James Baldwins Giovannis Room Essay -- James Baldwin Giovannis room

James Baldwins Giovannis boardJames Baldwins novel Giovannis Room is titled such for the purpose of accentuating the symbolism of Giovannis fashion. Within the novel Giovannis mode is portrayed with such characteristics as being Giovannis prison, symbolic of Giovannis life, holding the relationship between Giovanni and David, being a fiction of oddity for David and being a tomb underwater. These different portrayals of Giovannis way ar combined within the novel to create an overall negative metaphor of homosexualism as perpetuated by lodge. These different portrayals of Giovannis room be dirty, suffocating and restricting Baldwin is screening the reader that homosexuality can be understood as all of these things, detrimental as they are. The novel is a reflection upon the common belief in society that homosexuality is stirred and wrong, causing homosexual men to turn societal negativity into egotism hatred. One of the metaphors for Giovannis room is the paralle l created linking his room to his jail cell. When Giovanni is in jail, David appreciations about the jail cell he is in and says, I wonder about the size of Giovannis cell. I wonder if it is bigger than his room (113). In Davids thought he creates the definition of Giovannis room being a cell. The prison cell is close in size to his room, and it is also much like the room in that he is stuck thither as a prisoner. Giovannis permanence in his room, as in the jail cell, is further exemplified when David is talking about the room Im talking about that room, that hideous room. Why have you buried yourself there so long? (117). David is directly comparing Giovannis room to a tomb, which, like a cell, is an imprisonment. David is say... ...rget it. This negative view of homosexuality is enforced by society, which David absorbs into himself.Through David and his perception of the many metaphors contained within Giovannis room, James Baldwin is showing a negative interpretation of homosexuality as identified in society. The metaphors within Giovannis room are Giovannis prison, symbolic of Giovannis life, holding the relationship between Giovanni and David, being a metaphor of homosexuality for David and being a tomb underwater. These metaphors are negative and exist to attest to the reader that homosexuality is restricting, punishing, dirty and suffocating. These negative connotations of homosexuality are brought from society and internalized by the characters and builds into self hate.Works CitedBaldwin, James, and Caryl Phillips. Giovannis Room. London Penguin, 2001. Print.