An Analysis of the Importance of Setting In James Baldwins Giovannis Essay

An Analysis of the Importance of Setting In jam Baldwins Giovannis Room - Essay ExampleThe story it ego is well written and intriguing, but many of the elements involved ar only able to arise in the unique atmosphere of Paris. This paper will attempt to turn out some of the reasons for Baldwins choice of setting.The two American characters in the novel have both left the unite States for different reasons. David, the narrator, claims that I wanted to find myself (p. 31) when leaving towards France, reflecting in hindsight that he would only find the self that he kept trying to escape. His past hinges on a dysfunctional relationship with his father, who spent nigh of Davids youth drunk, to the point that by the time David grows older and the father attempts to get closer, then David no prolonged wishes it. Davids rejection of his father stems from two root causes firstly, David has begun to judge his father and, while not disapproving of the alcohol exactly, David resents his fa thers stirred up absence through the years. Secondly, David has had at least one homosexual experience by this time - with a boy named Joey - whom he then promptly rejects. Davids actions show a subconscious shame about his confess homosexual t endingencies, as well as a concern that his father might discover this facial expression of his son. Davids departure from the United States is an attempt to put physical distance between himself and his father, as well as psychological distance between himself, the experience with Joey, and the possibility of his fathers discovery. Hella is on a same journey of self-discovery with similar parallels of trying to escape. She is from Minneapolis and not much is said about her hometget. Instead, she is absent the first half of the novel because she is in Spain, contemplating Davids marriage proposal. Hellas quest is to find a nobler purpose in her life than to become an average become and housewife, yet when she returns to Paris, she grudgi ngly says that its really all Im good for. (p.163). Her spirit is broken. Her old stance had been that a womans appendage to a man was degrading, yet she now feels that even though a man will forever and a day be a stranger to a woman, she will only be free once she is perpetrate to a relationship. She claims that women get attached to something by default. (p.167), and that, essentially her purpose is therefore defined by Davids requisite for her. Both of these characters go through an evolution in the course of the novel they seek to escape their own nature, then accept it for a time and are happy, only to become miserable in the end by denying it once more. David only acknowledges his love for Giovanni when Giovanni is slated for execution Hella leaves David when he needs the most support, primarily because of the divine revelation of Davids love for Giovanni.Because of the very nature of the Americans, they are portrayed in sharp contrast to the Parisians. Hella declares tha t coming moxie to Paris is always so lovely (p. 160), implying the American romanticism attached to the city, but her true cloudiness of the Europe experience is hidden in her description of Spain its very beautiful. I just didnt know what I was doing there. David, while he enjoy Parisian life, identifies closely with the his fellow customers at the American Express Office, whom he perceives as having a quality unedited, unrealized the sorrow of the disconnected. (p. 119). These aspects have become