Identity In Giovanni's Room By James Baldwin

Giovanni’s Room is a beautiful, emotional novel that tells the story of David, a white, homosexual man living in Paris. David struggles with his own sexual identity and masculinity when it comes to developing a relationship with an Italian man named Giovanni. Throughout the novel, David finds himself not adhering to the typical white, heterosexual, American ideal – which causes him to constantly reject his past and any other aspects that form his identity. It is through David and his constant struggle to accept himself that Baldwin is able to form a connection between the internal and external struggles that come with accepting one’s identity. Through Baldwin’s work, one can see how he brings together the aspects of internal and external spaces

In Chapter Two – Part Two of the novel, it opens up with David saying, “I scarcely know how to describe that room. It became, in a way, every room I had ever been in and every room l find myself in hereafter will remind me of Giovanni’s room” (pg. 85). David is retelling how vivid the image of Giovanni’s room is and how he will find himself lingering back on it the same way he lingers on his sexual identity. There is no escaping it, and as much as he wants to push away his confusion, it will always remain present. Giovanni’s room can be seen as an external space, a room with torn off wallpaper, dirty laundry, boxes of cardboard leather, or even a red wine spill on the floor. Yet, this external space is one that needs to be clean and renovated – restored to a good state of repair. This can be compared to David’s own self, as he constantly struggles to repair and fix himself in terms of his life and self-acceptance. Giovanni’s room becomes a private space that lets David and Giovanni live a life that they cannot so easily live outside of the confines of the room. To them, it’s a space of privacy and