As Farah Jasmine Griffin, acclaimed African American historian and writer, argues, the African American migration encompasses not only the physical movement of men and women northward, but also the internal transformation of the “migrant psyche” (Griffin 18). The idea that migration is as much a physical sacrifice as it is an internal transition through pain and struggle resonates in many literary and scholarly works during that period. Specifically, religion is intertwined within both the physical and internal migration story. To the migrants, religion was more than a practice or doctrine. It was their life; it was faith, an ideology to pursue in a time when reality was too hard to accept. In the case of Richard Wright’s Black Boy, it may even be a form of escape, a denial of the past and present circumstances. Much scholarship, however, has linked the African American migration with the Christian religion. For example, Lawrence Rodgers identifies migration as a journey to Canaan, a defiled and forsaken land, connecting the migration narrative to this spiritual journey (Rodgers). When placed within the context of African American literature, however, migration is seldom recognized as a form of redemption, the crux of the Christian faith and the New Testament ministry. Instead, scholars have focused more intensely on the broader lens of faith influencing movement. This reading of African American literature can be deepened to capture the true motivation behind migration. While different causes of migration exist in these narratives, the promise of redemption, achieved or unachieved, is one of the driving forces of African American movement and is an essential theme in these narratives. The definition of redemption is crucial to establish the grounds to this paper’s claim. Redemption can be defined through analysis of Christianity and its texts. The Christian Bible defines redemption in various sections and can be dissected using certain components of Jesus’ crucifixion. Upon the death of Jesus on the cross, the Bible notes two details: the releasing of blood and water. Thus, redemption can be separated into two concepts. In biblical terminology, the blood of Jesus Christ covers all sins. In Ephesians 1:7, it is written, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses, according to the riches of His grace” (Recovery Version, Eph. 1:7). As this verse from the Bible highlights, man is able to achieve redemption through the blood of Jesus. Redemption, however, constitutes two parts. The water in Christianity typifies a release of life. In the Bible, water is living and flowing freely and often described as “the fountain of life” (Recovery Version, Psa. 36:9) It is organic and alive, representing a dispensation of life within each organic member of His Body. Redemption is not only forgiveness and repentance, but also a safeguarding of the precious life in man. Most importantly, upon redemption, the safeguarding of spiritual life is indeed an important concept in Christianity. Redemption is the process in which man is able to achieve a personal relationship with God. But the Bible goes further in explicating the true meaning of God’s dispensed life. Apostle Paul speaks, “Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do: Forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before” (Recovery Version, Phil. 3:13). In this verse, Brother Paul defines accomplished redemption as forgetting the past while embracing the present. In other words, redemption is rooted in the fact that in order to be “in” and “of” Christ, sanctified, and righteous, men must not dwell on their past; on the contrary, they should pursue the present. By pursuing the present, man is not only forgiven of his sins, but is abiding by God’s will, safeguarding the new life within him. While redemption speaks of a glorified renewal of man away from previous sins towards a new and better life, this idea seems often contradictory to the reality of migration. In fact, upon migrating to the North, many African American migrants grew increasingly disillusioned. Low standards of living, persistent racism, and degradation of culture and ideals were commonplace. Migration narratives reflect on these experiences with a sense of nostalgia for the South and the past. William Attaway’s Blood on the Forge most strongly evokes this sense of nostalgia. Attaway tells a bleak story of three brothers who migrate to a Pennsylvania steel mill to escape the persecution from their white landowner in the South. Throughout the story, the brothers constantly reflect back on their lives in the South: “there was growing things everywhere … beautiful in the sun” (Attaway 44). Redemption seems missing in these crucial moments in the story. Instead, upon arriving to their new homes, these men are discomforted, yearning for the “red-clay hills” of the South. Upon closer inspection, however, redemption persists as the cause for movement, even in Attaway’s story of pain, grief, and death. While these men were clearly dissatisfied with their lives in the North, it is the promise of redemption that leads them there. Attaway writes, “He liked the wishing