Giovanni's Room

Giovanni’s Room is a story about David’s struggles with accepting his sexuality during a historical period when liberation was desired, but persecution was still rampant. David internalizes the anti-gay bias he grew up with in America, which causes him to view his budding desires for men as immoral and threatening to a comfortable life. Through David, Baldwin explores the paranoia of those in the closet who recognize the pleasure in their desires but who deeply fear being “found out” and punished. In France, David sees openly gay men as identifiably different people with effeminate mannerisms that heterosexual society can easily read. David believes that by affirming his sexuality, he will necessitate a change into one of these “silly,” desperate men, so he rejects identification with Paris’s queer community by concealing his desires.

David seeks to both pass in heterosexual society and to secretly explore his sexuality, and his conflicting desires create tension between his public and private identities. As David’s interest in men grows more visible through his affection for Giovanni, David becomes more paranoid about how others perceive him. His paranoia manifests as extreme self-surveillance and a hyper-awareness of his speech and mannerisms to the point that those closest to him—like