Go Tell it on the Mountain

James Baldwin (1924-1987) wrote his first novel, Go Tell It

On the Mountain, when he was only 29 years old. This research is an analysis of John, who is Baldwin's alter ego in this autobiographical work. By exploring the character of John, concentrating on his relationship to his father, it is possible to see how the author grew up in Harlem, and how he gained his maturity.

"Everyone had always said that John would be a preacher when he grew up, just like his father" (11). A good part of John's persona in the early section of the novel is his coming to grips with his father's religious beliefs. Since John is a surrogate for the actual Baldwin, it is not difficult to see in the young boy the growing intellectuals rejection of the church's beliefs, and how this affects the rapport with his father.

"When he was young, John had paid no attention in Sunday school, and always forgot the golden text, which earned him the wrath of his father" (13). Baldwin is very skillful at recreating John's decision to follow his own nature, and it is clear that this behavior incenses the father. The book examines the oedipal struggle as John attempts to "murder" his father by rejecting the values that have been accepted by the older generation.

There is a very poignant segment early in Go Tell It On the Mountain that shows that John needed an authority figure, even if he did not conform to his own father's wishes. In school, John demonstrates his quick mind to his teacher, and she r

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that alienates John and indicates that he will seek out an alternative to the parental sexual identity. There are many times in the book when John is told that he must conform because that is just the way things are. "Your Daddy beats you because he loves you" (23) John is told, yet he cannot accept this explanation and so he continues to rebel in many ways. What John has to fight off is his innate nature as it comes into conflict with society. His father serves as the main messenger of the culture, and his violence directed toward John makes the boy become hardened to human emotions. "His father had always said that his face was the face of Satan" (27). The man on a subconscious level knew full well that John was "different," and because he feared John's intellectual and sexual powers, he feared them and tried to curse them with his religious authority. The book is proof positive that what doesn't kill an individual may very well make him stronger. John suffers an inordinate amount of abuse, taking him to the breaking point. But instead of giving in and joining the society who wants him to fit in, John decides with even more vehemence that he must be the way he naturally is. Baldwin's novel shows that "religion" can

Category: Literature - G