Maturity falls into two categories, physical maturity and psychological maturity. For most people, physical maturity occurs in any case, whereas only those who quest for self-identity achieve psychological maturity. James Baldwin depicts this kind of maturity in Go Tell It On The Mountain via the protagonist John Grimes. From a literal level, Baldwin develops the theme of rights of passage through the sub-themes of racism, religion, and paternalism and compares and contrasts them in order to illustrate John Grimes' metamorphosis from a young boy to an adult within his society.
             The sub-theme of religion deviates from the main theme, rights of passage. Baldwin performs this through John's experiences with religion. John's earliest memories bore semblances of a church, and a "hurry and brightness of Sunday mornings" (Baldwin 11). Thus, Baldwin creates the fact that religion plays an important part of John's life. In fact, the rest of John's life would become dominated by religion. Baldwin foreshadows this through a quote: "Everyone had always said that John would be a preacher when he grew up, just like his father" (Baldwin 11). John however must undergo a number of tests in order to become one of God's servants. In the beginning, John had a fierce hatred of God and his father. John's anger acts as a response to his father abusiveness; this anger erupts into such a fiery hatred that he hopes "for the day when his father would be dying" (Baldwin 21). In order for John to complete his rites of passage, he must forgive his father and thus accepts Christ's doctrine of love. Elijah aids John through his trial. He advises John to "fall on your knees one day and ask him to help you pray" (Baldwin 55). With this help and guidance, John found God more easily. John only achieves his salvation and religions acceptance at the end of the novel. In this scene, John expe...