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A Goodreads user asked this question about Go Tell It on the Mountain:
I'm not sure I get what happens in part three. This part is so different of the rest of the book and I feel it ends so abruptly. What are your interpretations?
Brent Forkner The Threshing Floor recounts an experience I have never had--that dreamscape immersion in spiritual and emotional turmoil. It reminded me in a way of …moreThe Threshing Floor recounts an experience I have never had--that dreamscape immersion in spiritual and emotional turmoil. It reminded me in a way of Elizabeth Gilbert's meditation journey in Eat Pray Love. But I thought that James Baldwin's telling had more concrete references to John's life, the hatred he felt against Gabriel, the struggle he has with his feelings for Elisha, and the promise of salvation. I think it's clear from Gabriel's journey towards salvation, that the author does not really believe in salvation, but he believes in the uplifting spiritual and emotional experience that happens in the church sometimes.
Leaving John on the threshold of his home, where it seems likely he will learn about his real father, continue to struggle with Gabriel's violent anger against himself and his mother, and suffer with Gabriel's favoring Roy--means that John's life is not really changed by this event. He is not uplifted, he is not changed, he will not conquer anything, and his joy will evaporate. As he grows older and must confront his own sexuality as well as the poverty and injustice he has been born into, John's salvation event will fade into the past, just as Gabriel's salvation became a story, a memory, and not redemptive.(less)
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Go Tell It on the Mountain
by James Baldwin
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