Not Just Blacks: Great Transcendence

The novel Go Tell It on the Mountain is the representative works of James Baldwin a famousblack writer. This novel plays an extraordinary role in the history of black literature and even thewhole American literature. It transcends the limitations of Protest novels, led by Wirght, andopen up a new state and direction for black literature.James portrays a picture of social reality at that time in the novel Go Tell It on the Mountainthat a normal black family expeirences a lot of unfair treatment and race discrimination inAmerican society，which is relied on his own growing experience. From small things，this novelreveals in sharp style of writing the tragic fate of American black people, and criticizesprofoundly the fatuity of religion and the nature of hypocirsy,It takes James Baldwin1Oyears to finish the novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, which is donein1953.As a result, the composition of the novel is deeply inlfuenced by both the domestic andinternational environments at that time. Duirng his over ten years spent on Go Tell It on theMountain, both the internal and world situations are characteirzed by turbulence and intranquility. The Second World War’s breaking out, the independence movement of Africa, thebooming of black literature and liberation movement of the black people, and even the influenceof Harlem renaissance, all takes on a new direction in Baldwin’s works. In his works, love andforgiveness should be put to respond race discirmination, and race problem should be situated onthe level of humanity.In the black literature works，race and religion can not be separated from the themes of theworks，which is the same with Baldwin’s works. However; the revolutionary thinking angelmakes him develop a school of his own among black writers. Baldwin announces that it isfinding the origin of ethnic conflicts and realizing the ethnic integration the key to solve the raceproblem. As Wirght’s pattern of counter violence is no longer suitable, the deepening of thoughtmakes Baldwin the transcend Wright in time. Apart from the problems of race and religion,Baldwin explored the tragic fate of black people deeply from the aspects of aptness and bastard.Baldwin creates a lot of distinctive characters in Go Tell It on the Mountain，includingGabriel，the spokesman of hypocirsy religion, Elizabeth，a black female giving in to fate，Florence who’s resisting goes in vain, and the hero John who represents the childhood ofBaldwin. These roles，seemingly normal, represent a lot of black people of the day, which areactually typical. Readers can hold the composition theme of the novel as a whole byunderstanding the characters.James Baldwin put himself in the role of an American not only a black writer in the novel,which helps him develop a new thinking angel for race problem，and influences many black writers at that time and later. At the same time，the symbolism and musicality，the uniqueexpression of art in Go Tell It on the Mountain, attract a large number of followers for him,which makes him as the new leader of black people.James Baldwin plays a transitional role in the history of black literature, taking on CharleyWirght and introducing other young writer such as Toni Morirson. In his representative novel GoTell It on the Mountain, James develops the traditional fierce composition of black literature intoplacid and mild way, and makes great contributions to black literature.