of Jesus while in fact, Jesus does exist.
In conclusion, Langston’s acceptance of his faithless condition is the epihany that occurred in this short prose.
In “Salvation” by Langston Hughes I believe that the epiphany began when Langston stopped believing in God since he was in a situation where he needed God and did not see his presence. Langston believed that he was a liar because he had said that God existed but when he needed it he simply did not see it; And how can you believe in something or someone that you have never seen, that you have never heard or felt? It must be frustrating to believe that you have someone and that when you need them, they are not there, that is where I wonder how to believe in what you have never seen. is there really a power so great as to help us in our problems? We don’t know and we only have two options: to believe or not to believe. I believe that believing is as difficult as not believing and that is why lamgston had an epiphany by needing him and not seeing the presence of him.