A STUDY OF DAVID’S INNER CONFLICTS AS A
HOMOSEXUAL IN
GIOVANNI’S ROOM
BY JAMES
BALDWIN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
LIDIA ARDITA
Student Number: 014214042
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
A STUDY OF DAVID’S INNER CONFLICTS AS A
HOMOSEXUAL IN
GIOVANNI’S ROOM
BY JAMES
BALDWIN
By
LIDIA ARDITA
Student Number: 014214042
Approved by
Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum. April 16, 2007 Advisor
Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. April 16, 2007
Co-Advisor
A STUDY OF DAVID’S INNER CONFLICTS AS A
HOMOSEXUAL IN
GIOVANNI’S ROOM
BY JAMES
BALDWIN
By
LIDIA ARDITA
Student Number: 014214042
Defended before the Board of Examiners on April 23, 2007
and declared acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name Signature
Chairman : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. _________________ Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijarnaka, M.Hum. __________________ Member : G. Fajar Sasmita Aji, S.S., M.Hum. __________________ Member : Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum. __________________ Member : Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. __________________
Yogyakarta, April 23, 2007 Faculty of Letters Sanata Dharma University
Dean
Dreams can come true.
Credi in te!
I dedicate this thesis to
Almighty God and Saint Mary
My beloved parents and my big bro
And to everyone and someone who love and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank to Jesus Christ and Saint Mary for Their love and blessing in my life. Their spirits have enlightened and strengthened me to finish this thesis. I would not be able to finish my thesis without Them.
My special thanks go to my Dad who has supported me with his own ways. I would like to thank my wonderful and lovely Mom who always prays and cares for me. I also would like to thank my greatest big brother, Eduardo Ardita, who has given me the computer. It means a lot for me. I love my family.
My gratitude goes to my advisor, Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum., for all of the guidance, patience, advice, and support which helped me a lot in finishing this thesis. I would also give my gratitude for Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum., as the reader, for all the advice which helped me in making this thesis. I would like to thank my entire lectures in English Letters Department and for the secretariat staffs who have helped me during my study at Sanata Dharma University.
Finally, I would like to thank to all my best friends, especially Chitra, Liza, Budi, Margareth, Asis, Stephanie (thanks for the book), Alaster, Mas Daniel, and Freddy Hendrawan who have supported and encouraged me all the time. Also to all of PSM CF members and all of the people who have given me hands whose names I cannot mention here. I thank God that He sent them to me. I love them and God bless them!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. Background of the Study... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 2
C. Objectives of the Study ... 2
D. Definition of Terms... 3
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW...5
A. Reviews of Related Studies... 5
Reviews on the Novel ... 5
B. Reviews of Related Theories ... 7
1. Theories of Conflict in Literature ... 7
2. Theories of Conflict in Psychology... 8
3. Theories on Homosexuality ... 13
C. Theoretical Framework ... 22
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ...23
A. Object of the Study... 23
B. Approach of the Study ... 24
C. Method of the Study... 25
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ...27
A. David’s Inner Conflicts as a Homosexual... 27
B. David’s Solutions to Solve his Inner Conflicts ... 47
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION ...50
ABSTRACT
LIDIA ARDITA. A Study of David’s Inner Conflicts as a Homosexual in James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2007.
James Baldwin wrote Giovanni’s Room in 1956. This novel receives a cordial welcome in the literary world. Even some critics say that this novel is a masterpiece in the 20th century. This novel tells about the struggle of a homosexual named David in finding his self identity. In this novel, it is told about David’s perspective toward the society around him, the problems that he faces, and his way to solve those problems especially of his homosexuality.
The aims of this study are to answer the problem formulation, first, what the inner conflicts faced by David as a homosexual. Second, how he solves his inner conflicts.
The source of this study is taken from the novel titledGiovanni’s Roomby James Baldwin. The writer takes other sources from several books and reviews which help as the references. The writer also takes some references from internet sites. Those sources support this study. The writer uses psychological approach to analyze David’s inner conflicts as a homosexual. The writer also uses theories of homosexuality to discuss the problems.
ABSTRAK
LIDIA ARDITA. A Study of David’s Inner Conflicts as a Homosexual in James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2007.
James Baldwin mengarang Giovanni’s Room pada tahun 1956. Novel ini mendapat sambutan meriah di dunia sastra. Bahkan beberapa kritikus menyatakan novel ini sebagai karya besar abad ke-20. Novel ini menceritakan tentang perjuangan seorang homoseksual bernama David dalam mencari jati dirinya. Dalam novel ini juga menceritakan tentang sudut pandang David terhadap masyarakat sekitarnya, permasalahan yang dia hadapi, dan cara dia mengatasi segala permasalahan itu, terutama permasalahan yang menyangkut homoseksualitasnya.
Tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk menjawab rumusan masalah sebagai berikut: pertama adalah apa saja konflik batin yang dihadapi oleh David sebagai homoseksual. Kedua adalah bagaimana dia menyelesaikan konflik batinnya tersebut.
