Point of View

Giovanni’s Room uses a first-person narrator, David. Is David a reliable narrator? Do we always believe him? How does he see things? How does he feel about things? What does he miss? Does he develop over the course of the novel? How does the present narrator, the one awaiting Giovanni’s execution, look back at his younger self?

 

Space and Place

What are the important geographical locations in Giovanni’s Room? Think about the French countryside where the novel begins and ends, the New York of David’s youth, the Paris streets, markets, restaurants, and bars, the Spain of Hella’s journey, the Italy of Giovanni’s youth. How are these places described in the novel?

What about the spaces Baldwin described? Think about Giovanni’s room, the drag bars, the restaurants, the streets of Les Halles, the walks Giovanni and David take by the Seine, the rooms David inhabits with Sue and Hella.

How does Baldwin create these spaces in ways that make us feel fear or anticipation or claustrophobia or longing?

Here’s a map of Paris neighborhoods, several of which appear in the novel, such as Les Halles and the Latin Quarter.  The blue line is the Seine River, which David walks along in the novel, sometimes alone, sometimes with Giovanni:

Here’s a link to a great article by Ellery Washington, that discusses  Baldwin’s Paris, including the cafes he frequented.  You’ll find another map there, which shows the location of these cafes and other places important to Baldwin’s life in Paris:

Article on Baldwin’s Paris by Ellery Washington