Langston Hughes’s “Salvation” begins with a twelve-year-old Langston delighted to be saved by Jesus. According to Langston’s aunt, when you were rescued, “you saw a light and something happened to you on the inside!” Langston believed his aunt and the stories he had heard from others about what happened to those who are saved. He waited peacefully in the church for Jesus to approach him. Langston waited a long time to see Jesus, and he stood there and watched as all the young people rose to their feet and were saved. He was the final person remaining who waited for Jesus to come and save him, but he eventually gave up hope. He recognized he would not be saved and was embarrassed, but he rose and lied. Langston was moved to tears by the revelation that he had lied to his aunt and misled the congregation about his salvation. Langston, twelve, went from being overjoyed to be saved by Jesus to questioning whether there was really a Jesus anymore.
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One thought on “Marisa Cuni discussion week 3”
Hi Marisa, I like your comprehensive post. We can see that the narrator changes by the end of the story. He stops believing in Jesus as opposed to the beginning we see him hopeful and faithful and following his aunt’s beliefs. He shows a lot of respect to the elders which drastically changes. In the end, he is a devastated person for not ‘seeing the light’.