Sumber dari studi ini diambil dari novel berjudul Giovanni’s Roomkarya James Baldwin. Penulis mengambil sumber lain dari beberapa buku dan ulasan yang dapat membantu sebagai referensi. Penulis juga mengambil referensi dari situs internet. Semua sumber tersebut sangat mendukung dalam penulisan studi ini. Penulis menggunakan pendekatan psikologis guna menganalisa konflik batin David sebagai homoseksual. Penulis juga menggunakan teori homoseksualitas untuk membahas masalah tersebut.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Homosexuality has been a worth discussing topic since homosexuality is a complex phenomenon of which the existence, according to The Encyclopedia Americana, is caused by many different reasons, involving a variety of combinations of constitutional factors, life experiences or both (1924: 333). A novel entitled Giovanni’s Roomis a novel about homosexual therefore the writer chooses it as the study.
Giovanni’s Room is a novel written by James Baldwin. It is a novel about a man named David who goes to Paris. In his homeland, he has a fiancée named Hella but she leaves him to Spain. In Paris, he meets Giovanni, an Italian bartender. He falls in love with Giovanni and at the end he has to leave Hella after the death of Giovanni.
In this novel, the readers can read that there are no obstacles to be homosexuals or if somebody chooses to have a relationship with the same-sex. It seems that the society does not really care about someone’s problem. Even, some of them support the homosexuals as friends.
from the same point of view that is homosexuals’ point of view still it makes the novel interesting to be discussed.
Since a novel entitled Giovanni’s Room is a novel about homosexual, the writer chooses it because the writer wants to analyze deeper about the life of a homosexual, especially on his problems and how he solves his problems as a homosexual. This study will contribute a new understanding about homosexual and it can change the wrong perception believed by people so far.
B. Problem Formulation
Related to the background of study, the writer presents problem formulation as follows:
1. What are the inner conflicts that are experienced by David as a homosexual in Giovanni’s Room?
2. How does he solve his inner conflicts as a homosexual?
C. Objectives of the Study
D. Definition of Terms
There are some terms in this study which are used by the writer: 1. Homosexual
According to Huffman in his book entitled Psychology in Action, “homosexual means a person who has a sexual attraction tendency toward members of his or her own sex. He or she is one whose preferences for members in the same sex” (1997: 340).
2. Homosexuality
Based onEncyclopedia of Psychologyby Corsini states that “homosexuality refers to sexual behaviors, desires, and attractions, relationship among people at the same sex as well as to the culture, identities, and communities associated with them. For conceptual clarity, it is important to distinguish among four different phenomenon commonly included under the rubric of homosexual. First, the term is used to describe a specific sexual act. Second is to refer to enduring patterns of sexual or romantic attractions for partners of one’s own gender whether or not these preferences are expressed behaviorally. Third aspect is psychological identity, a sense of self-defined in terms of one’s attractions. Fourth, homosexual refers to a minority group membership. In this sense, individuals sharing a gay identity develop communities similar to ethnic, religious, and cultural minorities” (1994: 151-152).
3. Characters
identified by seeing what they say as in the dialogue and what they do as in the action”. Characters may remain essentially “stable”, or unchanged in outlook and disposition, from beginning to end of a work, or may undergo a radical change, either through a gradual process of motivation and development, or as the result of the crisis (Abrams, 1993: 23).
4. Gay
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
Chapter II contains three sections. The first section is the review of related studies which reviews the studies that have done by the researchers related to the topic. The second section is the review of related theories which mentions the theories that are applied in the thesis. The last section is the theoretical framework which states how the review of the related studies and of related theories are coherent to the thesis.
A. Reviews of Related Studies
Reviews on the Novel
There are several studies of the novels. However, the followings are only those which are related to the study of the thesis. The first reviewer is Magdalena J. Zaborowska from University of Michigan.
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin is a masterpiece of narrative composition and constituted a literal and metaphorical coming out for the young author, although Baldwin has already indicated his interest in the profound connection between race and sexuality in his successful novelistic debut, the autobiographicalGo Tell It On The Mountain(1953). Giovanni’s Room is a narrator introspectively and retrospectively in the first person by a young, white American named David, who is trying to find himself in that Giovanni’s face and body- the only true love of his life- have been forever branded on his flesh and his memory, that he will never be free, for he has renounced freedom by renouncing love when it comes into his life (http://www.litencyc.com).
This is a book that can require several breaks from the reader, simply because it is well-written despair worms its way into your mind and stays there. It is not the book you should read on a relaxing vacation, on your birthday, the day before your wedding, when you have already had an awful day. Still, it is a book you should read because of Baldwin’s insights into his characters and their situations (http://www.litencyc.com).
Next, is the review which comes from D. Quentin Miller, his essay challenges what seems to be a consensus: “that at the end of Baldwin’s career, bitter with his lock of recognition and the seeming failure of his political agenda, loses artistic control, producing works that do not live up to his earlier promise”. He also explains that “Baldwin was caught in the classic double bind, for his readers demanded political polemics in his work, then simultaneously decried his perceived excessive rhetoric and politicized rage. Thus, Baldwin’s decline was seen as inevitable” (http://www.fasthost.com).
