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Library's collection Library's IT development CancelThis thesis is a study of James Baldwin's first
novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain. In this study, I
specifically focus on the idea of revealing the impacts
of racism to the African-Americans as seen through the
Grimes family, as the major problem of the analysis. John
Grimes, as African-American, has to face racism in the
United States. In this study, I want to reveal the
impacts of racism to John Grimes' environment and its
influences to his family. I use the theory of setting to
analyse John Grimes' environment which show the impacts
of racism in the United States. Aside from that, I also
use the theory of characterization to see the influences
of racism to John Grimes' family. I find out that racism
causes the moral depravation, poverty, and pseudo-religiosity
of the African-Americans in which they are
seen through the neighbourhood, home and religion of John
Grimes. Then, through the analysis of the characters, I
find out that racism influences the African-Americans in
losing their personal dignity and worth and also their
racial identity. These influences are seen through the
characters' analysis of John Grimes' family: Gabriel,
Elizabeth, Florence, and also John himself. From the
analysis above, I conclude that racism has brought severe
impact to the African-Americans. The important point is
that people have to be wary of racism since they may
accidentally discriminate other people. Besides, because
the novel is semi autobiographical, I see that actually
James Baldwin has managed to use his own experiences to
convey his idea on racism in the novel. Therefore, James
Baldwin expects that he can make the readers able to feel
how to be himself and at the same time African-American
in the era of racism.