Doreen M. Ciongoli
Professor Ellen Feig
Comp-101
7 June 2010
Jesus is often named as the ‘Reason for the Season’ (which infers that it is because of him that we
celebrate Christmas) but he is also the reason and main catalyst in the essays, “Salvation” by Langston
Hughes and “Sister Monroe” by Maya Angelou and in “Jesus Camp”, a documentary by Heidi Ewing and
Rachel Grady. There are other similarities, to be sure, but the overall focus of all three pieces is Jesus and
salvation from sin.
Langston Hughes’ “Salvation” was written from a child’s point of view. Hughes wrote the piece
when he was thirty-eight years old which was published as part of his memoirs. Hughes was a twelveyear-old boy from Missouri waiting to be saved in his Auntie Reed’s church. He tires of waiting for Jesus
to come to him. Finally, after witnessing another student being saved without waiting for Jesus, he, too,
stands up, and allows himself to be saved. That night, Hughes, cries, remorseful for lying and not
believing that there is a Jesus. “Salvation” which takes place in a church with Hughes’ Aunt Reed serving
as a instigator for Hughes to be saved telling him that he should feel and see and hear Jesus in his soul.
Hughes’ Aunt Reed is a strong female role in the essay speaking of bringing the lambs to the fold and
urging him toward salvation. And finally, Aunt Reed is convinced Hughes’ crying that takes place later
that night was the result of his salvation. Hughes views himself as an outcast within the congregation
because he cannot see or feel Jesus.
“Sister Monroe”, an essay written by Maya Angelou, has several similarities with Hughes’
“Salavation”. Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou, both born in Missouri, wrote their essays based on a
previous childhood experience in their churches. “Sister Monroe” is also is written from a child’s point of
view. Angelou writes about her experience as a child at one particular sermon, sitting in front where her
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grandmother can keep an eye on her and discourage any misbehavior. Angelou witnesses the comic and
exaggerated actions of Sister Monroe, a fellow congregant who makes the most of her seldom visits to
church punctuated with spirited responses of “Preach it” to the reverend’s sermon. Angelou describes the
pandemonium caused by Sister Monroe with punches flying between the reverend and deacon and finally,
and a tussle with all three of them behind the alter. Like “Salvation”, there is also strong female role in
this essay stemming from vibrant antics of Sister Monroe. Both essays have a common theme of salvation
and redemption.
The film “Jesus Camp”, is similar to “Salvation” and “Sister Montroe” inasmuch that it too deals
with salvation through Jesus. The film focuses on the indoctrination of young children as God’s soldiers
in spreading the word of Jesis and training them to take an active part in advancing their religious
movement in the political arena. The film is also told from a child’s point of view with several interviews
with Levi, an eleven-year old boy, Rachael, an eight-year-old girl and Tory, a nine-year old girl. The film
also focuses on Becky Fischer, a Pentecostal minister, who trains children for leadership roles in
Evangelical Christianity and includes interviews with the mother of Levi and also with Ted Haggard, an
evangelical preacher and former pastor of the New Life Church The film follows, Levi, Rachael, Tory
and Fischer from a church assembly to a summer camp that focuses on indoctrinating the children as
warriors in God’s army spreading Evangelical Christianity. In one poignant scene, a young boy is viewed
as an outcast for simply stating that he had trouble believing in the word of Jesus as did Hughes in
“Salvation.”
The essays, “Salvation” and “Sister Monroe” and the documentary, “Jesus Camp” all have shown
strong similarities with their common theme of Jesus and salvation , coupled with their stories being told
from a child’s point of view. The essays and film also show strong female supporting characters (Aunt
Reed, Sister Monroe and Becky Fischer) in addition to similar settings which take place within a church
or an assembly environment. Jesus may be the central unseen character for “Salvation, “Sister Monroe”
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and “Jesus Camp”, but it is the theme of salvation that weaves a common thread throughout both essays
and film.