Another review is from Nicholas M. Evans. His paper examines “how understanding core values are the key to understanding character which, in turn, leads to understanding conflict, plot, and the underlying design of a narrative. It looks at how James Baldwin, in his book Giovanni’s Room, depicts a young man in a conflict. David is alienated from his own culture, and he is faced with making a choice concerning his sexual identity. It explores how we feel he must conform to the norms of having a wife and family, but is pulled toward sexual union with men, especially an Italian bartender with whom he has an affair”. We can see in Evans’ statement below.
reader authentication of the writer’s representation. Rather, specific cultural and historically contingent conditions shape both elements of the reputation-building process: the spokesperson is influenced by contemporary conventions of representation, construct certain meanings about cultural experience, while audiences evaluate the “truth” of the meanings according to similar conventions. The essence of his alienation is in terms of sexual preference (http://www.fasthost.com).
From some reviews above, it can be concluded that Giovanni’s Room is a very good reading novel. The readers can learn something from this novel. Learn how to treat and understand the homosexuals as human being. Learn how to accept our identity and not deny it. The readers also can get new knowledge about homosexuality is not a disease that has to be avoided. Homosexuals are also human being who have to be hugged together not be ignored. This novel should be read to open our minds. It is an inspiring novel to keep struggling and reaching the best. It is a masterpiece.
This study is new and different from the others because there is no other study which discusses about homosexuals and or homosexuality. Thus the readers can get new knowledge and understanding about those issues. Besides they can get new perspective.
B. Reviews of Related Theories
1. Theories of Conflict in Literature
action, and catastrophe. Exposition is the opening of the story. There is an introduction of the story, including the introduction of the situation, characters, and setting. Rising action is the beginning of the complication in the story. Crisis is reached when the conflicts become worse. Falling action is an explanation about the conflicts. Catastrophe is the ending of the story. There is a problem solution.
Based on A Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H. Abrams says that in a novel, exposition is the beginning of the story. A novelist usually draws the situation, the setting, and the main characters in this part. It is an introduction of the story. Rising action begins after the exposition. In rising action appear some complications of the situation and/ or between the characters. It continues with the developing conflict. The rising action reaches the crisis. Crisis is a time when the conflicts become worse. Then, it opens the falling action. In falling action there is an explanation about the conflicts and usually there is also a clearer picture about the cause of the conflicts. The last is catastrophe. It is the ending of the story. In catastrophe usually there is a resolution. It also applies the end of the action and intrigue or crisis. The problems or the misunderstanding are solved and cleared away.
2. Theories of Conflict in Psychology
Meanwhile, internal conflicts are conflicts between us. Atkinson and Hilgard also strengthen this statement in their book entitledIntroduction to Psychology.
Sometimes conflict arises between a motive and a person’s internal standards rather than between two external goals. An individual’s desires may conflict with individual’s standards of helpful and cooperative; to succeed may require competing with – or even undermining colleagues and associates (Atkinson et al, 1983: 424).
They also state that conflicts between motives and internal standards often can be more difficult to resolve than between external goals (Atkinson et al, 1983: 424).
According to Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by Lim and Corneval, communication among each other is the main source which causes conflicts. Words are sentences which said by a man that can influence another man’s feeling and mind, whether he is happy or being hurt. If they cause a conflict and cannot be solved, sometimes third-party mediator is needed to help. We can see it in the statement below.
Because poor communication is often the cause conflict, improving communication between sides can help resolve differences. Sometimes a third-party mediator, such as the marriage counselor, a courtroom judge, or the United Nations is needed to help negotiations (Lim and Corneval, 1990: 373).
The statement above means that a communication is the important aspect in this life. The bad communication can make the situation becomes worse and causes a conflict.
as decision is often difficult to make. It is not surprising that the person in conflict often hesitates, vacillates, and goes through agony trying to make up his mind (Coleman, 1969: 178-179).
In the same book, Coleman says that conflicts are usually classified in terms of the reward or punishment value the alternatives have for the individual. Thus the conflicts we all meet may be conveniently classified as approach-avoidant, double-approach, and double-avoidant conflicts.
a. Approach-Avoidant Conflicts
In an approach-avoidant conflict there are strong tendencies both to approach and to avoid the same goal. It is sometimes referred to as “mixed blessing” conflicts because some negative and some positive features must be accepted regardless of which course of action we select. Since many avoidant conflicts involve multiple alternatives- the term multiple approach-avoidance is sometimes used here also (Coleman, 1969: 179).
b. Double-Approach Conflicts
As the name implies, double-approach conflicts involve competition between two or more desirable alternatives. On a simple level, a decision may have to be made between two courses we would like to take. We cannot be in two places at once, we do not have the time and energy to do all the things we would like to do, and most of us have limited funds (Coleman, 1969: 179).
c. Double-Avoidant Conflicts
“minus-minus” conflicts are severe, they can bring about serious adjustment problems because even resolution of the conflict will bring frustration rather than relief (Coleman, 1969: 180).
