God's apostles bring redemption into every life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Shame, guilt, the same. Good artists breathe reality into existence, lies. Shame, guilt, the same. This is creativity Gabriel's trial. Gabriel's creative process is one that resides in shame, guilt, and his inability to shed the burden of his sins. In “The Creative Process,” Baldwin argues for the importance of artists being vulnerable to themselves. In order for an artist to achieve this vulnerability, Baldwin explains that the artist must understand himself and the kind of person he wants to be, therefore, the kind of impact he wants to have in the world. In Go Tell It On The Mountain, Baldwin's character, Gabriel, is a preacher whose calling as a born-again Christian was sparked by a dream he had, in which God promised him a son who would eternally dedicate his life to God This dream controls the rest of Gabriel's life, making him feel ashamed of anyone who sins, but he cannot hold himself accountable for the sins he has committed. According to Baldwin's view on vulnerability, Gabriel's character demonstrates what can happen to a person if they do not allow themselves to be vulnerable. Using the framework provided by Baldwin in "The Creative Process," an analysis of Gabriel's character reveals that his destructive behavior is not rooted in his lack of understanding of himself, but because of his lack of self-acceptance. Baldwin takes a closer look at artists as individuals in the “Creative Process” to create an awareness that artists find their purpose through seeking aspects of life that others are unwilling to expose, and by doing so, artists make society a little more livable. In “The Creative Process,” Baldwin discusses the personal process an artist must go through in order for his or her art to change the world. He says: “The role of the artist, then, precisely, is to illuminate that darkness, to open paths through that vast forest; so that in all our actions we do not lose sight of its purpose, which is, after all, to make the world a more human home” (669). The “darkness” that Baldwin refers to is the depth of an individual that someone can only find in solitude and, for this reason, is often an untapped piece of their soul. Artists must expose things that lie in the dark, people, places, or ideas that have gone undiscovered because the non-artist is too afraid to discover them. In this way, they give more space for people to express their flaws and create a more suitable environment for “humans” than the one we have now. Gabriel, from Baldwin's Go Tell It On The Mountain, is a preacher, which makes him, without a doubt, an artist; the purpose of preaching is based on a written work, the Bible, – which can be seen as a type of art – but preaching is also incredibly performative, which in itself is an art form. Gabriel wishes to shed light on the sins of the people around him, but instead of revealing the sins to provide guidance on how to be better human beings, thus fostering a community that would further Baldwin's definition of the role of artist, Gabriel holds these sins against those who committed them. Gabriel's use and exploitation of women's bodies proves this. Every woman in Gabriel's life, including his two wives Deborah, then Elizabeth, his lover, Esther, and the prostitute he sleeps with before revealing himself to be a "holy" man, is exploited and used by Gabriel for his own purposes personal. gain, only to then be shamed by him after the fact. Hisevery woman's need to control in his life ties into his ignorance of his abusive and controlling behavior. In doing so, it makes the world less of a “human home,” because it does not allow people to be human. Gabriel never manages to hold himself to the same level of responsibility he has towards everyone else, and in return he makes the world more livable for him, but not for others. Baldwin proposes that creating a more humane world begins with coming to terms with an individual's self; Gabriel's character, although he identifies as a sinner, continues to harm himself and others. In “The Creative Process,” Baldwin states: “We do the things we do and feel what we feel, essentially because we must: we are responsible for our actions, but we rarely understand them… if we understood ourselves better, we would want to harm ourselves less” (671) . Baldwin's description of humans doing and feeling things "because we have to" implies that there is a lack of control that humans have when they act on something or express a feeling. Therefore, Gabriel, who demands control at all times, struggles to cope with his feelings and actions and, therefore, harms himself. Understanding oneself "better" is relative, and it is unclear how much "better" Baldwin suggests one should understand oneself in order not to harm oneself. In the case of Gabriel, there are multiple moments in the text that demonstrate that he understands himself very well, but still harms himself and others for his/their “sins”. Following his affair with Esther, Gabriel is tormented by his inability to live up to his standard of following in the Lord's footsteps. He describes that in every church he enters, he feels the weight of his sins hanging over him. However, instead of taking the necessary steps to heal himself of these sins outside of the context of God, he knows he has a son out there and feels an innate connection