“Salvation”: Langston Hughes’s Journey from Christianity to Atheism

1. Introduction

“Salvation” is an essay by Langston Hughes in which he describes an experience from his childhood, when he was saved from sin by Jesus. The essay is set in the early years of the twentieth century, when African American churches were at the center of social life for many black people. The narrative of “Salvation” begins with a young Langston’s preparations to be “saved” from sin at a revival meeting. His aunt, who is a devout Christian, has told him that he must be saved in order to go to heaven. Langston is not sure what this means, but he goes along with his aunt’s wishes and attends the revival.

At the meeting, the minister asks if anyone wants to be saved, and Langston raises his hand. He is then called up to the front of the church, where the minister says a prayer for him. Langston believes that he has been saved and goes home happy.

However, later on, he begins to doubt his own salvation. He realizes that he did not feel any different after being saved and wonders if he had only pretended to be saved in order to please his aunt and the other adults in his life. This doubt leads Langston to lose his faith in Christianity and eventually abandon religion altogether.

The essay ends with Hughes reflecting on how his aunt’s desired for him to be saved ultimately led to his own spiritual awakening and realization that salvation does not come from outside forces, but from within oneself.

2. Langston Hughes’s Life and Work

Langston Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He was one of the most important writers of the Harlem Renaissance, a period in the 1920s when African American artists and intellectuals flourished creatively and socially in New York City.

Hughes’s poetry and prose explore the everyday lives of black people in America with honesty and compassion. He was deeply influenced by the blues and jazz music of his time, and many of his poems reflect the rhythms and style of these genres. In addition to being a poet, Hughes was also a playwright, fiction writer, and essayist.

During his lifetime, Hughes was an outspoken advocate for racial equality and Civil Rights. In 1947, he co-founded the Committee for Racial Equality with W.E.B. DuBois, one of the most important black intellectuals of the time. In his later years, Hughes became increasingly critical of capitalism and what he saw as its dehumanizing effect on people’s lives. He died in 1967 at the age of 65.

3. “Salvation”

“Salvation” is one of Langston Hughes’s most famous essays. It was first published in Harper’s Magazine in 1953 and later collected in The Collected Works of Langston Hughes (1995). The essay is narrated by a grown-up Hughes looking back on an experience from his childhood when he was "saved" from sin at a church revival meeting.

As a child, Hughes had been raised Christian by his aunt who was very religious. When he was thirteen years old, she took him to a revival meeting where he raised his hand when asked if anyone wanted to be saved from sin. After being called up to the front of the church, the minister said a prayer for him and Hughes believed that he had been saved.

However, later on, he began to doubt his own salvation. He realized that he did not feel any different after being saved and wondered if he had only pretended to be saved in order to please his aunt and the other adults in his life. This doubt led Langston to lose his faith in Christianity and eventually abandon religion altogether.

The essay ends with Hughes reflecting on how his aunt’s desired for him to be saved ultimately led to his own spiritual awakening and realization that salvation does not come from outside forces, but from within oneself.

“Salvation” is an important essay because it candidly describes Hughes’s journey from Christianity to atheism. It is also significant because it is one of the earliest examples of Hughes’s use of first-person narration, a literary device that would become characteristic of his later work.

4. Conclusion

In “Salvation,” Langston Hughes talks about an experience he had as a 13-year-old boy in the kind of church revivals that were at the center of African American social life. Hughes was raised Christian by his aunt, who took him to a revival meeting where he was "saved" from sin. However, later on, he began to doubt his own salvation and eventually lost his faith in Christianity. The essay ends with Hughes reflecting on how his aunt’s desired for him to be saved ultimately led to his own spiritual awakening and realization that salvation does not come from outside forces, but from within oneself.

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