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Rachel
Father James’s nephew and a young preacher in John’s Harlem church. Elisha is handsome and kind, and John is very obviously attracted to him. John looks up to Elisha because he is young but still saved and a preacher, and he is John’s primary role model. Father James publicly condemns Elisha after church one day for “walking disorderly” with Ella Mae, even though their relationship was innocent and nothing inappropriate happened. Father James’s criticism of Elisha reflects the oppressive nature of religion and the assumption that to engage in sex before marriage means that one is also a sinner. Father James makes an example out of Elisha, even though he hadn’t sinned, and Elisha never again spends time with Ella Mae. Their friendship suffers because of religion, which, Baldwin suggests, should enhance and enrich relationships not destroy them. Despite Father James’s criticism, however, Elisha is an exceedingly holy man, and when he goes to the threshing-floor, he is so moved by the Holy Spirit that he speaks in tongues. Elisha is at the church the night John is saved on the threshing-floor, and he helps John through the darkness with prayer.
Elisha Quotes in Go Tell It on the Mountain
The Go Tell It on the Mountain quotes below are all either spoken by Elisha or refer to Elisha. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1: The Seventh Day
Quotes
It seemed that he could not breathe, that his body could not contain this passion, that he would be, before their eyes, dispersed into the waiting air. His hands, rigid to the very fingertips, moved outward and back against his hips, his sightless eyes looked upward, and he began to dance. Then his hands closed into fists, and his head snapped downward, his sweat loosening the grease that slicked down his hair; and the rhythm of all the others quickened to match Elisha’s rhythm; his thighs moved terribly against the cloth of his suit, his heels beat on the floor, and his fists moved beside his body as though he were beating his own drum. And so, for a while, in the center of the dancers, head down, fists beating, on, on, unbearably, until it seemed the walls of the church would fall for very sound; and then, in a moment, with a cry, head up, arms high in the air, sweat pouring from his forehead, and all his body dancing as though it would never stop. Sometimes he did not stop until he fell—until he dropped like some animal felled by a hammer—moaning, on his face.
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Elisha Quotes in Go Tell It on the Mountain
The Go Tell It on the Mountain quotes below are all either spoken by Elisha or refer to Elisha. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1: The Seventh Day
Quotes
It seemed that he could not breathe, that his body could not contain this passion, that he would be, before their eyes, dispersed into the waiting air. His hands, rigid to the very fingertips, moved outward and back against his hips, his sightless eyes looked upward, and he began to dance. Then his hands closed into fists, and his head snapped downward, his sweat loosening the grease that slicked down his hair; and the rhythm of all the others quickened to match Elisha’s rhythm; his thighs moved terribly against the cloth of his suit, his heels beat on the floor, and his fists moved beside his body as though he were beating his own drum. And so, for a while, in the center of the dancers, head down, fists beating, on, on, unbearably, until it seemed the walls of the church would fall for very sound; and then, in a moment, with a cry, head up, arms high in the air, sweat pouring from his forehead, and all his body dancing as though it would never stop. Sometimes he did not stop until he fell—until he dropped like some animal felled by a hammer—moaning, on his face.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