and desire to take care of him, but knows he is not divine . do it because the child is a bastard – he turns to the congregation and finds sinfulness and ungodliness in them all. He does this to make up for his sins; finding out that his entire congregation has fallen makes him less guilty of what he has done. This does not mean that he has a lack of understanding of himself, but it is an indication that he uses the sins of others to justify and absolve his own as a way of dealing with the general lack of control he feels within himself. As a result, Gabriel ends up in a cycle of harming himself and others, not allowing himself to be vulnerable with himself or others. Gabriel's inability to be vulnerable with himself harms him because it prevents him from accepting himself. To deal with his sins, Gabriel prays to God for repentance, but continues to sin more. He tends to pass off the sins he has committed as if he has strayed from God's path, but the real reason he does this is because he doesn't want to discover the root of his sins. Baldwin speaks of the artist's self-acceptance as necessary and a way to deal with the forces working against him in “The Creative Process” when he says, “All we can do is learn to live with them. And we can't learn this unless we are willing to tell the truth about ourselves, and the truth about ourselves is always at odds with who we desire to be. The human effort is to bring these two realities into a relationship similar to reconciliation" (671). According to Baldwin, “Telling the truth about ourselves” is a way to “understand” ourselves. The root of Gabriel's sins is his inability to accept himself and other people as they are. Gabriel's habit of interacting with women who are not "saved", and his attempt to "save" them is what he thinks is his versionof the “Get Out of Jail Free” card. He takes people as projects to prove he is a man of God, when in reality he avoids taking responsibility for his role in their sins. He is always trying to change people so they can become who he wants them to be, but he never looks hard enough to realize that he needs to change to truly be forgiven for his sins. Baldwin's use of the word “reconciliation” is relevant in the context of Gabriel's life, because as a preacher, his purpose is to provide reconciliation to the congregation and its faith. Gabriel literally doesn't practice what he preaches when he refuses to accept people, and himself, for their mistakes. In this way, being a man of faith is the force working against him. Instead of being an outlet for Gabriel and a place where he can feel accepted, his faith makes him feel condescending. Gabriele does not learn to live with these forces, because instead of working to become a better Christian, he becomes defensive and blames others for his actions. If Gabriel told the truth about himself, he would be able to accept himself because he would recognize his flaws and take responsibility for them. Baldwin's suggestion that a person's truth reflects the person he wants to be is interesting, because this means that Gabriel may not know the truth about himself because he doesn't know the person he wants to be. Furthermore, if Gabriel fears the truth about himself, then this could indicate that he is also afraid of the person he would like to be. Although the torment that Gabriel experiences because of his sins is an indication that he understands himself because he recognizes his wrongdoings, he does not allow this understanding to manifest into acceptance, because he spends much of his time making sure that other people are " save." ”.Gabriel often uses other people to lash out at when he feels the weight of guilt for the sins he has committed, because his lack of acceptance of himself affects his relationships, leading him to not accept others. This general inability to accept and tolerate the people in his life is what causes Gabriel to harm them the most. He often uses their sins to shame them, not necessarily because he wants them to repent and be “saved,” but because by highlighting the faults of others, he feels absolved of his own sins. When he thinks of Gabriel and his wife Elizabeth's son, Roy, Gabriel deduces that Roy's refusal to connect with God and the church stems from Elizabeth's sin of having her first child, John, out of wedlock. However, Gabriel also has a bastard son who, unlike Elizabeth, he had no part in in his short life. What is ironic is that Gabriel didn't even consider that it was his sins that caused Roy's misbehavior and rebellion. He does this because, just as he doesn't accept himself for his sins, he doesn't accept Elizabeth for hers. Elizabeth is not ashamed of having John out of wedlock, but Gabriel does not understand this, although he somewhat understands the sin he has committed, because he is convinced that he has been forgiven for them by God because he married Elizabeth independently of her. bastard son. Gabriel considers himself completely absolved of sin, but sees Elizabeth's sin as what prevents his son from wanting to follow in her footsteps to lead a life in the church. Gabriel's inability to not let go of the sins of others is why he is so harmful to the people in his life. He uses his relationships as ways to feel like he is in control of others. Gabriel is very often unable to control himself and the things that happen in his life, such as the death of his first child and the.