Go Tell It on the Mountain (Magill Book Reviews)
At a glance:
- Author: James Baldwin
- First Published: 1953
- Type of Work: Novel
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Bildungsroman
- Subjects: African Americans, Maturation or coming of age, Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Parents and children, Racism, Sex or sexuality, Suicide, New York City, Sin or Original sin, 1930’s, Spiritual life or spirituality, Ministry or ministers, Inner cities or inner-city life, Oppression, Fathers, Adultery, Christianity, Faith
- Locales: Harlem, NY, South (U.S.)
John Grimes wants to be a man standing on his own; at the same time, he wants his father, Gabriel, to love him. He feels oppressed by his father and by his circumstances as a black youth in New York during the Depression. To achieve manhood, he must either accept his heritage or embrace a world he instinctively feels is evil: the materialistic and oppressive white world.
In order to accept his heritage in the religious terms he understands, he must come to terms with his father, the prophet and preacher. To John, it appears that Gabriel loves neither John nor his mother. John...
[The entire page is 966 words long]
