Finding Love
What is love? This question has probably been asked or thought about since the beginning of time. The definition of love cannot be defined as something concrete but something that is infinite. It is something that can evolve to everyone's personality and something that everyone can choose to create for him or her. The idea of love can change as the seasons change throughout the year. But for some, finding love is not an easy path and the search for love can become a façade to cover their true identity. In Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, the main character seems to be confused about his life and more importantly about love. He not only struggles to find his sexuality but he uses the notion of love to fill the void in his life at any given time. David becomes so enveloped by his desires, wants, dreams, and idea of manhood that he cannot truly find what love means to him.
As the story of David's trek to Europe unfolds, there is an obvious sense of confusion and understanding all in one. He starts off right away talking about how he never loved Hella. He states, "…I thought she would be fun to have fun with. That was how it began, that was all it meant to me I am not sure now, in spite of everything, that it ever really meant more than that to me (p.4)". All throughout the novel, David is confused about Hella. Yet, he still asks her to marry him and strings her along through his sexuality confusion because he believes that she can make him happy. He constantly refers back to a life that he wants to lead, but a life with a nice home, a wife, and some children. What he fails to question is why he believes those are his true dreams. Even as he leaves for Europe he talks about his father and says, "And we got on quite well, really, for the vision I gave my father of my life was exactly the vision in which I myself most desperately needed to believe (p.20)."
What is most interesting as his story goes on is how David is so capable of convincing Hella and Giovanni that he truly loved both of them. He kept both of them in his life but never truly knew what he wanted. In his mind, he wanted the perfect American family to bring home to his father yet he could never resist the desire for men that he held within.
Loving God and hating his own mother kept David strong. David loved God, he prayed every night to God. He hated his mother so much he wanted to outthink her tricks, he did. He used different tactics like over exaggerating his pain when he got beat, putting a wet cloth over his mouth when his mother put cleaning products in a room with him. David kept counting time in his head in order to make the time pass faster.
When David’s story begins, we learn that his life is a stable and happy one, and his present family are close and loving. It is this very stability though, combined with the respect in which the much loved and admired Frank is held by both the townspeople and David, that make the events which occur suddenly and with increas...
David demonstrates confusion with his sense of belonging in society by identifying as a homosexual, yet wanting to live a structured life like what society qualifies it to be between men and women. In the book the reference of not qualifying homosexuals as men is especially defined in the scene where David and Giovanni argue before parting ways; ' ' 'I can have a life with (Hella). ' (…) 'What kind of life can two men have together anyway? (…) You want to go out and be the big laborer and bring home the money, and you want me to stay here and wash the dishes and cook the food and clean this miserable closet of a room and kiss you when you come through that door and lie with you at night and be your little girl (…) But I 'm a man, ' ' '(142). This quote implies that David is still brain washed by society 's views of gender role, and since there are no defined roles for the life of homosexuals, David is thus pro-pulsed towards leaving his true identity as a homosexual behind in order to have a structured life. The vast majority of people grow up with the idea of having a life similar to that of their parents '. In Giovanni 's room, it is expected of David to be just like his father, to have parties and be surrounded by women and alcohol, which society has
... Uncle Frank. Then I got out and watched him go down the tracks. He was going toward town…”. He chooses to tell his parents what he knows, or at least part of what he knows, about Uncle Frank. This shows that he is developing in the area of honesty. Before, David would have kept all this to himself, rather than face his parents with knowledge he knows will displease them.
At first, David cares that his mother treats him badly. After awhile, he doesn’t care and becomes apathetic.
1. In the book, the father tries to help the son in the beginning but then throughout the book he stops trying to help and listens to the mother. If I had been in this same situation, I would have helped get the child away from his mother because nobody should have to live like that. The father was tired of having to watch his son get abused so eventually he just left and didn’t do anything. David thought that his father would help him but he did not.
The characters that help David come to terms with who he is and prove that being himself is beneficial to himself are Uncle Axel, the Sealand Lady and Sophie. Uncle Axel helps David achieve self-awareness through genuineness and impartiality. When Uncle Axel was explaining how David and Rosalind may easily be closer to the “true image”, this displays his integrity: “Perhaps the Old People were the image: very well then, one of the things they say about them is that they could talk to one another over long distances. Now, we can’t do that - but you and Rosalind can. Just think about that Davie.
An interesting point in the book is that David never articulates an explicit declaration of being homosexual, even though he in the end makes it quite clear that he's aware of his gender. This might be the author's way of intensifying David's inauthenticity. He never even mentions the word homosexuality trough out the whole novel. All the signs are there, and everyone can see it except David himself. Or, at least that is what he tries to do.
Love: a small, four-lettered word that oozes with possibility. What is the meaning of love? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines love as “a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person.” However, can love really be defined? In the short story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” by Raymond Carver, the four main characters discuss just that: what is love?
David’s love for God never wavered and was always spiritual and always praised the Lord. He was committed to God. Even when no one else knows if you are faithful, God knows. God has a plan for all of us, and we just have to be patient. David was anointed by God.
David is very ambitious and determined, and these are the qualities that have pulled him through his
What is love? The age-old question arises once more. In truth, a universal definition has not been agreed upon, but generally one can define love as “an indication of adoration” or an “an ineffable feeling of intense attraction shared in interpersonal and sexual relationships.” Love can be directed towards kin, a lover, oneself, nature, or humanity- but regardless that love in an emotional sense is eternal. Some fall into love, and some claim they fall out. Love should be endless, lasting, and pure, but half of the time that love ends up being a sham. There is solid record of this false love- love that is meant to look pure- in the famous writings The Lottery and To His Coy Mistress.
...s david is strong and focused on practical matters like building his career and keeping a household and keeping a household, this is portrayed when David asks Dora how they could live if he did not work, and her response was, “how, any how!”David is unhappy with her response and feels as if he is unable to discuss with her any of his lifely concerns.if david had a disciplines heart it would prevent him from rushing into marriage with the unsuitable dora, and would allow him to take a long enough pause to notice the far more suitable Agnes. Therfore the best and most prominent examples of good and equal marriages in David cooperfield are the Strongs and Davids marriage to Agnes.
Poets and philosophers for centuries have been trying to answer the question, what is love? Love has an infinite number of definitions, which vary from one person to another. Love cannot be measured by any physical means. One may never know what true love is until love it- self has been experienced. What is love? A four letter word that causes a person to behave in a way that is out of character. What is love? A first kiss, childhood crushes on a teacher or friend’s mom. What is love? A choice that people make by putting their partner’s wishes, desires and needs above everything else. What is love? The act of forgiveness, the infatuation with someone, the communication between two people. What is love? A friendship that turned into a lifelong commitment, that special someone who has vowed to spend the rest of their lives to honor and protect, to love each other “till death do you part.” When in love nothing else in the world matters. According to the online Encarta Dictionary love is the passionate feeling of romantic and sexual desire and longing for somebody. Poets and philosophers may never know what love really is, and we may never truly understand the question what is love.
This is simply a strong physical attraction that David has for Dora, and he “was gone” and “swallowed” up in an instant by her beauty. David idolizes Dora from the beginning with the thought that she is perfect and isn’t capable of any wrongdoing. From the start, Dora’s strength is beauty and youthfulness, but being young and beautiful only goes so far and lasts so long. David’s love affair begins the moment he sees Dora and he quickly develops an obsession for her: “How many cups of tea I drank, because Dora made it, I don’t know” (Dickens 404). David goes on “loving Dora, harder than ever,” and confesses his love for her, and they are soon engaged (Dickens