Thinking About Life in Giovanni’s Room

We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are — that is the reality. – Jean-Paul Sartre

In the novel Giovanni’s Area, author James Baldwin invites his readers to journey to Paris post-Globe War II. The San Francisco Chronicle describes this study as, “Violent, excruciating beauty,” highlighting the stark contrast in between the 1950’s Paris of American expatriates, to the glittery setting of the 1st wave of the lost generation. Picking this a backdrop, Baldwin sets the scene for a hugely controversial narrative of death, really like, and the complexity of option. Engulfed in the violence and liaisons of an expatriate society, a young man, David, finds himself, “caught in between need and conventional morality.” Playing upon David’s existential crisis, Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Area discovers how heavy the responsibility of acting for one’s own freedom actually is.

As defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary (1828), existentialism is, “a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who should assume ultimate duty for acts of free of charge will with out any specific expertise of what is proper or incorrect or great or poor.” To recognize how Baldwin captured the existential gravity of freedom, we initial have to unpack how existentialists think freedom operates. In the philosophical theory freedom lies in the ability to select our personal values, because our values are isolated from the determination of any outer forces such as divinity. Weighing what we value is how we make choices. Consequently it is key in existentialism to note, it is a personal duty to recognize one’s values, and that our choices are created with autonomy. Decisions are then followed by our actions and additional reactions. Therefore we are accountable for our actions, and must find out to see how our actions triggered further reactions. This is exactly where as referenced earlier, “the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will,” lies. In the following paragraphs, making use of this structure of freedom as a guide, how Baldwin uses David’s complicated circumstance to highlight “the plight” will become clear.

At the core of Existentialism is that freedom lies in the power to decide what has value. This is why the 1950s Paris expatriate society serves as a genius backdrop for Giovanni’s Room, maintaining in thoughts that “many existentialists identified the 19th and 20th centuries as experiencing a crisis of values.” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Internet. 09 May 2017) We can see that the 20th century was a society undergoing traumatizing altering by way of, “increasingly secular society, or the rise of scientific or philosophical movements that questioned conventional accounts of worth (for instance Marxism or Darwinism), or the shattering knowledge of two world wars and the phenomenon of mass genocide.” (World wide web Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Could 2017) These modifications forced humans kind to question the worth of every little thing, from life to tradition. The ingenious aspect in terms of Baldwin deciding on this time period is that it is defined by a literal existential crisis. He is capable to highlight the struggle of worth and freedom, that we face on a daily basis, by making use of a topic as typical and relatable as adore. David’s story of sexual freedom as a young man whose wealth and energy is linked to societal expectations, who is resisting ownership of his sexuality as a gay man by engaging with Hella and Giovanni, and who is living in the midst of 1950 Paris post Globe War II as an American expatriate, tends to make the complexity and confusion of really like jump off the pages of Baldwin’s book. This exaggerated scenario of liberation drives property the theme of existentialism in relation to freedom not existing without having duty. In order to comprehend how Baldwin craftily built up of David’s “plight”, we have to return the previously referenced structure of freedom as found in the Existential Movement.

Now that we comprehend that freedom lies in our capacity to measure value, we can figure out that decisions are created by weighing the value of one option and outcome to another. So as previously outlined, “freedom is in part defined by the isolation of my choices from any determination by a deity, or by previously existent values or understanding.” (World wide web Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Net. 09 May possibly 2017) In Giovanni’s Room these external forces are identified as God , and American society. Throughout the novel David virtually by no means utilizes religious language for guidance. At the end of Part One When asked by his older Italian housekeeper if he prays David stammers, “No, no. Not often.” (pg 69). And when she asked if he’s a believer he manages an odd smiles to which she replies with, “You should pray,” and an whole spiel about how getting married to a good lady and creating babies, will make him content. Not up until the extremely end of the book does David use religious language to describe himself and Giovanni. He envisions Giovanni kissing the cross in his last moments only for a priest to lift the cross away from him. David then speaks of his own nakedness in the mirror, “under sentence of death,” and hurrying, “toward revelation.” He closes by considering, “That the heavy grace of God, which has brought me to this place, is all that can carry me out of it.” (Pg 169) The selection for Baldwin to end both sections of the book, with mentionings and reflections of God shows us as readers that although David may possibly not appear devout, he allows his actions to still be lead by the amount of value elders, other people, and tradition puts in faith. The second external force David enables to direct his life, is American society. For David he is continually battling amongst the white picket fence, a wife and young children, or living openly with Giovanni.

