Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin

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Go Tell It on the Mountain
Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin, is a book about religion that majorly revolves on the themes that relate to religion. The main topic of discussion in this essay will be the explanation of how religion and deception can lead to sin. The major characters will help understand the thesis statement above.
The two principal characters in the novel are John and his father, Gabriel. They live in a section of America called Baldwin. It is full of racism as well as religion. This makes religion the central theme of the book. Gabriel was a preacher to add on that. “John opened the church door with his father’s key at six o’clock.” (Baldwin 28)
The theme of deception comes in the book where there is much concealed in the book. John doesn’t know the truth about his relationship with his father. His father did not like him the way he loved Roy, John’s younger brother. John came to learn later that his father was not the birth father but a step-father. This is an instance where deception is noticed in the book. “Who might have loved him that Gabriel ever loved him?” (Baldwin 107)
We have the theme of deception and religion in the book; here we need to conclude with the theme of sin. How does the theme of religion and deception lead to sin? John did not know where the source of hatred between him and his father began. Gabriel is considered sinful here after he hid the truth about their relationship from John. “And the beating began.

He would not, then, talk to her about it, before the dread and the hatred that had filled her mind” (Baldwin 128)
In conclusion, it is evident that the two are not on good terms. It resulted from the fact that Gabriel hid all the truth from John and even though John has tried everything to win Gabriel’s love he has failed. Sin comes in where Gabriel is not ready to open up to his stepson and tell him everything.

Works Cited
Baldwin, James. Go Tell it on the Mountain. Vol. 371. Everyman’s Library, 2016.