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Peer Pressure In Langston Hughes's 'Salvation'

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People in their youth have events that affect the type of person they are in the future. It can range from a simple argument to a life threatening situation . One such event that many people have gone through is peer pressure. Langston Hughes is one who can argue for that. In his essay “Salvation” He argues that a person should not be forced into believing or feeling a certain way towards something,rather the person should make should make choices themselves based on their own reasons. In the essay “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, Hughes argues that one should make decisions themselves instead of being forced by other people in your life. At the start of the essay, Hughes explains to the reader that his aunt was excited about anl at church where kids would get saved. Seeing Jesus,Hughes aunt told him, means you are saved and have accepted Jesus into your life.Right there is where the pressure starts for …show more content…

Hughes tells the reader he began to feel ashamed as he was the last child left. Hughes begins to examine the situation as it is unfolding. It is known to him that Westley lied about seeing Jesus because he was tired of sitting there. Hughes wondered after that why God himself has “not struck Westley dead” for lying. After examining all these events that occurred during the revival, he realises he will not see anything and should lie as well. Hughes getting up and lying shows the reader Hughes has lost faith and no longer believes in religion, as he resorted to lying. From these experiences, Hughes goes on to tell the reader “That night, for the first time in my life but one for I was a big boy twelve years old - I cried. I cried, in bed alone, and couldn 't stop.” (Hughes 187) Here, we can see how the events that occured that night impacted Hughes in a negative way that same night. From then on, everything was not the same for

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Hughes compares himself to Westley because unlike Westley who was tired of sitting there impatiently he felt like he didn’t have to be saved. Hughes was actually looking forward to being saved like his aunt said he would. So when he sees that Westley didn’t face any consequences for lying about being saved, he felt like he could have done what he did.

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Langston Hughes 's shifting attitude toward salvation in his essay was disappointing and at the same time upsetting. He 's disappointed and upset because he was forced to believe in the situation that something will happen to him inside before he accept Jesus but instead it did not happen. Most of the time we are pressured to accept an idea of what others belief, not because we agree to it but instead we intentionally do it for them to stop asking. Some felt the guilt after, and do something about it but most of the time we just let it go and move on.

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Many people believe that having a lot of money gives you a happier life, one where you have less problems, so we look up to idols who always look like they are having a great time when they go out to expensive restaurants or shops and wear their most expensive clothing. In the short story, "Why, You Reckon?", Langston Hughes shows that just because people have lots of money and can easily get stylish clothing or go out to the fanciest restaurant, it does not always mean that the person is having the time of their life. Money is just a piece of paper but in this time, it makes it clear as day that you need that flimsy paper to buy your

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“Salvation” is a short story by Langston Hughes describing a boy when he discovered a significant truth about faith and religion. The last paragraph of “Salvation” functions as an epiphany for the boy. An epiphany is an experience of sudden and striking realization. It can also mean the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi. This event helps shape the boy’s religious understanding far differently from what his Aunt Reed believes.

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He witnesses the pain and death in his town and feels unable to do anything about it. His spiritual crisis is typical of those who experience such catastrophic situations as they try to reconcile their trust in a loving God with the existence of such great

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Hughes and Cullen Poetry Analysis Langston Hughes was a black writer during the harlem renaissance who wrote poetry and other papers. Hughes wrote a poem called A Dream Deferred. That poem is about what happens when a dream is deferred. Another writer during the harlem renaissance is Countee Cullen.

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Similarly, Hughes uses grotesque imagery to emphasize the decay of a forgotten idea. However, said forgotten idea can be interpreted as more than a concept when the time period is taken into account. Through analysis, it’s possible to construe Hughes’s dream as a person or society. In the line “Or fester like a sore-- And then run?” (Hughes 4), imagery is used to conjure the picture of a blister on human skin.

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As a far more knowledgeable person compared to the past, I find it suffice to say one should never succumb to the expectations of others. Of course, I knew this back then but still fell victim to peer pressure. Perhaps being more mature now, I know better than to submit to other’s expectations that I either cannot or do not want to meet. Hopefully Langston realized this as well, finding happiness and content without needing the approval of

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Langston Hughes short story “Salvation” epitomizes what is an internal struggle for many people, especially children, who want so badly to believe what they have been taught all their lives by their relatives, elders in the church and the preacher; that to have a relationship with God, you must be saved and only then will you be able to see him. Hughes’ Aunt Reed paints such a vivid picture of that idea beginning in the story’s second chapter: “My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul.”

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Langston Hughes used rhetoric words in his story “Salvation,” to provide foreshadows, and emotional appeals to his struggles in becoming religiously saved. Hughes began his story by stating “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen (179).” The irony in this opening is that Hughes initially believed in the presence of Jesus, but unexpected pressures pushed him to betray and deceive his faith. The setting of Hughes struggles took place in a religious ceremony in his Auntie Reed’s church. In this service, many young children like Hughes were gathered to be spiritually cleansed by the light of Jesus.

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In Hughes’s short essay, which he ironically titles “Salvation,” he tells the reader about one of his most significant childhood memories. Hughes provides background about a huge revival at his aunt’s church. He flashes forward to the day where he was supposed to be called upon by Jesus and greeted by a bright light his aunt repeatedly tells him about. Hughes recalls that he sat on the mourners’ bench right in the front row with the rest of the unsaved children.

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We can define the word salvation as deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ. One can be saved by accepting Jesus Christ into your life, but this wasn’t the case for Langston Hughes when he wrote “Salvation”. Having portrayed himself as a young teenage boy when this piece was written and using the first person perspective, the pressure he felt wanting to actually see and feel Jesus is the main reason why he ruined it for himself, and he was not “saved”. The first two lines even say “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved.”

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In the short story “Cora Unashamed” by Langston Hughes, he explores the theme of free will by using plot, stereotypes, climax, and protagonist. In this short story, Cora works for the Studevants and she is the only black family in the town. Cora and her family are below everyone else and Cora takes care of her family. As she’s working for the Studevants, she develops a close relationship with the daughter of the Studevants, Jessie, and shows that everyone has free will by Cora’s actions in the story.

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In the poem “I, Too”, the author Langston Hughes illustrates the key aspect of racial discrimination faces against the African Americans to further appeals the people to challenge white supremacy. He conveys the idea that black Americans are as important in the society. Frist, Hughes utilizes the shift of tones to indicate the thrive of African American power. In the first stanza, the speaker shows the sense of nation pride through the use of patriotic tone. The first line of the poem, “I, too, sing America” states the speaker’s state of mind.

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