Salvation by Langston Hughes Was

¶ … Salvation" by Langston Hughes was published in 1940. It is short and apparently simple essay that relates the story of a young boy and his experience at a church service. The underlying message of the story is however somewhat deeper, using a young boy's religious disappointment as a vehicle. The central irony of the story is that the young Hughes's expectation of a wonderful initiation into Christianity is transformed into an act of guilty deception as a result of peer pressure.

Langston's aunt creates within him an expectation of literal visitation by Jesus himself, complete with "bright light" and "something" that happens inside. When these expectations are not fulfilled, the young Langston is so disappointed that he all but loses his faith. At the end of the story, the reader is left with the sense that what is left of his faith probably will not last very long as he grows to adulthood.

When applied in a more general sense, the deeper implication appears to be that most people who claim a "sincere" faith are in fact deceiving others on some level. Langston feels entirely alone in the church on that day, since both he and the others know that there was no transformative religious experience. Their "conversion" was only a display in response to peer pressure, rather than any sincere commitment to an ideal, a cause, or a religious figure. Although it was published in 1940, the story's message remains timeless.

There is little that changed over the last century in terms of religion and religious expectation. In the church setup, particularly, people are so emotionally aroused that they often mistake the emotion for sincere faith or for something spiritual that "happens" inside them. They consider this their "conversion," but as soon as they are away from the church context, the feeling and conversion are gone. Once they enter the church environment again, they display a great sense of emotion and faith, but at heart, there is in fact nothing.

A further group of people do not even have any emotion to support their public display of faith, which is just that. They conform to religious convention and display actions that are just that; actions without any sincere faith to support them. For many, there is little distinction between a public display of faith and its sincere manifestation in the heart. It is this dichotomy that Langston learns about on his "conversion" day.

He learns that, to satisfy the public, it is required that an insincere of faith should be displayed. As mentioned above, the story is timeless in terms of how religious ardour is viewed by the masses. Many regard a certain display of faith as a necessary measure of a person's value, regardless of whether this faith is sincere or not. For many, faith has become a matter of catering for public expectation.

Langston's aunt and all the other church members were ecstatic when he finally succumbed to their expectations and pretended to be converted. However, their ecstasy was his disappointment, as he sincerely wished for the religious feeling they professed to have. I feel Hughes's work is extremely effective, especially in today's world, where television evangelism has become a booming industry. It is very.