Go Tell It on the Mountain

Go Tell it on the Mountain begins in 1935 on the 14th birthday of John Grimes. John is a young African American teenager who lives with his family in Harlem, New York City. John’s father Gabriel is the head deacon in a Pentecostal church named the Temple of the Fire Baptized. Gabriel abuses John’s mother Elizabeth as well as his younger siblings Roy, Sarah, and Ruth. However, John receives the worst of his father’s abuse.

John thinks about Harlem, and he describes the sinners he sees on the streets on his way to church. He thinks about Elisha, the young male leader of the church’s Sunday school. John admires Elisha but struggles to deal with his increasingly romantic feelings toward him. He watches Elisha during church services; Elisha, like many congregation members, is occasionally so overcome by his faith that he enters into a frenzied, trance-like dance before the altar. Elisha has been chastised by the pastor for spending too much time with a young girl named Ella Mae Washington. John thinks about the role of shame and guilt in religion and thinks about his own future with regards to the church.

The previous day, John masturbated in the school toilets while thinking about other boys. He does not know how he can separate his religious beliefs, his fear of his abusive father, and his new sexual longings. Though he is praised for his intelligence and his schoolwork, he cannot help but fear for his future. He treasures his intelligence and does not want to follow in his father’s footsteps.

John enters the family kitchen and finds Roy arguing with Elizabeth about Gabriel. He eats his breakfast, thinking about the dirt and the filth in the home. No one says anything about John’s birthday. Roy has a reputation at the church as a rebel; the congregation hopes that he will disavow his argumentative, rebellious behavior and accept God into his heart. However, Roy dislikes Gabriel’s austere, puritanical interpretation of religion. He insists that he will not abuse his own children in the future. Elizabeth defends her husband and insists that Roy respect his father, who is acting in his best interest. Roy and Elizabeth finish their argument and, with breakfast over, the children begin their household chores. John sweeps the front room and dusts the furniture.

Despite cleaning the house every week, John believes that it always remains dirty. As he cleans, he examines the family photographs. He looks at photographs of him, his siblings, his Aunt Florence, and his father. The photograph of his father was taken at a time when he was married to a young woman who, Florence explained once to John, was Gabriel’s first wife Deborah. She died before John was born. His father knew Deborah when they grew up together in the South of the United States. John wonders whether Deborah could have helped him to understand his inscrutable father.

After John finishes cleaning, he has a moment to himself. He thinks about his guilt and shame regarding his sexual thoughts about other boys and his future. His mother interrupts him; she hands him a birthday present of a few dollars. She also praises and encourages him. Despite the content of her words, John recognizes the sadness in his mother’s voice, though he does not quite understand its cause. Elizabeth sends John out to spend his birthday money on a present for himself.

John goes to Central Park. From the top of his favorite hill, he looks at New York City. He thinks about the glory of life on Earth, rather than the glorious heaven that his father describes in his sermons. John wants to embrace the glory of the city. He leaves the hill and walks to Fifth Avenue, watching the white people and envying their wealth and privilege. He cannot imagine these people burning in hell, as his father says they will, even though they do not practice religion. He thinks about the white people—especially the teachers—who have treated him well in the past. Gabriel has always claimed that all white people are evil, but John disagrees. However, he has read about the racist abuse of African Americans by white people in the American South. As he watches the white people entering the stores on Fifth Avenue, he realizes that he does not dare enter the stores himself. He knows that this is not his world. He wonders whether he will ever hate these people.

John goes to a cinema. He worries that a member of the congregation—who refer to themselves as “saints” (23)—will see him. The characters in the film prompt John to think about hell, religion, and his own future. He wonders whether he will deny himself happiness to follow a religious life. By the time he returns home, he finds his aunt waiting with the family. They are gathered around Roy, who has been hurt in a fight. Someone cut him with a knife after Roy and a group of friends had gone searching for a fight against a rival group of white boys his age. Listening to the story, John cannot help but think his father would rather John was injured than Roy. Gabriel tells John that the wound is a warning from God about the dangers white people pose to African Americans. When Elizabeth and Florence mention that Roy and his friends initiated the fight, rather than John, Gabriel refuses to listen. Florence vehemently disagrees with Gabriel using Roy’s bad behavior to criticize John. Gabriel ignores her. He blames Elizabeth for failing to control the children and for not caring whether Roy dies. Elizabeth claims that Roy cannot be controlled and blames Gabriel for beating Roy to no effect. Gabriel hits Elizabeth; Roy stands up to defend his mother against his father. Gabriel hits Roy, beating him savagely until Florence intervenes.

Later that day, John goes to his father’s church. He is required to clean the church before the evening’s service. As he sweeps, he thinks about his abusive father and the church. His angry thoughts about his father are interrupted by the arrival of Elisha. John immediately feels his mood improve. He chats with Elisha; they joke with one another and soon begin to wrestle. Though Elisha is bigger and older, John is able to hold his own. After their friendly wrestle, they resume cleaning the church. Elisha asks John about his religious beliefs. John admits that he does not know whether he wants to be saved. As members of the congregation begin to arrive, Elisha sits at the piano and plays hymns. John’s family arrives at the church. John is surprised to see Florence with them: she has not been to church in years, especially not her brother’s church. John wonders whether his aunt has been summoned to the church by God and wonders what else might happen on this seemingly fateful night.