James Baldwin's Go Tell It On The Mountain

“The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated”(James Baldwin). James Baldwin lived from August 2, 1924 to December 1, 1987. He was an essayist, playwright, and novelist regarded as a highly insightful, iconic writer with works throughout his career in literature. As an African American male, James Baldwin fought through many struggles, for one having a poverty-stricken family and living in a neighborhood full of drugs, alcohol, violence, and crime. Even with temptation he found his way out through writing, important figures like Richard Wright. He also got into the civil rights movement which provided him the keys for James to compose stories

Baldwin could express his life in Harlem. In 1953 Baldwin’s first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was published. It was an autobiography about John Grimes and his life in Harlem(Tackach). The story is basically a story of Baldwin through the lens of a character named John Grimes as he went through the same experiences as Baldwin. The direction John goes to, or their destiny in life is different, but the way they reach it is similar. He has a stern father in Harlem that encourages religion on him, and through this he has a religious conversation that saves him from the dangers of Harlem. All things considered, his novel was a success and Wright earned praise as he mentored Baldwin while the novel was being made. With inspiration from Wright and money from Sexton, Baldwin still wrote more stories(Tackach). Baldwin used his knowledge from Wright to improve his future stories. The fame Baldwin got gave him a position to give his political views on various issues that were progressing in

Baldwin continued to write until he died. He had vast amount of short stories like “Going to Meet the Man”(1965), and other big books like “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone”(1968). Some more titles are,“If Beale Street Could Talk”(1974), and “Just Above My Head”(1979); and “The Price of the Ticket” (1985). These were autobiographies but didn’t generate the same buzz as his early works(James Baldwin). The stories he made after the death of Martin Luther King were good but seemed to not help him gain any attention. This was a result of his buzz cooling off after the end of the Civil Rights Movement. The stories were all about his experiences and others experiences. The experience were of the people he associated with like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. After Martin Luther King died in 1968, James Baldwin believed in restoring good relations, he did this through his novels. Between 1978 and 1986, he became a professor at Bowling Green University, but sadly a year later died from cancer(Tackach). This ended one of the greatest African American authors, he had a unique style of writing with influences based on his life and others. Baldwin will always be remembered for his literature and involvement in the Civil Rights