the altar where they are saved, but he continues to sit and wait. Finally, all the children are gone but him and another boy, Westley. Westley decides that he is tired of waiting, and he tells Langston “let’s get up and be saved.” Now, Langston is the last child waiting to be saved, and he begins to feel ashamed for making others wait. He realizes that Westley lied and was not struck dead, so he decides to lie as well by standing up to be saved. Everyone in the room is rejoicing now that he has been saved, and the night ends with joyous singing. Later that night, he cries in his room because he could not bear to tell anyone that he lied, deceived the whole church, and had not seen Jesus. In the end, Hughes does not believe in Jesus because Jesus did not help him.

     Langston Hughes, an American poet, novelist, playwright, columnist, and social activist, was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. During his preteen years, he became an independent thinker, and by the time he was 13, he became an atheist. Despite growing up in a religious household, he came to realize that he did not have to follow everyone else, and he could believe whatever he wanted to. He wanted to find his own path and something he could truly believe in. In his poem “Goodbye Christ,” he writes “Listen, Christ, you did alright in your day […] but that day’s gone now. […] You ain’t no good no more. They’ve pawned you till you’ve done wore out. […] 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!” (stanza 1-3). In this poem, Hughes is trying to say that Christ has been all used up, and there is not anything there anymore. Even if he was present in the old days, he is not present anymore. Hughes realized this when the Lord did not come to him in the revival, despite everyone saying that he would give signs and show himself. Hughes could only believe in himself now, because he was a real and reliable being, unlike the Christ no one has truly seen for centuries.

     With this experience driving him, Hughes continued down a path that he set for himself, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Langston Hughes’s father had influence on his life as well. Growing up, Hughes did not see either of his divorced parents often. He moved around a lot and lived with family members along the way. During his junior year of high school, his father returned and wished for him to move to Toluca, Mexico with him. Hughes stayed with his father that summer of 1919, but later returned due to conflicts between them. Hughes’s father apparently disliked his own people, African Americans, and moved to Mexico so he could distance himself from them and avoid discrimination. Hughes did not understand his father’s dislike of their people. His father wanted nothing to do with them, but Hughes wanted everything to do with them. Hughes wanted his voice to be heard, he wanted equality. Hughes became a writer later on in his life, against his father’s wishes, and used this skill to portray his idea of the American dream. To him, the American dream is peace and equality for everyone; no one would have to worry about being treated unfairly because of their race, and the only thing that would matter is who one is as a person.

     In the 1920’s, Hughes became a member of the Harlem Renaissance, a group of black writers held intelligent debates on the role of African Americans in life and politics. They wished to be more respected for their work, but they were stereotyped. Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers in the Harlem Renaissance (America’s Story, par. 1); his importance was influenced by his life in New York City’s Harlem, a primarily African American neighborhood.

     Langston Hughes was a very influential man; he was very independent and involved in many movements that called for change. He believed that everyone was equal and they could stand up for what they believe. No one has to follow the footsteps of the people before them; Langston Hughes demonstrated this perfectly when he decided to leave the church and follow his own path. Instead of accepting the life that his family and friends expected, he took initiative of his own life, and became involved with what mattered to him, equality. His thoughts and ideas will live on through the hearts of many, as equality is still being fought for today. He may not have lived to see the true extent of the American dream, but he would be proud to know that the American people are still fighting and will achieve that goal in the future. ​