Go Tell It On The Mountain Analysis

Improved Essays
James Baldwin (1924-1987) is one of the most prominent African America writers during the fifties and sixties of twenty-centuries in the United States. He is an African America and also as a writer, and his footprints spread all over the world, in that case, it makes the most of his works are always exploring the identity of African America. “Go Tell it on the Mountain” is such an example work for identity, as one of the famous classic novel in the African America’s history, it is known as the first work without any ethnic opinions, therefore, the book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of the American literature history field. In this book, there are full experiences of childhood’s life, such as doubt on religious beliefs, …show more content…
They have courage to defeat frustration; and after they gain a stable life. This novel is a encourage and spiritual work, because it dares to bring black’s pain, but this is neither to scare white, nor to gain sympathy from the society. In the novel, John is like Baldwin, because both of them are bastard, and they also have a harsh and a fanatical preacher father. For John, the father is both difficult to please, and also powerless to resist, John suffers a great pain in both body and mind. He desire to gain love and identity, if he wants to find the lost identity back, he had to deal the relations with his father, religious beliefs and the black group, meanwhile, he has to embrace the past and the future with …show more content…
Moreover, Baldwin put forward to a better future or fullness of survival in nowadays society leave an indelible symbol. Personally, I very much agree with Baldwin, whatever for any races or countries, they should all keep self-identity and self-tradition, and then choose the better culture into the future. For all over the world, this problem is also worth to all of us having a good thinking and

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    In James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” the narrator gets to redeem himself for the neglect of his younger brother. His younger brother, Sonny, found himself battling an addiction to heroin. The short story occurs in the 1950’s in Harlem. Due to the realness of the setting, the reader can apply historical context to the short story. Although “Sonny’s Blues” is not a religious story, the author, James Baldwin, uses Christian symbolism to represent the fall and redemption which the narrator withstands.…

    • 1329 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain is a work concerned with the notion of change. Centered on a Harlem-based Pentecostal church, Baldwin unpacks multiple character studies to explore whether or not true growth and change are attainable. Through flashbacks, Baldwin reveals the main characters’ actions are merely products of their respective pasts. That is, these characters are shown to suggest an overarching sense of determinism plagues humanity—a determinism in which all actions can be traced to a cause and effect, where all causes are the effects of previous causes.…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Baldwin lived in New York until he turned 24, then moved to France in 1948 and visited the Swiss village mentioned in his essay in 1951. Thanks to his experience in both America and the small Swiss village he visited, he can write about them with familiarity, then add his knowledge of African history to create a well cultured essay. In it, he explores the idea of being a stranger in a place he never expected to be; the modern world. He then goes on to theorize the causes of this phenomenon and apply the concept to other places. More.…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This fact leads into the passage above where he is explaining that the American Negro, if he wants to create a better future for himself, must accept all his past hardships and use it to better himself. To create the ‘American Dream’ for himself. Baldwin uses diction, rhetoric and theme to explain that anyone can learn from their past experiences. The diction the author uses in this passage is very noticeable.…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Response To Sonny's Blues

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Amber LaCourt ENG 0235 Professor Jackson 3/24/18 Response Paper #2 In the short story“Sonny’s Blues” written by James Baldwin exhibited the struggles of young African American male taking on the weight of the world on his shoulders. Some common themes that are present in this short story are the idea of independence, rebirth, the relationship between his brother Sonny, and the blues. The unnamed narrator throughout the short story expresses the struggles with dealing with his relationship with his brother who’s incarcerated and the death of his young daughter. The narrator’s mother gave the role to the unnamed narrator to watch over his brother Sonny and by asking him to look over him as his “keeper” (Cite Page Number).…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Religion in “Sonny’s Blues” By Jade Burgess Most critics prefer to view James Baldwin as a civil rights writer rather than as a Christian writer with his Bible close at hand. Baldwin knew the Bible intimately and once claimed, "I was born in the church" ("Notes" 14). Tackach wrote that according to Campbell, Baldwin "knew the Bible so well that he colored his phrases with Old Testament rhetoric and poetry, with full conviction". Campbell states that "although he [Baldwin] left the church, the church never left him". Some religious related works that Baldwin wrote are The Fire Next Time, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and “Sonny’s Blues”.…

