Social Pressure In Two Kinds And Salvation

Pressure can cause problems when inflicted upon a human being. One can react differently when having pressure inflicted upon them. This is easily shown in the two stories, “Two Kinds” and “Salvation”. In the texts “Two Kinds” and “Salvation”, both characters are forced under social pressure; however, the way each character deals with that pressure placed on them are very diverse and reveals the true nature of each character.
“Salvation” and “Two Kinds” both have a pressure inflicted on the main characters, causing some type of conflict in the story. The characters Jing-Mei and Langston were pressured by an audience A good example of this in “Salvation”, is when Langston said “But I was really crying because I couldn't bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadn't seen Jesus, and that now I didn't believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didn't come to help me.” (Hughes 2). After being pressured to lie in the church, Langston is scared and frightened to tell his religious aunt, that he did not see Jesus. The most compelling evidence is in “Two Kinds” when Jing-Mei said, "Why don't you like me the way I am?" I cried. "I'm not a genius! I can't play the piano. And even if I could, I …show more content…
However, they both deal with that pressure in an emotionally different way. Langston shows his emotion by crying and Jing-Mei shows it by releasing that anger at her mom. That really shows who these characters are when put under pressure. Social pressure is a very real issue that affects many of the teenagers of the world today. Society offers many misleading advertisements that seem to lead teens in all the wrong directions, especially Langston Hughes in story “Salvation”. If the youth of today are more educated, the future of our world will be a lot better off. In the end, do not give in to social