In the same book, Coleman says that most of the conflicts in our society are value conflicts. They are especially common and disturbing because to a greater extent than ever before individuals must choose what they are to become, both as individuals and as participants in our society. Each of us experiences many value conflicts, often accompanied by considerable pressure in one direction or another from family or friends, and such conflicts are often major sources of confusion, indecision, and stress. There are six value conflicts that will be discussed.
a. Self-Direction vs. Outer Direction
The insecurities of our anxious age and the lack of a clear pattern for young people to follow make the development of self-direction and acceptance of personal responsibility especially difficult today. Often we are torn between contradictory demands and values advocated by parents, peers, and public officials; and of course, rapid social change including change in traditional values adds to the problem. Thus it is not easy task to construct a value system and chart a course of action that will meet our needs for both security and growth and for both self-esteem and social approval (Coleman, 1969: 180).
b. Commitment vs. Noninvolvement
the individual may choose noninvolvement rather than care or love. But noninvolvement also exacts a price in terms of lost satisfactions, feelings of estrangement and alienation, and a lack of meaning in one’s experience. Commitment also includes the espousal of positive values and causes and a feeling of responsibility for working toward maintaining and improving the quality of life in the society as a whole (Coleman, 1969: 181).
c. Avoiding vs. Facing Reality
An approach-avoiding conflict familiar to all of us is the conflict between wanting to know the truth and wanting to be comfortable, especially about ourselves. Yet a central requisite of personal maturity is the ability to be objective about ourselves and the world around us and to acknowledge reality even when it is unpleasant. Facing reality not only may be uncomfortable but may confront us with the necessity for taking positive action that we fear will be hazardous and disagreeable (Coleman, 1969: 181-182).
d. Integrity vs. Self-Advantage
courage to follow one’s convictions under such conditions (Coleman, 1969: 182-183).
e. Sexual Desires vs. Restraints
Current investigators do not consider sexual conflicts the inevitable problems that Freud judged them to be. Yet they are common enough in our society to cause considerable stress, especially among young people. Freudian theory has placed great emphasis on the “Oedipal conflict” as a source of stress. According to this theory, the situation is usually resolved as the little boy comes to identify with the father and the girl with her mother, and latent sexual desires give way to harmless tender affection. However, ambivalence or sexual feelings toward parents can be a source of considerable guilt and conflict while they endure (Coleman, 1969: 183).
f. Other Conflicts
Many of our most difficult conflicts are those in which our basic value assumptions are in conflict and we have to choose one at the sacrifice of another. In many ways conflicts are the most severe type of stress we experience, for the type of the person we become depends on the way we handle them (Coleman, 1969: 183).
3. Theories on Homosexuality
or primitive, large or small, ancient or modern. Even, they live in a group of a community.
Further, Coleman in his book Abnormal Psychology and Modern Lifesays that there tend to be clusters of homosexuals in certain residential areas of large cities. Several of the apartment building on particular streets may be owned by and rented exclusively by homosexuals. As a group, the homosexual community constitutes somewhat of a subculture with unique customs, values systems, and communication techniques in terms of language, dress, and gesture (Coleman, 1964: 392-395).
Coleman also says that most of the activities of the homosexual community take place in friendship cliques, and only a small portion of the behavior is visible to the public. The visible portion is seen mainly in gay bars which function as social institutions where friend are met, news and gossip exchanged, invitations to parties issued, and warning about current police activities given (Coleman, 1972: 392-395).
any organized group of homosexuals, he tends to be continually at war with himself and to feel insecure, apprehensive, and lonely (Coleman, 1972: 392-395).
Further, Coleman adds that homosexual relationships involve various types of sexual patterns. A male homosexual may always take a female sexual role or he may play a female role at one time and a male role at another. Similarly, a female homosexual may play a male role only or may alternate between male and female roles (Coleman, 1972: 392-395).
Meanwhile, the question of why human being may become homosexuals, heterosexuals or some combination of the two has already fascinated thoughtful people. Many researchers have focused primarily on the cause of homosexuality. Coleman, for example, says that there have been two opposed views concerning the etiologic of homosexuality and they are generally either constitutional (biological) or psychosocial factors (Coleman, 1972: 395). The explanation of both constitutional and psychosocial factors will be drawn in the theories and applied in the analysis.
term lesbian refers to a female homosexual whereas the term gay refers to a male homosexual (Pettijohn, 1992: 252).
Since men are born into the world, no one chooses or plans to live as a gay, a lesbian, or a bisexual. Not a single person wants to be judged as an abnormal or immoral person by living and getting married with the same sex. There are some factors that cause a man to become a gay or a lesbian. According to Coleman and Broen in their book titledAbnormal Psychology and Modern Life, there are two factors that make someone becomes a homosexual, those are constitutional factors and psychosocial factors.
a. Constitutional Factors
These factors refer to biological factors which have been seen since she or he was a child that shows a man’s sexuality orientation. Biological factors are playing the important roles in the development of a human’s growth, such as genetic factors, hormonal balance, and hermaphrodites.
i. Genetic Factors
During the early part of this century, most experts believe that a homosexual has a constitutional basis through direct genetic inheritance. According to some psychologists’ researches, forty percent of people, unconsciously, become a homosexual because of the inheritance (Coleman and Broen, 1972: 488-491).
