Ginebra, Gustavo
ENC1102
11/25/13
Salvation/The Secret Life of Walter Mitty/The Mother
Every human being finds inspiration in something different, it may be a song, a painting,
or even a bridge. What we (the people) look for is something to believe in, something to look up
to, and that something makes us see the world in marvelous ways. We all have dreams we wish
to achieve someday, these dreams come from our childhood, and they’re inspired by the way we
were raised. For instance, the dreams of a child born in poverty differ from those of a child with
means, simply because they have different perspectives and priorities. Literature has evolved
through time, showing us different perspectives of life and it’s meaning.
In Langston Hughes’ “Salvation,” we witness a little boy experiencing religion for the
very first time. In the beginning, Hughes talks about the first time he’ll be saved from sin by Je-
sus himself. At the age of thirteen, we were starting to realize what the world really was, people
trying to get by. Church was, and still is, a place where people go to escape their lives of sin, to
find salvation. At first, Langston seems quite optimistic about going to see Jesus for the first
time, but later regrets it. How many times, did we change our minds about what we wanted as a
child?
Some parents enforce religion on their children, while others are more open-minded
about it. This also applies to the children’s future. Some parents try to mold their child into some-
thing they want, without regarding the kid’s choice. This kind of controlling and manipulative
parenting, can certainly scar a child. They might grow up to be successful, but not always happy.
Depriving a child of the ability to choose their own path, is a mayor fault in parenting. No child
should be told what to think or believe, nor they should be forced to follow their parent’s reli-
gious values. Langston decides to fake his salvation, and pretend he has seen Jesus and the light.
His aunt’s pressure gets to him, and he begins to feel guilty. It goes to show, a child shouldn’t be
pressured to believe something he or she doesn’t believe.
James Thurber reaches out to the inner child in all of us. He seeks to make use of our
imagination, and the power that comes with it. In “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Thurber nar–
rates the story of an ordinary man (Walter Mitty), conflicted with the ordinary world around him.
As Walter goes through his ordinary day, he finds inspiration for his heroic fantasies. He escapes
the ordinary world he’s physically in, to travel to a land of possibility in his mind. Have you ever
felt out of place? Have you ever failed to find your purpose in life?
