The Chase by Annie Dillard and Salvation by Langston Hughes - Essay Example

The narrator in “Salvation” on the other hand, had no fulfillment because he wanted to literally “see” Jesus Christ but did not show Himself.  The narrator looked for what was material, and the story taught the readers about faith, because such things truly happen in our real world, even until now.

Both stories showed that children still learn lessons in life through the adults that they encounter every day.  In “The Chase”, the adult was the stranger who taught the young girl of perseverance just by not giving up on them while he was chasing the two kids; and instead of frightening the child, the man taught her something valuable in life.  Hughes’ “Salvation” showed how adults sometimes pressure young children to believe things that they believe in.  The aunt in the story, together with all the believers in the church, forced the young boy to lie so as not to upset his aunt.  In this story, the boy failed to understand what faith was all about, the adults were not able to make the boy understand the real meaning of asking Jesus to “come” into their lives.  Sadly, he was disappointed by himself for the dishonesty he committed, and worse, he was not able to understand his faith.

Through the years, the fact has not changed that adults continue to fuel the children’s minds and values in life.  Dillard and Hughes’ short stories showed two contrasting effects of how children learn and understand things through the elder people that they meet and grow up with.