Giovanni's Room

Major themes

Social alienation

One theme of Giovanni's Room is social alienation. Susan Stryker notes that prior to writing Giovanni's Room, James Baldwin had recently emigrated to Europe and "felt that the effects of racism in the United States would never allow him to be seen simply as a writer, and he feared that being tagged as gay would mean he couldn't be a writer at all."[1] In Giovanni's Room, David is faced with the same type of decision; on the surface he faces a choice between his American fiancée (and value set) and his European boyfriend, but ultimately, like Baldwin, he must grapple with "being alienated by the culture that produced him."[1] Baldwin also develops this theme through other characters who appear in his novel, such as Giovanni. Both by David and by his background as an Italian immigrant, Giovanni is found to be isolated throughout the book. Giovanni is pinned as 'alien' by David, in which he becomes a figure of mystery, though the reader does learn a lot about Giovanni in relation to David, there is not much revealed about Giovanni himself, apart from small revelations about his social status and class, which work to separate him from the other characters in the novel, such as Jacques, Guillaume and David. Thus, Giovanni faces issues of social alienation by both the information given to the reader and the information that is withheld from the reader – which may have been how Baldwin felt with his social presence in America.

Identity

In keeping with the theme of social alienation, this novel also explores the topics of origin and identity. As Valerie Rohy of the University of Vermont argues, "Questions of origin and identity are central to James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, a text which not only participates in the tradition of the American expatriate novel exemplified by Stein and, especially, by Henry James but which does so in relation to the African-American idiom of passing and the genre of the passing novel. As such, Giovanni's Room poses questions of nationalism, nostalgia, and the constitution of racial and sexual subjects in terms that are especially resonant for contemporary identity politics.[2]

Sexuality and race

Scholars at the time of the publication of the book had the mindset that whiteness was transvalued as heterosexuality and blackness as homosexuality. Giovanni’s room presents 'race' in different ways. All characters are portrayed through David’s experiences and prejudices; he is the representation of whiteness; he is tall and blond-haired; he grows up in a toxic environment regarding masculinity; and he struggles throughout the novel between his internalised homophobia and his sexuality. On the contrary, Joey and Giovanni, the two men David had relations with, are both described as dark by David. Giovanni, in particular, is coded as black in David’s perception. First, it is said that Giovanni’s enthusiasm is of a “blacker brand” than his, stating a clear difference between the two men. Furthermore, Italians immigrating to the United States were for a long time considered not to be white; they had special cases in the form of immigration as 'North Italian' or 'Sicilian' rather than whites. It was not until the mid-1950s, when the book was published, that Italian Americans were beginning to be considered whites. It is suggested that Italians acquire white status and privileges in the United States, so Italians living in Italy are still viewed as coloured or non-whites. In the novel, David clearly has this mindset, and it shows in his perception of Giovanni. David felt superior to Giovanni also because of his social class, which is also a sign of his 'blackness'. White people in the United States, especially from upper-class families like David, often view non-whites as inferior. Indeed, Giovanni came from a poor village in southern Italy and had in Paris a precarious job as a bartender with a small wage with which he could only provide for himself, and his class made him darker for someone like David with all his prejudices.

Baldwin, in Giovanni’s Room, deconstructed the discourse about sexuality and race and highlighted that the idea that whiteness opposed blackness and heterosexuality opposed homosexuality is false and that they are related and dependent.

The novel was viewed as a 'raceless' novel, thus being studied mainly in sexual manners rather than racial studies, but it clearly challenges the notion of a novel about white people having no race.[3]

Masculinity

David grapples with insecurities pertaining to his masculinity throughout the novel. He spends much of his time comparing himself to every man he meets, ensuring that his performative masculinity allows him to "pass" while negotiating the public sphere. For David, masculinity is intertwined with sexual identity, and thus he believes that his same-sex desires act against his masculinity. One of David’s prominent male figures is his alcoholic father, with whom he holds a complex and sensitive relationship. After a drunk driving incident, David is met by his father in the hospital, where his father repeatedly reassures David that he "is going to be all right", to which David replies "Daddy" and begins to cry.[4] This moment of expected vulnerability from David and his father cements the pain behind their relationship, which can be seen to cause David to put up a front of masculinity, which—to him—does not coincide with his sexual attractions.