ii. Hormonal Balance
where hormonal imbalances occur, they may have no casual significance: non homosexuals often show similar imbalances individuals may shift from a homosexual to a heterosexual pattern or vice versa without a change in hormone balance (Coleman and Broen, 1972: 488-491).
iii. Hermaphroditism
In this rare condition, the individual possesses well-developed genital organs of both sexes; thus there is an anatomical basis for ambiguous sexuality. The most important factor in deciding to which sex a hermaphrodite should be assigned is considered to be the sex role established during the years of early development, particularly the first three years (Coleman and Broen, 1972: 488-491).
b. Psychosocial Factors
Besides the constitutional factors, psychosocial factors also influence someone becomes a homosexual. Psychosocial factors can be derived from men’s social interactions with another person, their love experiences or pressure from their families. Those are:
i. Early Homosexual Experience and Their Reinforcement
ii. Negative Conditioning of Heterosexual Behavior
A variety of circumstances may lead to conditioning in which heterosexual behavior becomes an aversive stimulus. For example, when a boy or a girl is ridiculed rebuffed and humiliated in his or her effort to approach members of the opposite sex, he or she may turn toward homosexuality as a safer source of affection and sexual outlet (Coleman and Broen, 1972: 488-491).
iii. Being Reared as a Member of the Opposite Sex
Very occasionally a mother who has wanted a daughter will treat her son as a girl, keeping his hair long, dressing him in girls’ clothes, and inculcating typically feminine attitudes and interests. Similarly, a girl may sometimes be reared as if she were a boy (Coleman and Broen, 1972: 488-491).
iv. Pathogenic Family Patterns
In this case, the awful situation of the family influences an individual to become a homosexual. For the example, typically the mother, who is frustrated by an unhappy marital relationship, established a relationship with the son who becomes seductive and romantic but stopped just short of physical contact. The son, over stimulated sexually, felt anxiety and guilt over his incestuous feelings and the mother aware of his feelings and fearful of exposing her own incestuous impulses discouraged overt signs of masculinity (Coleman and Broen, 1972: 488-491).
v. Blocking of Sexual Expression
period, it is not surprising that sexual tensions, coupled with curiosity, often lead to experimentation with members of one’s own sex or to fantasies about such activities in connection with masturbation (Coleman and Broen, 1972: 488-491). vi. Association With Other Psychopathology
Homosexuals are subject to special stresses that may precipitate psychopathology; they are often forced to live under the threat of social sanctions, such as loss of employment if their sexual behavior is revealed, which makes personal adjustment difficult. However, there is usually no direct relationship between homosexuality and the particular behavior pattern. This strain is often reflected in brittle humor which varies from defensive mockery of the straight world to self devaluating scorn for the gay one (Coleman and Broen, 1972: 488-491).
R. Murray Thomas, in his book title Conflict and Negotiation Process, divides three theories of the cause of a man becomes a homosexual, those are biological, socio-psychological, and interactionist.
a. Biological
b. Socio-psychological
Socio-psychological theories refer to the quality of an individual’s relationship with other people during childhood and adolescence that determines whether the person becomes a homosexual or a heterosexual, or even an asexual is not interested at all in physical lovemaking (R. Murray Thomas, 1990: 373-374). c. Interectionist
Interectionist ones draw upon both biological and socio-psychological factors in the belief that some combination of body chemistry and environmental factors account for the development of homosexual behavior (R. Murray Thomas, 1990: 373-374).
In society, there are two different opinions about homosexuality, those are pro and contra. For some people who agree to homosexuality, says that homosexuals are not bad people, and consider that it is not violence. For those people, it is their rights to live as gays or lesbians. This opinion is also supported by Davison and Neale in their book entitledAbnormal Psychology.
Homosexual is not considered as a mental disorder. The factors that predispose homosexuality are those societal attitudes toward homosexuality that have been internalized. In addition, features associated with heterosexuality, such as having children and socially sanctioned family live, may be viewed as desirable and incompatible with homosexual arouse pattern (Davison and Neale, 1994: 236).
In recent years, there has been sifted in attitudes toward homosexuality. The belief that homosexuality is immoral has been replaced to some opinions by a belief that individuals with same sex orientation are mentally ill. The notion that homosexuality is a sickness is still common (Crooks, 1983: 294-295).
Many men who have already had homosexual experiences since they were boys. Their homosexuals’ orientation develops as a response to pleasurable homosexual experiences during childhood and adolescence perhaps coupled with unpleasant heterosexual experiences. In seeing this reality, Frank N. Magill says his opinion.
Many boys have homosexual experiences as part of their normal sexual experimentation while growing up. Some boys will find these experiences more pleasurable or successful than their experiments with heterosexuals and will continue to seek homosexual interactions (http://www.enotes.com).
Based on Schofield’s book entitled The Sexual Behavior of Young People said that teenagers who have already experienced sexual intercourse with the same sex feel guilty and shame because of their behavior. They must hide their experiences from people around them, particularly from their families. They also cannot accept the changes of their sexual orientation yet because of their experiences.
