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'Salvation' versus 'Reunion'

Decent Essays

Authors tend to have writing styles that set them apart from other authors. “Salvation” by Langston Hughes and “Reunion” by John Cheever are two short stories, both written by acclaimed authors, describing a life changing experience each author had at a young age. It may seem like both stories are completely different in every aspect. However, after analyzing both stories, it becomes apparent that they have plenty in common. Both stories are similar in terms of motifs and the use of dialogue, yet they contrast when it comes to the tone of each story.
First, both short stories have two similar motifs. In both Langston Hughes’ and John Cheever’s short stories is expectation and disappointment. Langston Hughes is expecting Jesus to come and …show more content…

Without dialogue, the extent of the father’s ill-mannered behavior would be unclear, thus the actions of the restaurant workers would not be justified. In “Salvation”, although there is a minimal amount of dialogue, there is enough to describe the characters and their actions. For example, when Westley tells Hughes, “‘God damn! I'm tired o' sitting here. Let's get up and be saved’”(643), it gives insight into why Westley lies about being saved. Additionally, Hughes includes dialogue to show what the church congregation says to him. This dialogue gives reason to why Hughes feels it is necessary to lie and say he sees Jesus. Both authors use of dialogue in each of their stories makes the stories even more similar to one another.
Even though both of these short stories are similar, the one main difference between them is the tone. In “Reunion”, Cheever sets a tone of embarrassment. He does this by describing his father and his experience with him. His embarrassment stems from the way his father is acting towards others as they visit the different restaurants. Cheever’s father embarrasses Cheever because his father is disrespectful to the restaurant workers for no apparent reason. His actions lead to them being thrown out of multiple restaurants causing Cheever to be even more embarrassed for himself and because of the actions of his father. On the other hand, Hughes sets a

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