From the beginning Salvation reminded me of my catholic school upbringing. From age three up until age eleven I studied in a really small catholic school where I followed all the required steps to be a proper catholic up until that age. Ever since I was a kid I’ve always had my doubts about God’ s existence and they’d continued up until I was about fifteen/sixteen, when I had to do my Confirmation. My Grandmother wouldn’t stop telling me about it and how I had to do it. I did it, but I never really felt like God was with me then…which made me sympathize with Langston and his expirence. I do think Langston made right choice, under pressure and in that type of situation I found myself doing the same thing.
The narrative voice did appeal to me a lot since it reminded me of how I was at age 9 when I did my Holy Communion and when they resurfaced back when I was 15 at my Confirmation. I remember having feeling like Langston and I found that to be something very effective in the narrative. I didn’t really find a way where he ‘shows’ what he tells, then again, m own personal experience made me already see what he was saying well enough because it was quite similar.
Another passage within the narrative that really got to me was when Langston got up and ‘saved’ himself like everyone else. I felt like I was doing something similar in my own Confirmation. My grandmother and my family really wanted me to do it so I told her to sign me up for the classes because I was ready to let God be a part of my life once more.
Comparing Eleven with Salvation isn’t too hard considering how they’re both narratives from the perspective of a child encountered with a seemingly hopeless situation. While in Eleven it’s all about a sweater that doesn’t belong to her but in the case of Salvation it’s a little more deeper than that. The styles of the narratives are similar but while in Eleven we encounter a conscious, constant stream of thought, in Salvation we find a more profound and deeper look into the child’s mind. It’s different, it’s a little more insightful rather than childish. That’s a very interesting difference in the stylistic writing of both narratives.
Michi's World 