The Christian belief transpires as a prominent role in the short story “Salvation” By Langston Hughes and the novel Black Boy By Richard Wright. Both pieces of literature endeavor to convey the dichotomy present in the Christian church; furthermore, turning all its attention to the young African American male experience in the Church versus the rest of the African American population. In both the novel and short story the narrators’ struggles to conform to society deliver the reader to understand the pains of growing up. Just when the reader deems both the narrators as finally understanding the role of religion as being a virtue, it then becomes superficial. To young African American males, church was just hypocrisy. From the essence of both stories it is evident that both Richard and Langston have been secluded in a place that conforming to society is the only way out; moreover in their efforts to become what society wants them to be their adolescence plays a major role in their discovery, pain, and definitive loneliness; ultimately leaving them as not only the betrayer but the betrayed in society and the Christian religion. In the excerpt from the novel Black Boy By: Richard Wright, Richard is seen is the epitome of youth. From the very beginning of the excerpt Richard’s strong will is evident; “I had not settled in my mind whether I believed in god or not; his existence or non-existence has never bothered me.” (134). Richard shows curiosity towards religion, covered by indifference. His Juxtaposed assertiveness foreshadows his decision to conform to the principles of praying to god. As the story progresses Richard is lectured by both his brother and grandmother about the Christian religion leaving him secluded. Richard conti... ... middle of paper ... ...ngston was the betrayer. Just like Richard, Langston is isolated and lost his happiness and there was no going back because he too did not see the “Holy Ghost” and lost all belief in Jesus. In Both the short story “Salvation” by: Langston Hughes and the novel Black Boy by: Richard Wright it is justified that the church experience for an African American male was simply a lie. Young males like Richard and Langston were secluded to the point where conformity was the only way out. Once that conformity was given discovery hits and the reader is then able to feel the very pain and loneliness these characters feel. Both stories are perfect examples of catch 22 ironies. Both characters conform to avoid seclusion but in the end they are left secluded. Furthermore, this shows that the church experience for an African American male was a contradictory realm with no way out.
This paper elaborates on the diverse contributions peoples of African descent have made to the pluralistic religious landscape of America and replicates various passages from our textbook. It focuses on the personal narratives of non-religious to religious leaders—exemplifying their influence on the African American religious movement during slavery and the reconstruction of America. Each section represents different historical periods, regional variations, and non-Christian expressions of African-American religion.
The transition of being a black man in a time just after slavery was a hard one. A black man had to prove himself at the same time had to come to terms with the fact that he would never amount to much in a white dominated country. Some young black men did actually make it but it was a long and bitter road. Most young men fell into the same trappings as the narrator’s brother. Times were hard and most young boys growing up in Harlem were swept off their feet by the onslaught of change. For American blacks in the middle of the twentieth century, racism is another of the dark forces of destruction and meaninglessness which must be endured. Beauty, joy, triumph, security, suffering, and sorrow are all creations of community, especially of family and family-like groups. They are temporary havens from the world''s trouble, and they are also the meanings of human life.
Montgomery, William. Under Their Own Vine and Fig Tree: The African-American Church in the South. Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 1993. Print.
An analysis of “Salvation” Langston Hughes, in his essay “Salvation” writes about his experience as a young boy, at the age of 12, where he finds himself being inducted into a local church. An analysis of Hughes’ essay will describe and elaborate on both emotional and social pressures. He reaches out to an audience of adults find themselves in the position to influence a child’s thoughts, or ideals. Hughes’ message to the reader is that adults can easily manipulate a child’s ideals by pressuring them into doing something they do not truly wish to do.
When Ellisons’ father died in the year 1917, Ida had supported Ralph and his younger brother working as a domestic aide at the Avery Chapel Afro-Methodist Episcopal Church. The family moved into the rectory and Ellison was exposed to the minister’s library. When he grew up, Ellison grew engrossed with the topic of literature which became a medium for him to grow and love his studies. Moreover, the enthusiasm he showed for reading was encouraged by his mother who had brought home plenty of books including magazines from houses which she had cleaned. There came a time when a black Episcopal priest in Oklahoma city challenged the white custom of barring blacks from the public library. As a result, this custom was overturned. As such, it became another outlet for Ellison to further his passion for reading. Although his family was sometimes short of money, Ellison and his brother were able to study well and had a healthy childhood lives.
Maffly-Kipp, L. (2001). The Church in the Southern Black Community: Introduction. The Church in the Southern Black Community: Introduction. Retrieved March 17, 2014, from http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/intro.html
Throughout Hughes’ Not Without Laughter, we see the long-term effect of generations of prejudice and abuse against blacks. Over time, this prejudice manifested itself through the development of several social classes within the black community. Hughes’, through the eyes of young Sandy, shows us how the color of one’s skin, the church they attend, the level of education an individual attained, and the type of employment someone could find impacted their standing within the community and dictated the social class they belonged to. Tragically, decades of slavery and abuse resulted in a class system within the black community that was not built around seeking happiness or fulfillment but, equality through gaining the approval of whites.
