An Analysis Of James Baldwin's Go Tell It On The Mountain

In James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain, the main character is a preacher and the setting is almost always in the Church. Though it may be a religious story, there is plenty of sin going on, especially with Gabriel who is a preacher. Gabriel rules his family with an iron fist and even beats his sons John and . He may be a preacher but what Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So, everyone is not perfect, and we all have sinned. In James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain, Gabriel reaps the benefits from the point of being religious, but yet he sin in multiple ways.

A quote from a conversation between Elizabeth and Roy about Gabriel, Roy says, “I just do not want him beating on me all the time,"

“Gabriel had never seen such a look on John's face before; Satan, at that moment, stared out of John's eyes while the Spirit spoke.” Here, Gabriel sees Satan through the eyes of his son John, and believes it could be a warning. Gabriel understands his sins of the past, and will never be able to escape it. Also, what Florence says about her brother Gabriel, "Being a preacher ain't never stopped a nigger from doing his dirt." Gabriel thinks he is fooling the community by making them believe he is a honorable guy, because he is a preacher. But Florence is reminded that Gabriel is a human being, and human beings are liable to sin. She compares his sin to dirt, which reminds us of the uncleanliness that is associated with sin. In another statement that Florence makes, “She sighed again, more genuinely this time, and tuned back to the mirror. "Well… he's a preacher. And if Deborah's right, he ain't got no right to be a preacher. He ain't no better'n nobody else. In fact, he ain't no better than a murderer." Florence believes that preachers must have higher standards than the rest of the people in order to have any religious authority. She is offended by his use of religion to make himself better than others, when he's really just as feeble as everybody else. Baldwin’s characters should be more holier and focused on the Christian teachings. In Go Tell It on the Mountain, it says, “This was what was meant by a holy life, this was what the way of the cross demanded.” What was meant by a holy life is the sacrament of Marriage and being fully bonded to the Church. Gabriel is not fully bonded to the