The Mountaintop

The two main characters of the play are sinners. The frequent reference to their sins not only humanizes them but sets the stage for character growth and the possibility of redemption. Sin symbolizes the ability to grow past sin itself. Before he was an activist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister, having earned his doctorate in systematic theology at Boston University. His orations about civil rights were also sermons, and he very much presented as a pious family man. In reality, as depicted in The Mountaintop, King was not a saint: He smoked, cursed, and cheated on his wife Coretta Scott King (Corrie). When Katori Hall’s fictionalized King meets Camae, he flirts with her, unaware she is an angel. Camae herself is mortified when she curses in front of King, afraid of sinning and “fallin’ straight to hell” (9). However, he isn’t concerned about either of their sins until he suspects she is an FBI spy sent to ruin his reputation. Ironically, Malcolm X—who was not chosen to be the saintly face of the American Civil Rights Movement—“didn’t drank. Smoke. Cuss. Or… Cheat. On. His. Wife” (20). Through magical