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Go Tell It On The Mountain By James Baldwin

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Racism in “Go Tell it on the Mountain”

The novel “Go Tell it on the Mountain” by James Baldwin follows the life of a young boy named John Grimes as it examines the role of the Christian Church in the lives of African-Americans, both as a source of repression and moral hypocrisy and as a source of inspiration and community. The novel also evaluates the issue of racism as the both takes place in the time of “the Great Migration”, which in American history is characterized by a mass exodus of African Americans from the rural …show more content…

John lives in what is equal to a single parent home because of the emotional and physical detachment from his stepfather, Gabriel. Gabriel doesn’t have a relationship with John and his brother; he’s distant and beats his children - and eventually his wife. Despite being a religious man, he beats them for their transgressions. It is revealed through the flashbacks of John’s aunt Florence, Gabriel’s sister, why Gabriel is such a harassing and abusive person. We learn through her prayers that growing up, Florence had a lot of bitterness and hate towards Gabriel because he was their mother’s favorite child and was given everything that his mother could afford having while Florence had to suffer for his good for most of her life. Despite this, Gabriel went on and wasted his education, continuously caused trouble around town, started skipping classes, drinking and gambling. This caused Florence to stray away from God and leave her dying mother in New York, leaving her alone to deal with Gabriel’s unacceptable

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