Who Is David Responsible For The End Of Giovanni's Room

Throughout Giovanni’s Room by James Boldwin, the narrator, a young American man named David, makes many poor choices that lead to the unfortunate events near the end of the novel. Although the homophobia of the 1950s was a factor, David’s actions were ultimately responsible for the harm of himself and everyone around him, conveying the message that David’s persistent self-denial makes him the antagonist in Giovanni’s Room. Evidence of David’s inability to accept his sexuality appears as early as Part 1, Chapter 1. In this scene, Hella recently broke up with David, and David is in his house, thinking. He was thinking about Giovanni’s coming execution, when he was suddenly reminded of an old boyfriend, Joey. “He was a very nice boy, too, very

David decides to enter a relationship with Giovanni, and the two get extremely close. David loves Giovanni and clearly enjoys being with him, but at the same time David feels like his relationship with Giovanni is threatening his masculinity. David is almost desperate for Hella to return; he wants to be “manly” again. After David receives news that Hella will be returning to Paris soon, he says, “I felt a certain relief. It seemed that the necessity for decision had been taken from my hands. I told myself that we both had always known, Giovanni and myself, that our idyll could not last forever.” (94). However, instead of terminating his relationship with Giovanni, he just simply waits for Hella, without taking any action. This causes his relationship with Giovanni to deepen even further. When Hella finally returns, David abandons Giovanni with no explanation. Giovanni finds out about David’s actions 3 days later, and he is heartbroken. David could have broken up with Giovanni much earlier, which would have harmed Giovanni minimally and allowed David to stay with Hella. David could have also broken up with Hella, allowing him to stay with Giovanni. He does neither, resulting in the harm of both of them. David’s self-denial has clearly not only hurt himself, but others around him as

The societal expectations at that time period may have pressured David into that state of self denial. However, there is an astounding amount of evidence pointing towards David as the antagonist. He lies an unbelievable amount throughout the novel, it is almost beyond count. Near the end of the book, Hella confronts David and condemns him for lying so much and hurting everyone around him. “I knew it every time we went to bed. If only you had told me the truth then. Don’t you see how unjust it was to wait for me to find it out? To put all the burden on me? I had the right to expect to hear from you” (164). Hella was trying to help David understand that his lies only hurt those closest to him. In the end, though, David never learned from his actions. “I look at my sex, my troubling sex, and wonder how it can be redeemed, how I can save it from the knife.” (168). Even after everything, David is still trying to deny his sexuality and preserve his