Dr. Wimberly also spoke about how slavery caused tremendous pain in the black church. The word “wholeness,” he wrote, mea...
“Today as we experience the early part of the 21st century, the church remains at the center of community life, attending to the social, spiritual, and psychological needs of scores of African Americans. No other institution has claimed the loyalty and attention of African Americans as has the church” (Lee, 2006, p. 114). An overwhelming majority of African Americans rely solely on their faith and trust in a higher being in times of difficulty and crisis regardless of the nature or extent of the situation. “In traditional African societies, religion/spirituality permeated human existence. An individual’s entire life was spiritual phenomenon. Spirituality was an integral part of a unity principle in which humans, animals, plants, and natural phenomena were interrelated in a natural order with God being the driving force” (Lee, 2006, p. 58). While there is nothing that makes this belief or set of beliefs completely wrong, such practice limits their resources and excludes all other avenues of assistance. Group counseling is one of th...
...fighting his feelings about not seeing Jesus. He feels that he is lying to God and himself by getting up and being saved even though he cannot see Jesus. Even though the reader knows that he truly is being saved from sin. He is doing something good for himself. Therefore, we can see that he truly does not understand the meaning of God. He is a child on the verge of adulthood. He has every right to be confused and misinterpret religion because he is learning. Religion is metaphorical and imaginative; it is what you believe it to be.
In Langston Hughes 's definition essay entitled "Salvation" he discusses the social and emotional pressures that effect young people. He pulls in his own experiences from being an active member in his church, and the moment he was supposed to experience revival of twelve. Hughes 's purpose for writing this definition essay is to show the peer pressures and internal conflicts that come from both church and the religious community, and his personal experiences that led to the pressures that were put upon him in his youth. The audiences that “Salvation” was pointed towards are adults; it shows the pressures that are put upon the youth, while the child does not fully grasp the idea being expressed to them. Langston Hughes 's overall message to
Douglass continues to describe the severity of the manipulation of Christianity. Slave owners use generations of slavery and mental control to convert slaves to the belief God sanctions and supports slavery. They teach that, “ man may properly be a slave; that the relation of master and slave is ordained by God” (Douglass 13). In order to justify their own wrongdoings, slaveowners convert the slaves themselves to Christianity, either by force or gentle coercion over generations. The slaves are therefore under the impression that slavery is a necessary evil. With no other source of information other than their slave owners, and no other supernatural explanation for the horrors they face other than the ones provided by Christianity, generations of slaves cannot escape from under the canopy of Christianity. Christianity molded so deeply to the ideals of slavery that it becomes a postmark of America and a shield of steel for American slave owners. Douglass exposes the blatant misuse of the religion. By using Christianity as a vessel of exploitation, they forever modify the connotations of Christianity to that of tyrannical rule and
In the book, “Jesus and the Disinherited,” the author, Howard Thurman in chapter five expounds on “Love.” Moreover, Thurman, a black man in the early 1900, with the ultimate goal to offer a humanizing combination as the basis for an emancipatory way of being, moving toward an unchained life to all women and men everywhere who hunger, thirst for righteousness, especially those “who stand with their backs against the wall.” By the same token, Thurman experienced “Fear,” “Deception,” and “Hate” that causes internal, spiritual damage to those who choose compliance, isolation, and violent resistance over the way of Jesus (www.smootpage.blogspot.com). Notably, Howard Thurman’s message helped shaped the civil rights movement that
"God of the Oppressed" is brilliantly organized into ten chapters. These chapters serve as the building blocks to the true understanding of Cone’s Black Theology. This progressive movement begins with an introduction of both him and his viewpoint. He explains that his childhood in Bearden, Arkansas and his membership to Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E) has taught him about the black Church experience and the sociopolitical significance of white people. “My point is that one’s social and historical context decides not only the questions we address to God but also the mode of form of the answers given to the questions.” (14) The idea of “speaking the truth” is added at this point because to go any further the reader must understand the reason and goal for Black Theology. Through the two sources in that shape theology, experience and scripture, white theology concludes that the black situation is not a main point of focus. Cone explains the cause for this ignorance, “Theology is not a universal language; it is interested language and thus is always a reflection of the goals and aspirations of a particular people in a definite social setting.” (36) This implies that one’s social context shapes their theology and white’s do not know the life and history of blacks. As the reader completes the detailed analysis of society’s role in shaping experiences, Cone adds to the second source, scripture.
...nt of the Black race by religion and the church. I feel Hughes was successful in this endeavor. Hughes sums his whole perspective of religion, the church and the Black race, when he told a reporter, “Religion is one of the innate needs of mankind. What I am against is the misuse of religion.” (qtd. Emanuel 914).