Salvation
In Langston Hughes' essay "Salvation," Langston talks about the first time he is going to be saved from sin. Langston is a young boy around the age of thirteen. He is going to church to see Jesus for the first time. In which case, he truly experiences religion for the first time in his life. Throughout this essay Langston uses many narrative techniques such as, imagery, metaphors, and irony to explain his interpretation of that one night when he did not see Jesus. It was the night of the big revival, and Langston, a young boy going on the age of thirteen, was brought to his Aunt Reed's church to see Jesus and be saved from sin. His aunt told him, "when you were saved from sin you saw a light, and something happened to you inside" (219). He believed her. When he was brought to church, his aunt directed him to the front row, where he sat calmly and patiently in the heat, waiting for the preacher to begin the service. The Preacher welcomed the "young lambs" (219) and started his sermon. Towards the end of his speech he invited the young children to the altar to be saved. At this point, Langston was confused because he was not seeing Jesus before him. All the young boys and girls sprang
Finally, he thought to himself and saw that nothing had happened to Westley for lying about not seeing Jesus. Until the first day my parents sent me to Catholic school, I was not really sure of the concept of God. They define each and every part of a human's living day. I cried in my bed alone, and couldn't stop. He feels that he is lying to God and himself by getting up and being saved even though he cannot see Jesus. Like most children his age, he does not understand the facts about religion. Finally, Westley became very restless and decided that he was not going to sit on this bench anymore. Suddenly, loud cries of rejoice were heard throughout the church and everyone was pleased to see that "all the new young lambs were blessed in the name of God" (220). In the story, Langston's attitude represents strong character, and when he sees himself lying, he truly feels bad for what he is doing. Finally, Westley said to me in a whisper: 'God damn! I'm tired o' sitting here. Langston was left there all alone untilhis aunt ran over to him and asked him why he was not going to Jesus. Therefore, the narrative techniques used throughout this essay truly help the reader visualize what the author sees, feels, and hears. The "old men with work-gnarled hands" really helps the reader picture the type of people sitting around him. When I was a child I remember entering church and seeing all the people fill up the pews.
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Acceptance Essays
