Identity In Giovanni's Room

As an individual who has faced multiple bouts of depression, I am no stranger to identity crises. After realizing that the answer to my ever-growing depression could not be found within myself, but within the text of those who have explored similar complications before me, I swamped my living space with a multitude of psychology books. Countless hours and novels later, I came upon “Dictionary of Thought” by Dagobert D. Runes. This novel gave light to my issue at hand, while consequently founding my new basis of self-identity just days before reading the first page of Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. Whether I was aware of it or not, I was a victim of intense social pressure directly, or indirectly, placed upon me. Therefore, I had lost a sense

Following their sexual encounter, David begins to ruthlessly bully Joey, “When school began again I picked up with a rougher, older crowd and was very nasty to Joey. And the sadder this made him, the nastier I became. He moved away at last” (Baldwin 10). To David, Joey is a walking symbol of his homosexuality. David makes the subconscious decision to bully Joey since in 1952, when Giovanni’s Room was published, you could not have homosexual relationships and still retain a sense of immaculate manhood. Therefore, by David stating multiple times throughout the novel, to paraphrase, that he puts his perception of immaculate manhood above all, he comes to a crossroads as to whether he should retain his masculine perception or a sense of self-identity. David opts to retain his perception, thus, he attempts to mercilessly beat the idea, and Joey, out of existence, and out of town. By doing so, society’s perception of David as a straight male can survive for the time being. However, his self-identity is in shambles because David is reluctant to identity as himself, rather, he identifies as who he believes society wants. David’s immediate reaction to value the perception that others have of him over his self-identity repulsed me while also leaving me sympathetic as he had to choose between the two, which should never be the