John In James Baldwin's Go Tell It On The Mountain

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In the novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, by James Baldwin, the main character John is inherently disbelieving of his father as he think that him and his father are in separate worlds. Ever since John was born, more was expected of him by his father, Gabriel, and those in his church in comparison to his brother Roy. Just like his father, John is expected to be a preacher, though he does not hold the beliefs such as the white man being naturally evil: “Yet in school some of them had been nice to him, and it was hard to think of them burning in Hell forever” (36). He has always been told to stray away from white people and those who does not go to church frequently, read their bible, or pray on a daily basis. As he explores Fifth Avenue on his