Frank Character Analysis in Go Tell It on the Mountain

Florence’s ex-husband. According to Florence, Frank is “determined to live and die a common [n_____].” Frank “drinks too much” and “sings the blues.” He is never able to buy Florence a house, or anything else for that matter, and he frequently wastes their money on “useless objects.” Aside from his financial irresponsibility, Frank is not altogether a bad man, although he does disregard Florence when she refuses him sex. Frank’s disregard of Florence suggests that he believes sex is something that is owed to him that she has no right to refuse, and this is in keeping with the misogyny that pervades most of the novel. Florence claims that it was her “great mistake” to love Frank so “bitterly,” and he leaves her after ten years of marriage. He lives briefly with another woman in town and then dies in France during World War I.

Frank Character Timeline in Go Tell It on the Mountain

The timeline below shows where the character Frank appears in Go Tell It on the Mountain. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Florence’s late husband, Frank, “drank too much” and “sang the blues.” Once he grew a “tiny mustache,” but Florence... (full context)

Frank had left Florence after ten years of marriage, over twenty years ago now. Back then,... (full context)

It had been Florence’s “great mistake” to love Frank “so bitterly.” She believes that “all women” have been “cursed from the cradle” to “suffer... (full context)

Gender, the Patriarchy, and Misogyny Theme Icon

Frank had never been able to buy Florence a house, or anything else for that matter.... (full context)

Florence’s harsh words had trailed into the next room where Frank’s friends sat. “And what you want me to do, Florence?” Frank had asked her. “You... (full context)

While Frank and Florence frequently fought, she often felt his “love” and “tenderness” was “real.” He would... (full context)

For ten years Frank and Florence fought, and now she wonders if she had “been wrong to fight so... (full context)

...right there in the same town what he’s scared to call his own,” Florence told Frank. Frank was immediately confused. Gabriel is supposed to be a preacher. “Being a preacher ain’t... (full context)

Frank was silent. “I don’t know why you keep wasting all your time and my money... (full context)