Langston Hughes Salvation Summary

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In the excerpt, “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, the narrator evaluates his religious experience in chronological order from an event that occurred in his life when he was just 12 years old. The young narrator who is 12, attended a religious resurgence with his aunt in the hope to accept Jesus into his life. Langston did not have any religious coming to god moments like the other children and pretended to be “saved” due to the pressure of being the last child. This forced him to not believe in Jesus since he didn't come to help him. Hughes constructs his essay in chronological order in order to depict the feeling he felt in the order that it appeared. By using first person point of view we can see his inner thoughts as well as what is going on around him to set the vibe or tone of the story. He uses rich words and powerful descriptions to set the tone and describe what he was feeling and what the setting was like. He claims that as he is watching the other kids being accepted to Jesus, he wonders why he isn't being accepted; and when he felt pressured to lie about it, he “didn't believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn't come to help...” …show more content…

He uses phrases like “Old men with work-gnarled hands...” and “the whole room broke out into a sea of shouting...” sets the overall fervor of the ambiance and the people within the church; and using inner thoughts like, “The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices. And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting - but he didn’t come. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing!”, helps show the disappointment of not being able to tell his aunt the

An Analysis Of Langston Hughes And How I Got Smart
1217 Words | 3 Pages
Hughes writing in this story is very visual and enriched with figurative language. “And the whole building rocked with prayer and song”(Hughes 229). Hughes personifies the building and depicts an overwhelming amount of prayer and song. Another example of figurative language is found when he pretends he has seen Jesus. “Suddenly the whole room broke into a sea of shouting as they saw me rise” (Hughes 232). This metaphor sheds light on the intensity of the church at that moment. Comparing the room to a sea, an immense untameable body, exaggerates the situation he was in and portrays him as almost drowning in his
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Langston Hughes Salvation
836 Words | 2 Pages
In order to fully analyze this piece, one must know the writer, some background on Hughes is that he was born on February 1, 1902. His parents divorced while he was still just a child, which would lead to him to be raised by his
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565 Words | 2 Pages
Like most, the stories we hear as children leave lasting impacts in our heads and stay with us for lifetimes. Hughes was greatly influenced by the stories told by his grandmother as they instilled a sense of racial pride that would become a recurring theme in his works as well as become a staple in the Harlem Renaissance movement. During Hughes’ prominence in the 20’s, America was as prejudiced as ever and the African-American sense of pride and identity throughout the U.S. was at an all time low. Hughes took note of this and made it a common theme to put “the everyday black man” in most of his stories as well as using traditional “negro dialect” to better represent his African-American brethren. Also, at this time Hughes had major disagreements with members of the black middle class, such as W.E.B. DuBois for trying to assimilate and promote more european values and culture, whereas Hughes believed in holding fast to the traditions of the African-American people and avoid having their heritage be whitewashed by black intellectuals.
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1035 Words | 3 Pages
Hughes essay would be described in the process of telling the story in a meditative style of writing. Hughes doesn't go into a fine comb with the detail but does give the basic picture to try and paint in your head. But the thought process that is shown in the story line is very free flowing. Hughes tries not to make an agurment or even make it logical. But as the story goes on you find out that he kind of uses foreshoding method to make you think about the story after reading it. He doesn't want to perment picture in your mind but let the reader itself paint a picture in there minds using there own paintbush as they go on. He wants you to feel like you want. He wants you to be you.
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Langston Hughes Salvation Summary
853 Words | 2 Pages
1) but was mislead to believe he would be. He enticed the audience's attention to provoke an inquiry into the nature of his preservation. It is vital to comprehend that at the certain age of twelve and thirteen the adolescents are finding their place in their congregation; it becomes difficult for some to surrender to the pressure of the congregation. The “lambs” ( Hughes para. 3 ) were to be strengthen into the inclusion of the elder’s society, thus they would be accepting of their church and faith. Despite the fact Hughes needed physical credibility to believe in Jesus, he wanted to believe his aunt regarding his newcome salvation. He realized that in reality he was not saved, rather he was corrupted by the pressure from the congregation leading to the loss of
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543 Words | 2 Pages
