Quinn Mattison

Go Tell it on the Mountain: The Shaper of Modern Queer Theory

Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin demonstrates multiple hidden messages through the
story. Each message John faces, shape how he understands justice and illuminates the meaning of the
story through creating a model of what LGBT people had to go through during the 1950s, a lot of issues
which still exist today. In the novel, James Baldwin ties the issues he dealt with in his younger years into
the character John. He gives the reader a perspective into the life of a 1950s gay person and uses the
developed sense of justice into an opportunity for the reader to gain a sense of understanding rather
than rejection of LGBT people. The issues displayed in the novel reflect multiple aspects of queer theory,
or the study of queer history, through his messages of sexuality, abuse, and religion.

John’s message of sexuality is very settle in the novel, with his crush on Elisha, but it is the fact he had
no choice but to be settle with Elisha that framed the issues of lack of expression LGBT people had to
experience during the time. It was taboo for even small crushes to be expressed during the 1950s let
alone an explicit relationship. This act of hiding which appears in queer theory shapes not only John’s
but also Baldwin’s understanding of justice itself, with little choice but to fight for it. Although John had
several achievements in Go Tell it on the Mountain, he still faces the emptiness of feeling not only
closeted to society but also to himself.

Gabriel’s abuse of John shapes the sense of humanity the reader gains of LGBT people through the
exposure of the difficulties they struggle through, especially in the case of religion. When John is being
poorly treated by his father, he is being treated like this through the justification of religious ground.
Even though Gabriel does not know of John’s sexuality and James Baldwin does not directly say Gabriel
uses his religion to harm John, the correlation between religion and homophobia is used to indirectly
expose the use of societal culture to oppress marginalized individuals, just like how Gabriel uses religion
to reinforce misogyny against Elizabeth and Deborah. This excuse of abuse through religion is called out
in societal norms, a commonly discussed topic in queer theory, which the book uses to inform the
reader that the only way to justice in the case of human rights is through breaking the societal
acceptances of using religion to oppress individuals.

The biggest thing the book offers to the reader is the continued process of using societal constructs
against “otherized” groups of people. The history of accepting the usage of religion against marginalized
groups makes it difficult to practice intersectionality, or the advocating of multiple groups of people at
once. When religion is given the power of social construct to justify oppression, those who are in power
of religion, like Gabriel in the book, are given the capability to oppress multiple groups of people, such
as women and the LGBT community. The only way to achieve any kind of justice and to change the
continuities that oppress people is through listening to people’s voices, which is why James speaks of his
issues as a gay, black man who faces abuse from his religion and father through the eyes of John, and
why he has no choice but to try to inform readers through his indirectly shaping of queer theory,
because he has no choice but to speak.