The title and first line of Langston Hughes's "Salvation," which reads, "I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen," are ironic because he was not in fact saved at his aunt's church. The irony is that rather than being saved and "coming to Jesus," the young Langston Hughes instead just pretends that he is saved to spare himself trouble and because he is ashamed of holding up everyone else. He cries after...
The title and first line of Langston Hughes's "Salvation," which reads, "I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen," are ironic because he was not in fact saved at his aunt's church. The irony is that rather than being saved and "coming to Jesus," the young Langston Hughes instead just pretends that he is saved to spare himself trouble and because he is ashamed of holding up everyone else. He cries after his supposed salvation, which his devout aunt interprets as a sign that he has seen Jesus, but instead, as he writes, "I was really crying because I couldn't bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn't seen Jesus." An additional irony is that rather than bolstering his faith in Jesus, his supposed salvation has lessened his faith, as Jesus did not help him when he needed help.
The thesis of this essay is that people often coerce others into feigning belief and that people pretend to be faithful or believers in something solely as a result of social pressure, not out of true faith. Hughes only pretends to be saved to ease his way in the world, not because he experiences a true conversion. This mock conversion only lessens his faith.
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