game. They had played at it all their lives, most times wishing they were at the grand places pictured in the old newspapers that livened the walls of the shack” (Attaway 8). The brothers, in this quotation, establish a desire for change. Discontented with their lives in the South, the brothers can only “wish” for a standard of life that is present within their dreams. They are desperate, stuck within the historical racial prejudices of America’s past. It is not long, however, that their wishes have the opportunity to turn into reality; a white man offers them a chance to work in the North. These men are given a glimpse of hope from their persecution and salvation from their grief. This defines the redemptive moment in Attaway’s novel. Attaway writes, “But if he was speakin’ facts… us makin’ a year crop money in one month… think what we have in a season… We have all the money in a year… In two years we got enough to fill a corn crib…Why China, in two years you wouldn’t have to do no work” (Attaway 33-34). Here, the brothers see hope. They recognize the prospect of moving North as an escape from their past and a movement towards their future. To further support this claim, the brothers move primarily because one of them commits murder, a clear connection to the concept of blood in redemption. The taking of another’s life is considered a sin in the Christian religion. The brothers thus seek redemption and find it within the opportunity to migrate north. In this picture, the chance for migration is their redemption, a movement away from their sinful past towards a new future. While the reality of the North may not be as picturesque as they imagined, and while many may argue that these brothers, in the end, found no redemption in the North, it is clear that redemption, even unachieved redemption, drove migration. The idea of unachieved redemption driving migration may be more or less a novel concept; achieved redemption, however, seems more obvious within migration narratives. James Baldwin’s Go Tell it on the Mountain illustrates achieved redemption through John, the protagonist. Baldwin interestingly juxtaposes John’s father, Gabriel the Reverend, to show the sinful nature of his past. In fact, at each stage of Gabriel’s life, Baldwin depicts a conflicted character, one who struggles between his personal desires and the Holy calling of God. While Gabriel claims to be a holy man, his actions speak otherwise, and his graceful speeches are hypocritically exercised. Gabriel’s past is dirty and full of sin. Again, this is a connection to the idea of seeking forgiveness from sins. Thus, his search for redemption leads to his migration away from the sins of his past. In the North, his marriage has a redeeming quality but is marred by the existence of his bastard son, John. However, unlike the unachieved redemption in Attaway’s work, Baldwin allows redemption to be fully accomplished. While Gabriel cannot forget the past, John represents the achieved redemption of his father. John is able to reconcile with his familial past. The past, which God calls us to forget, is for the present, which God says is for the purpose of turning to Him. John turns to God at the end of the novel. Baldwin writes, “no matter what anybody says, you remember – please remember – I was saved. I was there” (Baldwin 262). John embodies the qualities that his father lacks. Although he did not physically migrate, he has his own migration story. His migration is internal, a movement from his father’s dark past and his own personal sins of masturbation, towards a renewed life for God – a safeguarding of His life; not only does John have the blood of redemption but also the water of redemption. In fact, Baldwin ends his novel with an active representation of his internal movement: “I’m coming. I’m on my way” (Baldwin 263). This story of movement, both physical and internal, is rooted in the search and accomplishment of redemption. In both Baldwin’s Go Tell it on the Mountain and Attaway’s Blood on the Forge, redemption, both unachieved and achieved, seems to be a core theme that drives internal and physical migration. Migration is in many respects dictated by the desire of these men and women to seek redemption. As Baldwin and Attaway depict in their novels, this desire for change is often rooted in the sinful past of the protagonists. However, the final accomplishment of redemption is rooted in an internal migration away from the past. As migrants search for a better life, they are, in effect, embracing the present while forgetting the chains of the past that bind them. Works Cited Attaway, William. Blood on the Forge. New York: New York Review, 1941. Print. Baldwin, James. Go Tell It on the Mountain. New York: Vintage International, 2013. Print. Griffin, Farah Jasmine. "Who Set You Flowin'?": The African-American Migration Narrative. New York: Oxford UP, 1995. Print. Rodgers, Lawrence R. Canaan Bound: The African-American Great Migration Novel. Chicago: University of Illinois, 1997. Print. The Recovery Version Bible. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 2003. Print.
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