Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

First published: 1953

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Social realism

Time of plot: 1880–1935

Locale: Harlem, New York City

Principal Characters

• John Grimes, a fourteen-year-old who attempts self-understanding as he experiences manhood and religious awareness
• Gabriel Grimes, John’s stepfather, who is rigid morally and is oppressive toward John
• Elizabeth Grimes, John’s mother and Gabriel’s second wife, proud and gentle
• Roy Grimes, John’s younger brother, whose future is interpreted as troubling
• Florence Grimes, Gabriel Grimes’s sister, who mocks him, evidencing her bitterness toward him
• Brother Elisha, a young minister to whom John is attracted

The Story

It is John’s fourteenth birthday, but he does not feel pleased. He is worried that no one will remember his birthday or help him to celebrate it in any way. He is surprised when his mother, Elizabeth, recognizes the special day and offers him two different kinds of gifts. The first is money; the second is the opportunity to spend the day without interference from the rest of the family. He can be alone if he chooses.

John has already accomplished the chores to which he is assigned, so he is free to experience uninterrupted adult events. He decides to go to the theater in Harlem, across Sixth Avenue, which he feels is an adventure. For John, it is a mature and independent thing to do. Even this decision, however, is not made without reflection; for him, it represents a kind of release from the protectiveness of his mother, in whom he finds a sense of security. It also represents, however, a release from the tyranny that he experiences from his stepfather, Gabriel, in whom he no longer has any confidence or trust. He has always felt that Gabriel favors his own children, such as John’s stepbrother, Roy.

When John returns home from the theater, he encounters a family tragedy. Roy has been injured in a race-oriented gang war. Stepfather Gabriel, as usual, does not blame Roy and, when he focuses his anger on Elizabeth, Roy defends her. Although John realizes that he is not the cause of this event, he is also not surprised when Gabriel takes out his anger on him as well, repeating his frequent criticisms of John. It is time for church, and John leaves the house to meet with the young preacher, Elisha.

Elisha is seventeen, and John is drawn to him, not only spiritually but also physically and emotionally. Elisha seems to provide refuge for John. During the church service this day, John is prayed for by other members and has a “peak experience,” a religious conversion or redirection. He then formally offers himself to God.

John’s church experience also includes the prayers of his family members. Each prayer reveals much about its speaker, as well as implying reasons for each speaker’s different relationship with John. During the service, John turns away from Gabriel, and Elisha gives him a kiss on his forehead. Since his stepfather does not seem to affirm his conversion, John looks increasingly to both Elisha and Elizabeth for the affirmations he needs. He feels self-esteem from his good relationships with the preacher and with Elizabeth. Other elders show in their prayers that day why he is not in such good relationships with them. John realizes during the service that others in the family are attempting to find the salvation he has found, but they have not yet succeeded.

John’s stepaunt, Florence, reveals in her prayers that she is far too embittered to find salvation. She desperately wants to leave her southern home and does so, but she walks out just as her mother becomes seriously ill. Florence experiences only torment by leaving the South. She has grown to hate her brother Gabriel, John’s stepfather, but stays in an uneasy relationship with him. It has been difficult for both, since Florence knows all of Gabriel’s past and considers him a religious hypocrite. Gabriel, by contrast, is a preacher and has had considerable success as a church leader. However, Gabriel marries a friend of Florence, and his choice is based on the expectations of his church community, expectations that do not satisfy him as a man. He does not remain faithful to his wife and has a son by another woman. When the illegitimate son and his wife die, Gabriel feels tremendous guilt about his lifestyle. This guilt is expressed partly through his tyranny over John. John realizes how much his stepfather hates him, a hatred that really emerges because of the love he has for his illegitimate son. Gabriel cannot accept the sinfulness that produced this son, so he acts out his disgust by abusing his wife’s son.

John’s mother, Elizabeth, says a sad “prayer” that does not acknowledge Gabriel’s or Florence’s hostilities but does admit to a life of torment. Elizabeth grew up with family conflicts as well, but she found love in a passionate man named Richard. Elizabeth’s dilemma was that this passion was not blessed by the church, and its power made it even more reprehensible religiously. Elizabeth escaped the experiences of a childhood without love by finding love as an adult, but her religion forced her to make a choice between the love of Richard and the love of God. Elizabeth became pregnant by Richard, and, during her pregnancy with John, Richard committed suicide. Elizabeth agreed to marry Gabriel, who also agreed to accept John as his own son. Gabriel does not keep his agreement; John is too much of a reminder of his own infidelity and of his own revered dead son.

John’s religious experience during the church service is an acceptance from a religious community in the midst of his world of secular rejection. He falls to the floor with others surrounding him and encouraging him. He prays that Jesus will save him in many of the ways in which his family members have not been saved, including salvation from the hatred that dominates so many of his family relations. He also prays that Jesus will lead him to overcome his indecisiveness. All of his prayers and those of his family members include all of their histories, their beings, and their relationships, no matter how difficult. This fourteenth birthday occasion is their time to recount and to attempt to regenerate. For John, his peak experience, his salvation event, is climactic. It suggests the possibility of a happier, less ambiguous relationship to the world around him.

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