In the following excerpt, Allen explores Baldwin's use of irony in Go Tell It on the Mountain as a means for answering various questions raised while interpreting the novel.

A number of questions raised in critical interpretations of James Baldwin's first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, can be answered by studying his use of irony. Such questions include Baldwin's artistic distance from the characters, his attitude toward their religious beliefs, the identity of the ironic voice in Part Three, and the meaning of the novel's denouement. Although there are at least three different kinds of irony in the novel, they are closely related because they result from the narrative technique Baldwin employs, an internal and subjective point of view limited to the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of the main character. In order to transcend the limitations of this point of view, Baldwin uses irony in...