Giovanni’s Room: Part 2: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

David avoids telling Hella the truth by insinuating that he simply needs to get used to her touch again. In reality, he’s unable to perform sexually because he has a guilty conscience, knowing all too well that he’s betraying Giovanni. Furthermore, it’s quite likely that he has trouble having sex with Hella because he simply isn’t attracted to women, though it’s worth acknowledging that Baldwin never clarifies this point. This lack of clarity regarding whether or not David is strictly gay, or perhaps bisexual, might have to do with the fact that David himself is the novel’s first-person narrator, meaning that any insight into the nature of his sexuality must come from him. And because he’s apparently so committed to leading the life of a heterosexual man, he wouldn’t admit that he isn’t attracted to women even if this were indeed the case. 

This conversation is a perfect example of how David tries to subtly manipulate people into enacting his own will. Because he can’t bring himself to declare his love for Giovanni, he also can’t tell Hella that he doesn’t want to be in a relationship with her. After all, this would essentially mean committing himself to his relationship with Giovanni. Consequently, David underhandedly tries to get Hella to end the relationship, which would give him the excuse to continue his affair with Giovanni without ever having to make a conscious decision to do so. Angling toward this, he pretends to not know what Hella wants, hoping that she will back out of their plan to get married so he doesn’t have to. Needless to say, this doesn’t work because Hella is excited to once more invest herself in their relationship, so David goes along with their original plan.

Now that David has agreed to marry Hella, he can finally become the kind of man he thinks his father has always wanted him to be. The fact that this comes with a financial bonus is also worth considering, since it supports David’s idea that his father—and, for that matter, society at large—smiles upon heterosexual men like himself, thereby giving him an incentive to continue denying his true sexual identity. Furthermore, David’s comment that Hella shares the same values as his father once again illustrates the ways in which he pays close attention to the trappings of a person’s national identity, ultimately letting this factor into his decision to marry an American woman instead of remaining with an Italian man.

When David says that he doesn’t understand what Hella is talking about, he perfectly illustrates her point. Hella has just dared to make an astute observation about the ways in which women are disenfranchised in society, but David is unable to recognize the validity of her claims. Interestingly enough, though, his failure to respond well to her point might have to do with the fact that he, too, feels stuck in an arbitrary societal role. As a gay or bisexual man trying to pass as heterosexual, he is unable to be the individual he would like to be. In this way, both he and Hella feel trapped in their identities, unable to define themselves the way they want.

It’s helpful to remember that David has just abandoned Giovanni for three days without telling him where he was going. As his lover, Giovanni was understandably worried sick about him, but Jacques clearly took a more cynical view of the situation and insisted that David left of his own accord. Jacques is able to see the truth of the matter because he knows that David’s unwillingness to embrace his true sexual identity has grave consequences for his loved ones. In the same way that David has always given Giovanni false hope about perhaps one day having a romantic relationship, Jacques knows that he has now led Giovanni to believe that they will live happily together for a long time. In reality, though, it’s clear that David has no intention of staying with Giovanni, and Jacques uses this information to his own benefit, swooping in to establish a mildly exploitative relationship with Giovanni in his time of need.

David has no right to be upset that Giovanni has sought comfort in his relationship with Jacques, since he cruelly abandoned him with no warning and left him with no money. Nonetheless, it’s evident that David dislikes the bond developing between Jacques and Giovanni, indicating that his feelings for Giovanni most likely won’t go away as easily as he might have hoped.

As someone who constantly lies to himself, it’s unsurprising that David has no trouble deceiving Hella. Regardless of what she asks, he manages to answer her questions about Giovanni in a way that frames the young Italian’s anger as unwarranted but somewhat logical. At the same time, though, Hella’s suspicion shines through in this moment, though it’s apparent she doesn’t want to push too hard on the matter, perhaps because she—like David’s father—doesn’t want her suspicions confirmed.