Manhood

The phrase 'manhood' repeats throughout the book, in much the same ways that we find masculinity manifesting itself. The difference between the two themes, in this case, is that David's manhood seems to be more to do with his sexual relationships, whereas his masculinity is guided by learned public behaviours he claims to inherit from his father. The self-loathing and projecting that ensues seem to depict the final blow to a man who already had a great amount of dysphoria. Baldwin's positioning of manhood within the narrative aligns it also with nationhood, sexuality and all facets of performance within the public sphere. Josep Armengol linked Baldwin's description of manhood as a way of him navigating his experiences of blackness in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly when David describes his earliest same-sex encounter with a boy called Joey. In this description "black" becomes a motif for experience and his dark thoughts surrounding Joey and his body.[3]

LGBTQ+ spaces and movement in the public sphere

Much of the integral plot of Giovanni's Room occurs within queer spaces, with the gay bar David frequents being the catalyst that not only drives the plot, but allows it to occur. The bar acts as a mediator for David, Baldwin uses this setting to bring up much of the conflict of the novel, however, it remains a place that David returns to. Meanwhile, Giovanni’s room acts as a private space where Giovanni and David can return to in order to avoid public scrutiny. It is the place where they can actively live out their queerness. David rejects the room as much as he rejects his queerness, linking the privacy and life of queer people together. The novel negotiates the behavior of publicly LGBTQ+ people alongside those who are still "closeted", like David, and how these differing perspectives have an effect on the individual as well as the community that they navigate. Even within the public queer spaces like the bar, they act differently than in the safety of Giovanni’s room. Away from the scrutiny of other people, David is more ready to display his affections. These differences of how David acts in different spaces shows the intersectionality of class and sexuality that is explored in the novel. Not everyone is able to afford private spaces based on their class status. With that, not everyone is able has spaces to be queer in as the public sphere doesn’t allow it. This can be seen at the end of the novel, when all falls apart because Giovanni needs money and is forced into the public sphere. The private sphere is a protection from the public sphere and its loss has dire consequences. The less money one is able to make, the more likely this is to happen while high class people don’t experience similar fears of loss.

Question of bisexuality

Ian Young argues that the novel portrays homosexual and bisexual life in western society as uncomfortable and uncertain, respectively. Young also points out that despite the novel's "tenderness and positive qualities" it still ends with a murder.[5]

Recent scholarship has focused on the more precise designation of bisexuality within the novel. Several scholars have claimed that the characters can be more accurately seen as bisexual, namely David and Giovanni. As Maiken Solli claims, though most people read the characters as gay/homosexual, "a bisexual perspective could be just as valuable and enlightening in understanding the book, as well as exposing the bisexual experience."[6]

Though the novel is considered a homosexual and bisexual novel, Baldwin has on occasion stated that it was "not so much about homosexuality, it is what happens if you are so afraid that you finally cannot love anybody".[7] The novel's protagonist, David, seems incapable of deciding between Hella and Giovanni and expresses both hatred and love for the two, though he often questions if his feelings are authentic or superficial.

Internalised homophobia

Leading on from David’s issues with his masculinity, another key dilemma became prevalent – David’s struggle with internalised homophobia. As Alaina Masanto states, David “has internalized the social hatred directed towards him”. [8] This problem presses onto David's psyche and becomes alarmingly apparent in his first encounter with Giovanni. As they meet in a Parisian gay bar, David appears reluctant to speak to Giovanni, though once their conversation begins, he falls in love. He continuously denies these feelings, until he cannot, and he ends up repeatedly staying in Giovanni's room, which David describes as dark and dingy, a room of shame and sin.

Santiago Herrera describes this darkness that David sees in the room, stating: "Just as the tightening noose of heteronormative oppression gets ever closer to David through Hella, so too does the painting remind him of his indecision. Giovanni's room is dark, with only one window with soaped-up panes instead of curtains for privacy and trash all over. When the boys go out, it's in the early mornings or at night, before or after Giovanni's shifts as a bartender. Their lives are always shrouded in a darkness of some kind, and it only worsens when Hella comes to Paris."[9]

David's push–pull relationship with Giovanni and his murky relationship with Hella showcases his torn mental state; he finds himself falling into this 'dark side' yet he cannot pull himself out of it as a result of his internalised homophobia.


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