Identity In James Baldwin's Go Tell It On The Mountain

Knowing yourself involves looking at yourself. You must accurately identify your shortcomings, flaws, desires, fears, and dreams, and this is only possible if you focus on one person—you. Unfortunately, some individuals find their own reflections mundane and begin to linger in the mirrors of others. This curiosity, however, doesn’t kill the cat, but instead expunges the image of the feline from its own mirror. The erasure of one’s own reflection will undoubtedly have grave consequences. At least, this is what James Baldwin seems to believe in his book, Go Tell it on The Mountain. Through the character, Gabriel, Baldwin seems to argue that when you create an identity in opposition to another identity, you only succeed in destroying yourself. Gabriel begins a new life as a man and a preacher when he turns twenty-one. A powerful sermon given one night, results in an invitation to the Elder’s Revival Meeting. This Revival Meeting is a showcase of preachers from across the country, who preach and are honored. But, Gabriel experiences more than honor, he experiences a transformation. During the final dinner of the revival Gabriel sits amongst elders, who cause him much consternation:
When the Sunday came, and he found himself once more among the elders, about to go to the table, Gabriel felt a drop in his happy, proud anticipation. He was not
Furthermore, the men keep score of the souls they saved, and the men make obscene comments about Deborah. These realizations made by Gabriel are significant because they establish an identity amongst preachers that he opposes: “They took God’s power as their due… And this offended him and frightened him. He did not want, ever, to hold the gift of God so lightly” (23). Gabriel has successfully created an identity for himself in opposition to the elders. If the elders hold the gift of God “lightly,” then he would become adamant. Yet, his adamancy ruins