Go Tell It on the Mountain: Imagery 1 key example

Here, Baldwin utilizes imagery to appeal to the reader’s sense of hearing, as well as John’s. Music, voice, and singing are important motifs throughout the novel, commonly used to highlight the historical importance of gospel music within the church—particularly the Black church. For the first time, John hears the singing directed towards him: a sign that he has achieved a sort of salvation, and God has finally heard his prayers. His soul, which once drifted towards sin, is now anchored in "the love of God," which Baldwin characterizes as eternal. This "breakthrough" moment for John highlights the importance of music in bringing people closer to God—exhibited throughout the novel not just in John's story, but in flashbacks to the earlier lives of Rachel, Gabriel, Florence, Deborah, and many others.

For John in particular, however, the multi-sensory experience of hearing the angelic singing and visualizing the rock of God anchoring him in purity transforms John and his relationship with religion. In this moment, religion is not something for John to fear as he has before, but rather something to embrace as an instrument of internal change. Hearing and sound are vital aspects of religion itself—for God is not necessarily literally "seen," but heard through the Bible and through the preachers who act as messengers of God's word. Baldwin's use of imagery helps the reader to grasp the power of John's transformation and the intimacy associated with hearing the hymns sung just for him.