Langston Hughes was twelve when he was “saved.” He was at a revival at his Aunts church when he soon felted pressured to accept Jesus into his heart. He wanted to experience what everyone else was feeling but could not experience what others were. Soon he began thinking of what the other guy was feeling and began to become ashamed of himself, holding everything in for so long. Then Westley was sitting high on the thrown with Christ and Langston wanted that. Soon after Langston’s stood up to be saved, everyone started cheering and celebrating his salvation with him. Whenever he got home from the revival he cried alone in his room. His aunt thought he was crying because the Holy Spirit came into his life. Little did she know he was crying because he lied and said that he seen Jesus when he really didn’t (McMahan, Day, Funk, and Coleman 280).
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656 Words | 2 Pages
In most people's lives, there comes a point in time where their perception changes abruptly; a single moment in their life when they come to a sudden realization. In Langston Hughes' 'Salvation', contrary to all expectations, a young Hughes is not saved by Jesus, but is saved from his own innocence.
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1965 Words | 4 Pages
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1159 Words | 3 Pages
In Langston Hughes’ short narrative, “Salvation”, Langston struggles with his belief and feels pressured to conform to the church. He struggles with his faith as his family and the church push him to being saved. Hughes does not want to upset his own family and the church for not being saved. This causes him to lie about “seeing Jesus” to avoid sitting alone on the mourners’ bench and feeling different from everyone surrounding him. As a twelve year old, he most likely did not want to feel different from his peers and wanted to feel accepted. Peer pressure from family members and people one cares about can lead one to believe that they a disappointment and guilty that they are letting their loved ones down.
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393 Words | 1 Pages
A time comes in everybody's life where they need to be "saved." When this happens a spiritual bond is formed with in that individual. In Langston Hughes' essay, "Salvation," that bond is broken because Langston wasn't saved. It is because Langston turned to Jesus, and in his eyes Jesus wasn't there. This creating a conflict within himself and the members of the church, with the end result being Langston's faith being destroyed.
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790 Words | 2 Pages
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Salvation Langston Hughes Analysis
1410 Words | 3 Pages
Langston Hughes ' "Salvation" is about the life of a twelve-year-old boy. The essay talks about an episode from his life, an episode that helps him re-create his understanding about his religious beliefs that were significantly different as compared to the beliefs of his Auntie Reed. The boy then narrates the incident that according to him "saved him from sin" and gave him an insight into the truth of religion and faith in God. The narrator begins by telling that there was a special church meeting that preached about religious revival. His Aunt Reed was a part of the meeting too. She used to tell the boy that when he attained salvation, he would witness the presence of Jesus Christ in the form of a divine light
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855 Words | 2 Pages
In Langston Hughes’s Salvation, Hughes makes describes many differences between the his and the congregation’s perception of biblical acceptance. As a boy, Hughes was vividly told by his aunt that in accepting Jesus, he would “see a light, and something happened to you inside”. Being young, he believed that he had to actually see an incarnation of Jesus in order to be saved. When surrounded by the older crowd in church, Hughes anticipates a kind of “great awakening” but his expectations are met with nothing. He does not understand why he can not find Jesus while the congregation is in the midst of praising.
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842 Words | 2 Pages
Langston Hughes's stories deal with and serve as a commentary of conditions befalling African Americans during the Depression Era. As Ostrom explains, "To a great degree, his stories speak for those who are disenfranchised, cheated, abused, or ignored because of race or class." (51) Hughes's stories speak of the downtrodden African-Americans neglected and overlooked by a prejudiced society. The recurring theme of powerlessness leads to violence is exemplified by the actions of Sargeant in "On the Road", old man Oyster in "Gumption", and the robber in "Why, You Reckon?"
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1053 Words | 3 Pages
In Langston Hughes 's definition essay entitled "Salvation" he discusses the social and emotional pressures that effect young people. He pulls in his own experiences from being an active member in his church, and the moment he was supposed to experience revival of twelve. Hughes 's purpose for writing this definition essay is to show the peer pressures and internal conflicts that come from both church and the religious community, and his personal experiences that led to the pressures that were put upon him in his youth. The audiences that “Salvation” was pointed towards are adults; it shows the pressures that are put upon the youth, while the child does not fully grasp the idea being expressed to them. Langston Hughes 's overall message to
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Langston Hughes Salvation Summary

An Analysis Of Langston Hughes And How I Got Smart