Themes of Langston Hughes’“Salvation”

【Abstract】： “Salvation” is one of Langston Hughes’ short stories. In this short story， Langston Hughes depicts a young boy who at the first waits sincerely to be saved by God but finally acknowledges the cruel reality that God never exists and He can not save anyone. From the narrator’s experience at the church， we can see the psychological harms caused by religion to children and the futility of it in people’s practical life

【Key Words】： themes； religion； stresses； psychological harm； futility

Langston Hughes， an eminent African American writer in the Harlem Renaissance， doubts the Christianity and reveals the hypocrisy of religion in “Salvation”.

Through his own experience in the church， the narrator， a nearly thirteen-year-old boy， realizes that God does not exist and He can not save people from sins at all. The innocent boy believes what adults around him say， such as Jesus would come to him with a light and save him from sins， so he still keeps waiting with patience and sincerity. Annoyed at the praying in the hot church， Westley， a rounder’s son leaves the mourners' bench and goes towards the alter to be saved though he does not see Jesus at all and even says “God damn” disrespectfully. According to Christianity， Christs can not take the name of God in vain， nor can they lie about seeing Jesus in the church. Otherwise， they will be punished by God. However， instead of being punished， Westley grins at the narrator triumphantly. Finally the narrator is the only one left on that bench so that he is forced to lie that Jesus comes to him under the tremendous pressure from his aunt， preachers and other prayers. Obviously， it is the narrator himself who saves him from the embarrassing situation by telling a lie rather than by God. Therefore， the narrator doubted God.

The story’s subject is hypocrisy of religion， conveying the themes that religion can bring about mental damage to inexperienced children， and it fails to save blacks from miserable life.

In the story， the narrator， an inexperienced child， suffers three kinds of psychological stresses from religion which would give rise to mental damage. Firstly， the horrible picture of the hell described by preachers frightens him sitting on the mourners’ bench to stand up， which means he sees Jesus. Preachers sing a song about ninety-nine lambs safely with God inside the fold and the last one in danger outside. Actually， it is a way to isolate， terrorize and induce the young boy to join them. In the book God Is Not Great： How Religion Poisons Everything， Christopher Hitchens also criticizes the way that adults use religion to terrorize children. Secondly， the great embarrassment that the narrator feels in public results in psychological harm to him since the congregation prays for him alone in the mighty wail of moans. Besides， preachers blame him for not going to Jesus by saying repeatedly that “Why don’t you come？” Actually， the social-environmental stress is one of causes of child abuse. Under such a circumstance， the narrator has to compromise to lie to the public. Thirdly， the narrator is not able to bear the pressure that he， like that poor and isolated lamb， loses his faith in God and discovers that God would never save anyone while others， like the ninety-nine lambs， still believe in God steadfastly. The stress brings about emotional problems to the young narrator. At night he could not stop crying because it is hard for him to bear the religion and the new identity as a liar. From these three kinds of psychological stresses imposed by religion on the children， we can see clearly the hypocrisy of religion which causes great psychological harms to children rather than salvation from misery.

Another theme is that religion could not save blacks from miserable life. At the beginning， the narrator believes what adults say because they are experienced and reliable. During his waiting for Jesus in an very embarrassing situation， he is badly eager to see Jesus. However， God does not save him. He has to lie to the public who do not blame him for lying but celebrate for him instead. After that， the narrator starts to realize that there is no God and Him would save no one. If God exists and saves people， his hardworking elder compatriots would lead a better life rather than still struggle to make a living in the bottom of the society with their “work-gnarled hands”.

Although “Salvation” is a several-hundred-word story， it concerns the serious topic about religion. In order to reveal themes powerfully， irony and repetition are used to question the existence of God and to criticize the hypocrisy of religion. Apart from the psychological harms caused by religion to children and the futility of it in people’s practical life， the disappointment and despair truth seekers suffer when they are struggling against the whole community group is worth studying too.

參考文獻：

Hughes， Langston. The Big Sea. New York： Knopf， 1940.

Wikipedia， s.v. “God Is Not Great，” last modified May 3， 2016，

https：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Is_Not_Great.

Wikipedia， s.v. “Child Abuse，” last modified May 5， 2016，

https：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_abuse.