GIOVANNI'S ROOM
We are faced with many controversial topics in today's society. One of those topics is homosexuality. Homosexuality is considered to be immoral, unlawful and simply disgusting. Most people believe there should be laws passed banning same-sex relationships among men and women. Others, as well as myself, feel that it is solely the individual's choice to pursue a relationship with someone of the same sex. However, despite the many attempts to accept homosexuality, it continues to be difficult for individuals to "come out" and admit their lifestyle.
The book "Giovanni's Room," was one I found to be very insightful and moving. James Baldwin incorporates a lot into his writing; this includes stereotypes of American people, love, sex, money, the search for oneself and finally, murder. He truly brings alive the characters of David, Hella and Giovanni, setting the scene in Paris.
From what I have gathered, each character is trying to find his or her own meaning with life. David is confused with his sexuality. At first, he is with Hella and when Hella leaves to Spain, to think about her life, David meets Giovanni. Soon after their meeting, David winds up moving into Giovanni's room. Eventually, they both realize that their feelings for each other are more than they were willing to admit. They begin having a relationship and throughout it's occurrence, David starts questioning what he is doing with Giovanni. He feels that he misses Hella and in the meantime, he likes being in Giovanni's arms. As far as Giovanni is concerned, he falls madly in love with David. He can not imagine being without him, not being able to lay in bed in his small, disheveled room. He even admits to David that if he were to ever leave, Giovanni would kill himself. Giovanni also admits to David that before he came along, Giovanni felt that suicide would solve all of his problems. And now, he no longer needs to feel that way because of David.
Hella winds up being between David and Giovanni. She left for Spain in order to determine where her life is heading. Whether or not she will continue being with David, does she want to get married and have kids, etc. When Hella returns to Paris, she and David rekindle their relationship and this puts David into a bigger state of confusion. He spends nights with Hella and has no reason to think of Giovanni. When he sees Giovanni, he realizes that he had loved him like he never loved anyone lese before. Despite this, he knows he cannot be with him. At the end of the book, when David returns to Giovanni's room to get all of his belongings, Giovanni goes into hysterics and tells David that he has killed him. He claims that David has lied to him and he never loved him. This was the last encounter the two men shared.
As a result of David abandoning Giovanni, Giovanni commits a murder. He winds up killing his old boss, Guillame, who first hired him to work in his bar and then fired him because Giovanni refused to give himself to Guillame. David and Hella go through rough times after the news of the murder comes out. Hella finally figures out that David was involved with Giovanni. At the end, Hella winds up ending their relationship and moves back to America.
I particularly like the way James Baldwin uses Giovanni's room to portray his life. The room is in unbelievable disorder. It is dark, cold and absolutely dirty. There are all kinds of objects thrown all over the floor, making it difficult to walk around. To me, the room signified Giovanni's hardships and obstacles. The clothing items and alcohol bottles spread all over the floor were most likely barriers he had to overcome in life. Because there was no light coming in through the windows, the surroundings were dark. This meant that in his life, he had not seen too many happy moments. These include losing his baby boy, moving to an unknown city and trying to adjust, having David break up with him and as a result, committing murder. I felt that David attempted to help Giovanni. He wanted him to get out of this ugly room and find something better. In other words, David wanted Giovanni to lead a happy and normal life. I believe he was his friend, but he had too much going on in his own mind to deal with Giovanni.
As far as David is concerned, he had every reason to feel that way. Being homosexual and actually admitting it to everyone is extremely hard. You may face a lot of rejection and criticism. That is probably why David was unaware of his true feelings. When he was with Hella, he thought he loved her. When he was with Giovanni, he felt he has never loved anyone as much as he loved him. At the end, he was left alone because he could not admit to himself which feelings were more real. In many respects, I am sympathetic towards him. He had no love in life because he could not figure out what he wanted more.
David's feelings were a result of prejudice from society. He came from the United States, where things were not as lightly accepted as they were in Europe. He could not bring himself to stay with Giovanni because if he ever went back to US, it would be difficult to blend in with the rest. On the other hand, maybe David was a coward and he did not want anyone to know that he is in a relationship with a man. Maybe he simply could not accept that he would be different from others. And while he only kept thinking of himself, he hurt someone else in the process.
It was a true account of how homosexuality affected someone's life and what happened as a result. It is never that simple to admit to being a homosexual. David and Giovanni dealt with their situations differently. And as a result, their lives were forever changed.