GIOVANNI’S ROOM
James Baldwin
CONTEXT
Written in 1956
Set in Paris
Protagonist David (American living in Paris) struggling with coming to terms with
themes of homosexuality and identity
Criticized for black author writing about white homosexuals
Looks at issues of race, sexuality and personal freedom
Subject of homosexuality in three novels: Giovanni’s Room (1956), Another Country
(1962) and Just Above My Head (1979).
HOMOSEXUALITY REFERENCE
Giovanni’s Room was quite daring to write in 1950s, pre-Stonewall, Joseph
McCarthy-era America (McCarthy persecutions notoriously homophobic and
“queer-baiting”; suspected homosexuality made many people a target and
could seriously damage someone’s personal and professional reputation).
By this time, Baldwin was already living in Europe, but the cultural climate in
America was anti-gay and Baldwin had only just established a name as a
writer. Giovanni’s Room was first published in UK and only then in the USA.
Reference: Neil Miller, Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present. Revised and
updated ed. New York: Alyson Books, 2006. Pp. 284-89.
DISCUSSION
How do you perceive homosexuality evolving throughout
history?
QUESTIONS
Describe David’s relationship with his father?
How would you describe the protagonist?
How do you think time and place effect this work?
What would you say are some of the key themes and how did you come to recognize
these?
How would you explain/describe the writing style?
Find quotes that you think summarize main characters : Giovanni, Jacques, David,
Ellen.
THINKING
To what extent is David responsible for what happened to Giovanni? To what extent
were events outside of his control?
What was David running from or searching for when he left his home in Brooklyn? If
running, did he ever get away from it? If searching, did he ever find it?
What role might Giovanni's experience in his Italian village play in his current
relationship with David? In his relationships with men in general?
How important is Hella to the story? Is she as complete and complex a character as
David and Giovanni?
What is the significance of Giovanni's room?
VISIONS OF AMERICA
Giovanni uses the fact that David is an American to pinpoint the key difference
between him and David – Giovanni has a long and painful past whereas David is
young, optimistic, and naïve.
David is put in an impossible position, given the nature of his desires and the conflicts
within American cultural ideas – he is encouraged to pursue happiness, but same-sex
love is not approved of in 1950s America.
VISIONS OF AMERICA
Why does Giovanni constantly pick on David for being an American? What role
does the short nature of American history play in Giovanni's prejudices against
Americans?
How do David and Giovanni use discussions of their respective nationalities to flirt
with one another? Why do you think that they choose nationalism as the subject
through which they will flirt?
How important is American policy toward gay individuals in shaping David's view of
America? Is Giovanni's characterization – that Americans think privacy is a crime – an
accurate one?
How does David and Hella's pursuit of happiness relate to the factthat they are
Americans?
AGREE OR DISAGREE
David hopes to marry Hella because he believes that would
confirm his masculinity; to David, being a man involves loving and
desiring women