The Defining Moments in Langston Hughes' Life
Langston Hughes’ short autobiographical essay, “Salvation” described his experience at a church revival when he was twelve years old. Hughes and his auntie Reed attended a special event at church, "to bring the young lambs to the fold" (Hughes). In “Salvation” he detailed how his aunt told him he would see and hear Jesus when you were saved. Hughes and all the other young children are brought to the altar to be saved with the assistance of the preacher. As the children went up to accept Jesus in their hearts and souls. Hughes and a boy name Westley were the only ones that remained at the altar. The preacher persuaded Westley and Hughes to come up but they were hesitant. After a couple of minutes of waiting Westley whispered to Langston, "God damn! I'm tired o' sitting here. Let's get up and be saved." (Hughes) and he proceeded to preacher, accepting Christ. Langston is waiting for his aunt’s description of what it would be someone is saved. He saw no light and had no magical feelings. The whole church begged and prayed for him to get up. Langston thought hard about his decision and chooses to get up and accept the Lord. That night, he went to bed in tears. Knowing that he hadn’t seen Jesus, he felt like he betrayed his aunt and the church. From there out, he no longer believed there was a Jesus anymore.
Langston Hughes life was a memorable one. He helped pave the way for many black American artists in the Harlem Renaissance era. He gave them a voice that was heard by mainstream America. Hughes wrote on many of his life experiences through poetry and autobiographical works. His poetry was eloquently simple but had deep meaning. Whether his stories were on happiness, daily life, hard ships, political issues etc., he was able to convey his point of view. Hughes’ autobiographical work, “Salvation”, is a defining moment in his life where he considered abandoning religion (Christianity, in his case). I will consider some of Hughes’ defining moments that played a major role in developing his character and views on life.
James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Mississippi in 1902. Hughes parents divorced when he was a child. After the split, his father decided to move to Cuba and later settled in Mexico, to escape the racial prejudge in the US (“Langston Hughes”). Perhaps more went into his decision to move away from the States, it is speculated that Hughes father didn’t like black people. As an African-American himself, it was hard for Langston to understand this. While his mother traveled to seek employment, Hughes went to live with his grandmother, Mary Patterson Langston in Lawrence, Kansas. His grandmother taught him about the activism from blacks that she experienced in her generation (“Langston Hughes”).
These teachings impacted Hughes’ and gave him sense racial pride. After his grandmother’s death, he went to live with family friends and then with his mother in Lincoln, Illinois. When he was in grammar school in Lincoln, he became was voted class poet. Hughes and his mother later settled in Cleveland, Ohio and finished High School there. In high school, Hughes became more active in writing. He began to write some of his first short stories and wrote for his school’s newspaper. After graduating high school in 1920, Hughes went to Mexico to live with his father. Hughes wanted to go to Columbia University to become a writer and he hoped that his father would help him financially, while attending. Hughes’ father agreed under the terms that he would, instead, study engineering. Hughes agreed and they came to an agreement. A year later, Hughes left Colombia University and decided to focus on his poetry and his other interests.
Hughes’ poem, “Goodbye, Christ”, written in 1932, sparked the attention of many in both a negative and positive effect. This poem happens to be one of Hughes’ most controversial. It emphasized Hughes’ view on religion and the culprits behind it. Some these culprits included; Aimee Semple McPherson, a popular Canadian-American evangelist in the 20s, and “big black Saint Becton”, otherwise known as George Wilson Becton who was a charming preacher in the Harlem Renaissance Era (“George Wilson Becton”). In the article, “Concerning “Goodbye Christ”: Langston Hughes, Political Poetry, and African American Religion”, author Wallace Best, a Professor of Religion at Princeton University, states that this poem was one of “few literary works by an African American that proved to be so controversial among African Americans” (Best) . Hughes seemed to make fun of himself in part of the poem, saying, “Make way for a new guy with no religion at all. A real guy named Marx Communist Lenin Peasant Stalin Worker ME—I said, ME!” Even though Hughes seemed to be poking fun of himself, referring to his self as a communist, which caused much uproar.
Sightseeing is something Hughes did a lot of. In the article, “Langston Hughes and his Poetry”, it is said that Hughes, “visited every continent except Australia and Antarctica” (Kresh). In 1932, a soviet-German film company planned to gather, a group African-American artists (musicians, actors etc.), to star in a film about the experience and life of blacks in the US (Moore) in Moscow. Hughes was very enthusiastic about this and chose to embark on the adventure. Hughes was casted as the screen writer to accurately portray the black American experience of that time. Two months later, the project was called off. Half of the group then left, while Langston and others traveled in Central Asia for a couple of months. Hughes found himself being able to identify with Soviet are of Asia. He called the USSR “dusty, coloured, cotton-growing South” (Moore). Hughes wrote many poems and writings during his travel in Central Asia. After his return to the US, Moscow published Hughes’ book A Negro Looks at Soviet Central Asia. This book compared the Soviet Union with the American South.
Langston Hughes was years ahead of his time. He was a free-thinker and an innovator. His life was filled with racial prejudice and betrayal but it was also filled with fun adventurous, learning processes and growth as an individual. Hughes’ “Salvation” expressed his feelings of religious betrayal. In Hughes “Goodbye, Christ” he touches on trickery and deceitful culprits of religion. Hughes travels around the world, helped him to better understand all people. All of these moments helped to shape Hughes into the writer and man that he was. If not for these experience, who would Langstson Hughes be? Would there be a “Lansgston Hughes”? Who knows, but I do know that these are the defining moments that helped shape him into the great man that he was.
Works Cited
A Biography of Aimee Semple McPherson." On Being. On Being. Web. 2 May 2015. http://www.onbeing.org/program/reviving-sister-aimee/feature/biography-aimee-semple-mcpherson/782
Best, Wallace. "Concerning "Goodbye Christ": Langston Hughes, Political Poetry, and African American Religion." Religion and Politics. Religion and Politics, 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 2 May 2015. http://religionandpolitics.org/2013/11/26/concerning-goodbye-christ-langston-hughes-political-poetry-and-african-american-religion/
"George Wilson Becton." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 2 May 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wilson_Becton
Hughes, Langston. "Thread: Salvation - A Short Essay by Langston Hughes." Literature Network Forums RSS. 20 Feb. 2012. Web. 2 May 2015. http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?67465-Salvation-A-short-essay-by-Langston-Hughes
(Hughes, “Salvation”)
"Wallace Best, Ph.D." Huffington Post. PARS International Corp. Web. 2 May 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wallace-best-phd/