Although David largely denies his sexual identity, he also relishes any moment in which he can be honest with himself and his loved ones. In this conversation with Hella, he takes delight in saying that he loves Giovanni, and though he says so in a disingenuous manner, it’s obvious that he feels a sense of relief by simply uttering a true statement. In turn, Baldwin spotlights just how much of a burden it is for David to constantly lie about his feelings.

Once again, David demonstrates his belief that he can escape his problems simply by moving. This time, he wants to literally get away from Giovanni because he knows that seeing his former lover around the city will cause him too much emotional pain. In this sense, he might be correct that leaving Paris would temporarily ease his troubles, though it’s unlikely that relocating would do anything to quell his inner turmoil regarding his sexual identity.

In the same way that Jacques once told David that it was cruel to give him a constant sense of hope about their relationship, Giovanni now insists that David is morally wretched because he led him to believe that their love was substantial and lasting. Now that David has left him for Hella, Giovanni realizes that there was never any true future for them, since David is too focused on denying his feelings to sustain a relationship with another man. Perhaps to make David feel guilty, Giovanni tells him about his life in Italy, once again calling upon the differences between their national identities in order to set them apart from one another. In doing so, he frames David as a callous and unemotional American—an identity that aligns with his cruel behavior.

Whereas David is constantly running from his own sexual identity, Giovanni is running from something else entirely: his past. However, the difference is that Giovanni doesn’t actively deny anything about himself. Instead, he simply wants to create a new life that will enable him to be happy. David, on the other hand, wants to escape himself in ways that will only lead to more sadness. Knowing just how precious life really is, Giovanni understands how tragic it is for somebody like David to waste time making himself miserable, which is most likely why he tells this story in the first place.

Giovanni knows that David’s inner turmoil is what’s really standing in the way of their relationship. Although David might claim that Hella is the reason he’s leaving, it’s obvious that this is just an excuse he’s using because he can’t commit himself to a long-term relationship with a man. When Giovanni says that David is terrified of “the stink of love,” he frames true romance as messy and raw, playing on David’s fear that his feelings for other men are socially unacceptable. Wanting to present himself as a respectable heterosexual man, David can’t bring himself to embrace his relationship with Giovanni because he sees it as uncouth and wrong. By calling his lover’s attention to this, then, Giovanni tries to force David into at least owning up to his insecurities.

David can’t fathom the idea of openly committing himself to a long-term relationship with another man, thinking that two men can never have a future together. However, Giovanni doesn’t let him off the hook so easily, pointing out that David is purposefully denying what their relationship could be so that he doesn’t have to admit to himself that this is exactly what he wants. On another note, David’s warning to Giovanni about Jacques suggests that he is cognizant of just how dangerous it can be to exist in relationships void of true emotion—a somewhat hypocritical realization, considering that he’s the one who has been so careless about Giovanni’s feelings.

It’s quite telling that David has to quickly leave Giovanni behind in order to go through with his plan to marry Hella. This suggests that he isn’t as in control of his emotions as he’d like to think, though he does manage to force himself away from Giovanni, thereby proving his unfortunate ability to act against his true desires. In the ensuing period, he and Hella plan their trip, giving him yet another opportunity to try to outrun his demons.

The dynamic between Jacques and Giovanni is similar to the arrangement Giovanni used to have with Guillaume, since it’s obvious that their connection is based on nothing but what each of them selfishly want. Giovanni, for his part, needs money and stability, so he sleeps with Jacques, who wants Giovanni’s companionship. When David recognizes this, he begins to resent Giovanni because he realizes that he himself is responsible for this unfortunate arrangement. Unable to hold himself accountable, then, he begins to feel spiteful toward Giovanni, which is how he always responds to situations that encourage him to think honestly about himself.

By this point, it’s apparent that Giovanni is in a downward spiral. Without David’s love or any money, he has no choice but to turn to Guillaume, a person he detests. This undoubtedly makes David feel even worse about what he’s done, since Giovanni most likely wouldn’t return to Guillaume if he were still living with David. In this regard, then, David’s inability to accept their relationship has a profoundly negative impact on Giovanni’s life.