Comparing Langston Hughes A Grunt's Prayer And Salvation

"A Grunt's Prayer" & "Salvation"

Religion is voluntarily practiced according to a person's own spiritual faith and belief of a higher power. In Langston Hughes "Salvation," Langston was only twelve years old, but he knew there was a God, because his aunt had told him so. His aunt had told him that once he is saved, he would see a light. She also told him that he could see, hear, and even feel God in his soul(2). Langston literally believed everything she had said. However, his expectations were different from reality, and Langston stopped believing in God. In Ken Noyle's "A Grunt's Prayer," the story centers around an unknown soldier that is terrified about the killing and injuries that surrounded him every day while he was away at war. At the time, the soldier worried about protection and being safe, because believe it or not he would rather be dead, instead of living with a long-term effecting injury. It was either kill or be killed.

Although Langston was young, he showed interest in God, because of all the great things he had heard. He was waiting for God to come to him. Langston was looking for God's presence or God's existence in his life. He wis left in a state of confusion and deception. In contrast, instead of waiting for God to come to him, the soldier in "A Grunt's Prayer," went to God in

Consequently, he is left with a feeling of guilt. He asked for the faith to believe that his decision to kill is justified and excused by God. In comparison, Langston too, was full of guilt and regret. He regretted deceiving the church people and his aunt, and he expressed his guilt by crying. However, Langston no longer believed in God. In "Salvation," he noted that he didn't believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he did not come to help him(15). His fate led him to think that God didn't exist, but he was just too young to