This style of narration also imitates the way people learn about each other in real life. Upon first meeting, a person does not truly understand the motivation behind another person's actions. In the novel, for example, the reader cannot comprehend the actions and reactions of the characters in Part One because so very little is known about them. By reading through, though, the reader gains an understanding of the characters and the events that shaped their lives and, therefore, gains an understanding of why they behave as they do.
Baldwin believed that the only way to happiness was to truly know the people in one's life. In Go Tell It on the Mountain, it is painfully obvious that none of the characters really know each other. It is only the omniscient narrator who has a full and unbiased knowledge of all events of significant importance. The use of the omniscient narrator is, in itself, vital to the novel because no single character knows the full and true story of every other character. In fact, the individual characters cannot be trusted to give an accurate description of their own personal histories, colored as these histories are by their own feelings and perceptions.
By using the omniscient narrator, Baldwin is able to give an accurate and complete description of the lives of his characters. The reader is shown their emotions, actions, and reactions and is therefore able to understand their personalities. Although individual characters may interpret and react to the same situation in different ways according to their own preconceptions and prejudices, the reader is given the opportunity to see events as they actually happened.