C. Theoretical Framework
The reviews of related studies and theories in this chapter are related to the study of the thesis. They are chosen because they support the study of the thesis. The review of the related studies by other researchers says that Giovanni’s Room as a gay novel is an outstanding novel.
The theories of conflict in psychology are needed to answer problem formulation number one in chapter one. These theories are important because the thesis will discuss David’s inner conflicts as a homosexual.
The theories of homosexuality are also important to answer the question number two in problem formulation. These theories can explain how David will solve his problems as a homosexual.
While, theories of conflict in literature are significant to answer both problem formulations because by knowing the plot of the story, the writer and the readers can understand David’s thought and experiences which explain his inner conflicts. Psychological theories of conflict are as significant as other theories to answer problem formulations by knowing these theories, we can know what the inner conflicts that David experienced and therefore we can know how he solves those problems.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
Giovanni’s Room is a gay novel written by James Baldwin. This novel is published by Michael Joseph Ltd, London, in 1957. The novel analyzed in this thesis is the first edition. The novel is divided into two parts. Part one contains three chapters and 102 pages while part two contains five chapters and 140 pages. The novel has been performed in Drill Hall Arts Centre, London on 16 July 1996.
The first part of this novel tells about David’s life in Paris, in an apartment where David and Hella, his girlfriend, live. In this part, Baldwin tells about David’s past life in America where David, his father, and his aunt move from one town to another town after his mother died. Besides describing David’s homosexuality, Baldwin also tells about David’s first sexual experience when he was teen with his friend, Joey. In this part also told the way David meets Hella for the first time and the way he meets Giovanni.
David decides to accept his homosexuality and move on his life. He also decides to live alone in Paris without anybody he loves around him.
B. Approach of the Study
This novel is analyzed using psychological approach. The thesis will discuss David’s inner conflicts as a homosexual and how he solves those problems by using psychological approach. Since the study more focuses on the psychological aspects, therefore, the psychological approach will be applied.
Rohrberger and Woods state in their book entitled Reading and Writing about Literature, that psychological approach is an approach to literature which “involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns” and which refers to a different body of knowledge that is psychology. It means that psychological approach in literature involves literary works to show the relation between the works with the psychology. It is applied when the attention is focused on psychological interpretation for enhancing the understanding and appreciation of literature. In applying this approach, psychological theories are generally used as the interpretive tools. Further, they say that psychology is a study of man’s life together with his mind and behavior (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 13-15).
approach because the better understanding of human’s personality development can be achieved.
C. Method of the Study
In finishing the thesis, the writer used a library research to find the main data. The main data of the thesis was the novels. Giovanni’s Room written by James Baldwin. That novel gave a clear description about homosexuality in America and also the way of the character to solve his problems as a homosexual. The data were collected to support the writer’s analysis.
The writer did not only use the main data but also used references as the other data. These references were gotten by searching other books about homosexuality and literary theories that supported the analysis in the thesis. The references which gave the important contribution were Holman and Harmon’s A Handbook to Literature, Husband’s General Psychology and other books which were related to the study.
The other references were gotten from the internet search. These references were the reviews of related studies by the other reviewers which were relevant to the study of the thesis. These reviews supported the discussion of the thesis.
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In this chapter, the questions in the problem formulation are answered. The analysis is divided into two parts. The first part will focus on David’s conflicts, particularly David’s internal conflicts as a homosexual. This part will also explain the David’s characters. The last part is the explanation on the way David solves his problems by knowing David’s decision for his life and his couples.
A. David’s Inner Conflicts as a Homosexual
The beginning of the story is when David has his first sexual intercourse with Joey at Joey’s house on summer night. This incident is very annoying and haunting him. He feels afraid and ashamed in his entire life. Moreover, he does not have someone to share to because he has lost his mother when he is young, and has been ignored by his father.
Since he knows that he is a homosexual, David always lives in fear. He is always afraid of the people, especially his family and his girlfriend, Hella, will know his real condition. He feels that he will have bad future if people around him know what he has done with Joey. Although he has experienced it and has a connection with Joey, he shuns Joey and their friendship. He feels ashamed and fear. It is described in the sentences below.
full of dirty words. I thought I saw my future in that cavern. I was afraid. I could have cried, cried for shame and terror, cried for not understanding how did could have happened to me, how this could have happened in me (p. 12-13).
From the quotation above, we can know that David feels shy and scared if Joey’s mother knows what they have done in that room. He does not understand how it can happen to him. He hopes that it will be forgotten someday.
David is disappointed to realize that he did not make any fight when Joey reacted to him to do sex intercourse. He blames on himself that time. He knows that he can do nothing and he cannot tell to anyone about the event, including his family.
Concerning Schofield’s theory in his book The Sexual Behavior of Young People (1968: 58) which says that it is hard for children to admit and to tell to other people about their abnormal sexual orientation, David also feels shy to accept the reality that he experiences his first sexual intercourse with a man, and it changes his sexual orientation. Hence, guilty feeling toward his father and himself makes David felt tortured. It is told in the sentences below.
