Looking back at "Salvation" by Langston HughesOur story begins like many other stories with a setting, a main character and a catchy introduction. Like many other stories, it attracts the reader's attention with something vague, making the person reading the story want to continue further in the work. This reading is like many others that describe real situations and show a different culture from a first person perspective. In the story, the main character, Langston, is a young boy who appears to be following a common religious ritual that is normally accorded to young people when they reach a certain age in what appears to be a different type of society. At this age, young people are asked, or perhaps even better, to believe in God, and only then can these children achieve pure “salvation”. This is very evident in the first paragraph where the author writes: "Then, just before the revival ended, they held a special meeting for the children, 'to bring the young lambs into the fold'" (Hughes 1). It is during these ceremonies that Langston feels he has almost committed a crime for which his sins will never be forgiven. Throughout the reading, the author explains the process these young children undergo during a ritual ceremony. The process according to the author is the path to justice, or the path to God. “My aunt told me that when you were saved, you saw a light and something happened to you inside!” And Jesus has entered your life! And God was now with you! She said you could see, hear and feel Jesus in your soul” (1). The last passage really explains to the reader what the ritual entails, or what young Langston and his peers should and will experience during this "salvation" process. The piece as a whole is very descriptive of how Hughes speaks of a "wonderful rhythmic sermon." » (Hughes 1), to the way he illustrates the people around him, their actions and the detailed narration of the events. He even goes into detail about his friend Westley who he says didn't find salvation in God, but was so tired of sitting there waiting for something to happen, that he claimed to be saved and he saw the light..