    • 1660 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    John Lewis, driving home, was flooded with memories of his childhood, each one being good, but also looking back he realizes that his childhood was not appropriate. He had always known he was different, although he did not really know what it was that set him apart until he started to mature. As he learned growing up, his parents were never fans of change, which was the case for most black adults. For these people, it must have been extremely hard going through this time as everything was starting change, especially for John Lewis’ parents since he was such a different child. Although…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    What John has been raised to value is not the same things he believes the people trudging down Fifth Avenue value. His father says, “that all white people were wicked, and that God was going to bring them low. He said that white people were never to be trusted, and that they told nothing but lies, and that not one of them had ever loved a nigger” (Baldwin. Pg 38. Go Tell It On The Mountain).…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Baldwin brings attention to the dark side of Harlem, which is surprising, since few authors speak on this. In conclusion Baldwin creates an image of the real Harlem that is quite diverse from the prior image I had of this city. He sheds light on the segregation and he differentiates the various groups of youth that make the city what it is. I believed this city to be full of men and women who left landmarks, and full life and freedom for the African American community, but the truth is that it faced its struggles just like any other part of America in this time…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    James Baldwin is also an inspirational author through writing Go Tell It on the Mountain, describing how anyone can achieve spiritual wholeness, no matter what the situation. In this story, Baldwin writes about John Grimes, a boy who had just turned fourteen years old, whose family is worried about his future. One Saturday night, the family goes to the church to pray, as they do every Saturday night, but there was a different atmosphere than usual, as it seems there is a specific reason they are drawn to the church this night. As the night ensues, Baldwin explores the thoughts of John’s aunt, Florence, his father, Gabriel, and his mother, Elizabeth, as they are praying, revealing the brokenness they felt during their previous spiritual lives.…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While reading Go Tell It on The Mountain, written by James Baldwin. There are many characters in the story that have compelling stories from Gabriel, Elizabeth, and Florence; but the most complex character throughout the story is the main character John Grimes whose life is based off the life of James Baldwin. From the beginning to the end of the story we peel away more and more about John and we begin to learn more and more about him and the relationships that he has and what they mean to him, furthermore we learn about how he feels about his religion, sexuality, and most importantly his family. The story takes place over a course of 24 hours and beginning on John’s fourteenth birthday on a Saturday in 1935 and ends that Sunday after a church service. Part One: “The Seventh Day” starts with John giving the audience a mental description of his church Fire…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin (1957) explores the theme of suffering experienced by African Americans. It features the struggle of two brothers separated and caught in the entanglements of time, space and ideals. Both Sonny and his brother are surrounded by a world full of shadows and light, structure and antistructure. The narrator must understand his brother 's fall into drugs, while Sonny himself must recover and learn to stay afloat. Baldwin utilizes aspects of African culture and in particular the three stages of Victor Turner’s rites of passage to talk about pain and affliction done to African Americans during the 1950’s.…

    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As an African American in the still very racist 60’s era, Harlem writer James Baldwin finds it imperative to write a letter to his nephew James, in which he forewarns and advice’s his still highly naïve nephew of the oppressive and ignorant America that he is destined to grow up in. While he cautions young James of the harsh and crude realities of the era, Baldwin prompts his nephew to not succumb to the stereotypes and expectancies of the white American man. Through the use of various rhetorical combinations Baldwin not only appeals to the emotional, logistical and credible senses of his audience, but by infusing Sturken’s concepts of memory and cultural products, he makes this historical piece of prose relevant to the 21st century by retelling…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    For as long as there have been opinions, people have been trying to deduce ways to convince others of their viewpoint. Over time, these strategies have been condensed into what is now known as rhetoric, which is defined as the art of effective or persuasive speaking and writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Rhetoric as a whole can be condensed into three categories: ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos, which is the greek word for “character”, can be thought of as the author/speaker 's credibility outside of the text, i.e. their credentials in the area they are speaking about. Pathos, which is the greek word for “suffering”, is defined as the author 's appeal to the reader 's emotions, sympathies, and…

    • 1343 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (Baldwin 77). Baldwin, being born in 1924, grew up in what would be considered a troubling time for any African American male (James Baldwin Bio pg. 3). He formed a career as a writer where he published numerous essays dealing with racial discrimination. Baldwin had experienced the downside of a corrupt American society first hand, which made his work more appealing to the general populace. “The twenty-thousand word essay, unlike anything the New Yorker had ever printed before, was published as “Letter from a Region in My Mind” causing the magazine’s sales to soar” (James Baldwin Bio 211).…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays