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Go Tell It on the Mountain | Study Guide

James Baldwin

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Course Hero. "Go Tell It on the Mountain Study Guide." Course Hero. 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 31 May 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Go-Tell-It-on-the-Mountain/>.

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Course Hero. (2017, January 12). Go Tell It on the Mountain Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved May 31, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Go-Tell-It-on-the-Mountain/

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Course Hero. "Go Tell It on the Mountain Study Guide." January 12, 2017. Accessed May 31, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Go-Tell-It-on-the-Mountain/.

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Course Hero, "Go Tell It on the Mountain Study Guide," January 12, 2017, accessed May 31, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Go-Tell-It-on-the-Mountain/.

Go Tell It on the Mountain | Infographic

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Check out this Infographic to learn more about James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain. Study visually with character maps, plot summaries, helpful context, and more.

go-tell-it-on-the-mountain-james-baldwinChurchRepresents community, safety, and salvationHymnsIllustrate communion with God, community, and heritageCity StreetsSymbolize danger, oppression, and temptationMain CharactersRachelJohn’s grandmother; tries to keep her last two children togetherFlorenceJohn’s aunt; resents her mother’s favoritism toward GabrielGabrielDeacon and John’s father; punishes family to relieve his guiltElizabethJohn’s mother; tries to absolve her past by caring for her familyGo Tell It on the Mountainby the NumbersDays Baldwin spent in a Paris jail for unknowingly using a bedsheet stolen by an acquaintance8Characters in the novel whose names are Biblical allusions: Bathsheba, Deborah, Elisha, Elizabeth, Esther, Gabriel, John, Rachel, Sarah9Age at which Baldwin became a minister in his Harlem church14RoyJohn’s wild younger brother; favored by GabrielElishaJohn’s role model; inspires John’s conversionJohnElizabeth’s oldest; wants salvation and Gabriel’s loveThemesRace & FamilyLife is harsh for a black family in a white-dominated society, and kinship doesn’t guarantee acceptance. SpiritualityReligion is a source of comfort and oppression for John and his family.SexualityLove and desire provide human connection—but also the guilt of sin.HOLYBIBLESister McCandless, Part One ou is in the Word or you ain’t—ain’t no halfway with God.Baldwin’s early years in New York City inspired the semi-autobiographical Go Tell It on the Mountain, the first of many publications that included essays, novels, and plays. After living in Paris for a few years, Baldwin returned to the United States in 1957 and became a civil rights advocate.AuthorJAMES BALDWIN1924–87On the cusp of his 14th birthday, John Grimes struggles with daily life in 1930s Harlem. His desire to please his family and fulfill his duties in his church are at odds with the temptations of the flesh—sexual and financial—the same temptations that challenged the generations before him.Body vs. SoulSYMBOLSJames Baldwin1953EnglishNovel AuthorYear PublishedOriginal LanguageGo Tell It on the MountainDramaSources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, James Baldwin: Collected Essays by James Baldwin Copyright © 2016 Course Hero, Inc.
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