It was after Joey. The incident with Joey had shaken me profoundly and its effect was to make me secretive and cruel. I could not discuss what had happened to me with anyone, I could not even admit it to myself; and while I never thought about it, it remained, nevertheless, at the bottom of my mind, as still and as awful as a decomposing corpse (p. 23).
After a few years leaving in confusion, fear, and shame, David decides to run away from himself, his father, Joey and their intimacy, and even from his country. He takes a boat to France.
This is certainly what my decision, made so long ago in Joey’s bed, came to. I had decided to allow no room in the universe for something which shamed and frightened me. I succeeded very well-by not looking at the universe, by not looking at myself, by remaining in effect, in constant motion (p. 30).
The statement above tells us that David has taken decision so long time ago. He decides not to become a homosexual and not do sexual intercourse with any men.
David’s conflicts with his sexual identity have not ended, though he decides to move to France. Here, the plot of the story starts rising. David finds new problems and new conflicts in the new places with new people. He meets Hella, an American woman. After several times meeting each other, David asks Hella to marry him but she needs time to think and she leaves him for a long visit to Spain. It is told in the quotation below.
I had asked her to marry me before she went away to Spain….and then she said she would have to go away and think about it (p. 5).
From that sentence, we can see that David tries to deny his homosexuality by purposing Hella before she goes to Spain. But she asks more time to think about it.
David’s conflict continues because in Paris he also meets Giovanni, a dark-haired, attractive, and handsome Italian man, who is working as a bartender in Guillaume’s gay bar. It is told in the sentence below.
It can also be seen in the sentence below.
Jacques was aware. I was aware, as we pushed our way to the bar-it was like moving into the field of a magnet or like approaching a small circle of heat-of the presence of a new bar-man. He stood, insolent and dark and leonine, his elbow leaning on the cash register, his fingers playing with his chin, looking out at the crowd (p. 40-41).
From two quotations above, we can see that David faces the same conflicts with a different man in Paris. He cannot deny his heart that he falls in love with Giovanni. He tries to behave as a normal man in front of his friends, including in front of Giovanni to avoid the same accident with Joey. This meeting is raising his problems.
David never shows his attitude that he likes Giovanni every time he meets Giovanni in the bar. He feels that people in the bar always watch him and Giovanni, though the fact they never do. He is sure with his own belief after Jacques says about the same thing to David sarcastically. It is shown in these conversations.
Then Jacques spoke, at my elbow. “Everyone in the bar,” he said, “is talking about how beautifully you and the barman hit off.” He gave me a radiant and vindictive smile. I trust there has been no confusion? (p. 60). The conversations above show that Jacques tells David that everybody is watching them and knows the relationship between David and Giovanni as a couple. David is frightened.
normal man as it is told by Davison and Neale in their bookAbnormal Psychology (1964: 236). Because of that reason, David is not ready to face the awful possibility that may happen. Thus, he hides his real condition and his affair with Giovanni from people around him and from Hella, his girlfriend.
David is also afraid if his secret will be discovered by Jacques because only Jacques who knows his entire secret. He also tells Jacques that he has already had Hella as his girlfriend. That is why Jacques’ words make David angry. He feels that he wants to hit Jacques, but he remembers that he has asked Jacques’ help for money.
David is angry with Jacques because Jacques does not care about David’s feeling. Jacques keeps telling him about Giovanni’s feeling toward him, and Jacques wants him to respond to Giovanni by showing the same feeling without being afraid of the society’s judgment. Although Jacques assures him that becomes a gay is not a dirty or a guilty thing, but he still persists in his attitude to hide his real condition and his real feeling toward Giovanni. It is explained in the sentences below.
Jacques followed my look. “He is very fond of you,” he said, “already. But this doesn’t make you happy or proud, as it should. It makes you frightened and ashamed. Why?”
“I don’t understand him,” I said at last. “I don’t know what his friendship means; I don’t know what he means by friendship.”
Jacques laughed. “You don’t know what he means by friendship but you have the feeling it may not be safe. You are afraid it may change you. What kind of friendship have you had?”
they will be dirty-they will be dirty because you will be giving nothing, you will be despising your flesh and his (p. 83-84).
From the quotation above, we can see that David tries to hold his anger to Jacques, though he dislikes Jacques’ attitude which always gets involved in his relationship with Giovanni.
David feels sorry finding out that Jacques knows everything about him and Giovanni. David feels that his effort to cover up his real condition is useless because of Jacques. It is strengthened by the quotation below.
I was only sorry that Jacques had been a witness. He made me ashamed. I hated him because he had now seen all that he had waited, often scarcely hoping, so many months to see. We had, in fact, been playing a deadly game and he was winner. He was the winner in spite of the fact that I had cheated to win (p. 62).
David is sorry that Jacques knows everything about his life. The statement shows that David is ashamed and scared. He does not want everybody knows the reality about his condition and he does not want Jacques becomes a winner by telling the truth to everybody.
Then David decides to live with Giovanni to assure himself that he is a normal man not a gay. He wants to live as a normal man with a wife and children but it does not solve his sexual problem. When finally he decides to have a sexual intercourse with Giovanni, he becomes ashamed and confused with his sexual identity. It is shown in the sentences below.
