James Baldwin argues throughout his work that identity and an honest sense of
self can only be attained through a personal journey that involves more than just
movement from one point to another; it must also lead to a change within and an
acceptance of self. In Giovanni's Room, the main character David travels a journey
devoid of personal growth and acceptance. A white, homosexual man, David finds
himself trapped in a white, straight, masculine, American ideal which does not define
him. He spends the novel trying to outrun and reject his past and aspects of his identity
which he wishes to ignore. Through David's struggles, Baldwin shows a connection
between internal and external spaces, and establishes a link between choice and
acceptance when creating a personal identity. Baldwin establishes self-reflection to be
the only means of creating a personal identity that is able to balance acceptance with
self-invention. He explores this self-reflection in terms of internal/external and
choice/acceptance throughout the novel, showing the struggle to be both personal and
shared with the community to which one attempts to belong. In this essay I examine the
connection between internal/external and choice/acceptance in light of Baldwin's belief
that every American must undertake an honest journey of self-discovery in order to
establish an inclusive rather than exclusive personal and national identity. I link that
journey of identity to David's perpetual movement through the inner and outer spaces of
the novel, a movement which reflects that of his ancestors and many Americans before
him. I also explore American views of masculinity and homosexuality, and how Baldwin
shows these views to affect David (and all Americans) in his search for self and home. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:WICHITA/oai:soar.wichita.edu:10057/3296 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Celestin, Amber |
| Contributors | Griffith, Jean Carol |
| Publisher | Wichita State University |
| Source Sets | Wichita State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | vii, 36 p., 175360 bytes, 1843 bytes, application/pdf, text/plain |
| Rights | Copyright Amber Celestin, 2010. All rights reserved |
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