David is reminded of what American society expects of him by way of letters from his Father, asking that he come house, and Hella saying she’ll marry him. He is also affected by strong beliefs of Homophobia, since becoming opening gay is far from accepted, and is certainly not the expectation for a young man of his social and economic status. The effects that David allows these expectations to have on his life, are clearly noticed in his partnership with Giovanni in which he unsatisfied, hostile, and distant. The truth of his actions, is very best seen in Giovanni reaction during their biggest fight in which Giovanni accused David of wanting him to be, “a small girl,” in reference to the excellent heterosexual American life David just wouldn’t let go of. In these circumstances David did not use his freedom to decide the worth God and societal expectations in his life, but instead he carelessly and out fear attempted to adopt the values other put on these external forces, bringing discomfort and suffering into his life and the lives of others. Baldwin uses this character flaw as a perfect way to show that we make our decisions independent of determination from a larger power, due to the fact it is our private duty to measure worth for ourselves. The subsequent portion of the structure of freedom in Existential Philosophy, is taking responsibility for our actions directed by our decisions, and accepting that our actions will result in further reactions. Baldwin outlines this struggle perfectly utilizing David as concentrate point. Under existentialism human existence is not, “to be to be understood as arbitrarily altering moment to moment, this freedom and duty must stretch across time,” which means that , “ freedom, rather than becoming randomness or arbitrariness, consists in the binding of oneself to a law, but a law that is provided by the self in recognition of its responsibilities.” (Net Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Internet. 09 May possibly 2017) This is exactly where once again David falls brief in exercising his freedom purposefully. Throughout the novel he lives and makes decisions carelessly, with no concern for past lessons, or future consequences.

For David, generating decisions is all about how he feels in the right here and now. For instance, right after his initial sexual encounter with Joey, David explains, “I had decided to let no area in the universe for something which shames and frightened me. I succeeded very effectively – by not seeking at the universe, by not looking at myself, by remaining, in impact in constant motion.” (Pg 20) In constant motion David never took the time to look at himself and create a personal code of values in which to make a choices with. Alternatively he attempted to contain the unrespectable gay side of himself, never ever taking ownership for many drunken nights with other guys. On the balcony in reflection of all that had happened, of how close he permitted Giovanni and Hella to get to him, of the tragic ending of Giovanni, David grapples with his guilt, and starts to comprehend how his sporadic and disorderly use of freedom resulted in his loneliness. It reads, “Now, from this night, this coming morning, no matter how many beds I find myself in amongst now and my final bed, I shall never ever be in a position to have any much more of those boyish, zestful affairs – which are, actually, when one thinks of it, a sort of larger, or anyway, a lot more pretentions masturbation. Men and women are too numerous to be treated so lightly, I am also various to be trusted. If this have been not so I would not be alone in this house tonight. Hella would not be on the higher seas. And Giovanni would not be about to perish, sometimes between this night and this morning, on the guillotine.” (Pg 5) This shows that in reflection of his actions David understood that the result of his adore life was not the fault of external forces or any person but himself. In addition he admits to the concept of possessing the intention of locating his true self in France by saying, “But again, I consider, at the really bottom of my heart, I knew precisely what I was doing when I took the boat for France.” (Pg21). Primarily based on David’s outlook we can tell he will carry the weight of his loneliness and Giovanni’s death for the remainder of his life.

Existentialists think that, “Freedom can usefully be linked to the notion of anguish.”(Net Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Internet. 09 May 2017) Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Area perfectly captures David’s anguish as he makes the seemingly not possible selection among a falsehood of the American dream, and a wonderful love that may possibly never be recognized with legitimacy. Baldwin tends to make use of the dramatically altering 20th century in order to evoke the complexities of freedom of selection that we as humans face in circumstances of really like, lust, or expectation: “freedom entails anything like duty, for myself and for my actions. Given that my situation is 1 of getting on its personal – recognised in anxiousness – then both my freedom and my duty are absolute…there is absolutely nothing else that acts through me, or that shoulders my duty.”

(Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May possibly 2017) Following examining this structure of freedom in Giovanni’s Area, we can see how the book is very easily utilized as a talking point for Existentialism nowadays.