From the sentences above, we can see that actually David tries to solve or reduce his problems by trying to prove to everybody, especially to himself, that he is a normal man but unfortunately, it adds his problems.
Living with Giovanni, however, cannot make David solve his sexual problem. He finds himself as “Giovanni’s wife” who always stays at home waiting for Giovanni home from his work and doing all household jobs in Giovanni’s apartment, and it makes him feels shame. He feels that he is not supposed to do it since he is a man, but he does not want to leave Giovanni either because he loves that Italian man. Those two different feelings make David is more tortured and confused. As it is supported by the sentences below.
But I am not a housewife-men never can be housewives. And the pleasure was never real or deep, though Giovanni smiled his humble, grateful smile and told me in as many ways as he could find how wonderful it was to have me there, how I stood, with my love and my ingenuity, between him and the dark (p. 128).
The sentences tell us that David is ashamed because he only stays at Giovanni’s apartment waiting for him. David feels as a housewife although actually he feels happy because he loves Giovanni.
normal man by returning to Hella or to live as a gay by ignoring the society’s judgment. We can see in the sentences below.
Yet it was true, I recalled, turning away from the river down the long street home, I wanted children. I wanted to be inside again, with the light and safety, with my manhood unquestioned, watching my woman put my children to bed. I wanted the same bed at night and the same arms and I wanted to rise in the morning, knowing where I was. I wanted a woman to be for my steady ground, like the earth itself, where I could always be renewed (p. 152).
Those sentences show that David wants his own family as a normal man with a wife and children. He wants a stable life.
David’s two gay friends, particularly Jacques, want David to accept his real condition and to make a confession to Hella by telling the truth. They do so because they know that David cannot lie to himself that he likes Giovanni, and they understand that society’s opinion makes him become a hypocrite. However, David does not give a fight for what they said and it makes his friends more disappointed with him.
Suddenly, Hella’s letter which tells about her return to Paris comes. It adds David’s confusion in making a decision. He is sad knowing that his relationship with Giovanni will soon be over. It is impossible for him to live with Giovanni any longer because Hella will know the truth and will view him as a liar because he has promised her to marry her. We can see it in the quotation below.
The sentences above states that David becomes confused because of Hella’s letter. He does no know what to do.
In his confusion, fear, and disability to make a commitment with Giovanni and to face Hella when she is back, he has sex with Sue, an American woman lost in Paris. David gets drunk and he walks across the river to the cafes of Montparnasse.
I wanted to find a girl, any girl at all (p. 138). It is also strengthened in the sentences below.
The person who appeared, and whom I did not know very well, was a girl named Sue, blonde, and rather puffy….The moment she appeared I began, mentally, to take off all her clothes (p. 139).
The last, it can be seen in the sentence below.
I realized that my performance with Sue was succeeding even too well….the end is coming soon, her sobs became even higher and harsher (p. 147).
Those statements above show that David is desperate and confused. In his confusion, he decides to find any girl whom he does not know well and has a sexual intercourse with her.
David tries to discuss with Giovanni about Hella and her plan to return to Paris to help releasing his confusion and fear. He suggests Giovanni not to see each other during Hella’s presence in Paris. Giovanni never thinks that David will think or say that because Giovanni believes that they should not have to break the relationship although Hella is in Paris. It is strengthened in the quotation below.
“If she were in Paris now,” I said, abruptly, “then I would not be in this room with you.”
“Whynot? Suppose she found?” “Found out? Found out what?”
“Oh stop it,” I said. “You know what there is to find out.”
He looked at me soberly. “She sounds more and more impossible, this little girl of yours. What does she do, follow you everywhere? Or will she hire detectives to sleep under our bed? And what business is it of hers, anyway?”
“You can’t possibly be serious,” I said (p. 117-118).
From the quotation above, it is seen that Giovanni knows that David uses Hella as a tool to protect himself. Giovanni also knows that David is very afraid of the people’s prejudice about his identity. Hence, Giovanni tries to assure David that the society never say any words to mock him or both of them, he also convinces him that being a homosexual is not a crime.
Occasionally, David feels disgusted in remembering that he does sexual intercourse with a man, not with a woman. Sometimes also he feels guilty toward Hella and his family every time he does sexual intercourse with Giovanni. He wants to stop it, but he does not know how to stop. What David always does to comfort himself is only reminding him that he and Giovanni love each other. It is explained in the sentences below.
Each day he invited me to witness how he had changed, how love had changed him, how he worked and sang and cherished me. I was in a terrible confusion. Sometimes I thought, but this is your life. Stop fighting it. Stop fighting. Or I thought, but I am happy. And he loves me. I am safe. Sometimes, when he was not near me, I thought, it doesn’t matter, it is only the body, it will soon be over (p. 128).
As it is told by Lim and Corneval in their bookJournal of Personality and Social Psychology (1990: 372) that poor communication can cause a conflict, David also experiences such a situation. He has more difficult situation to solve his conflict, since he does not have a friend to share with. He cannot share with any man because he knows that not all persons want to understand his condition. Even his two gay friends do not want to help him since they consider that David is inconsistent with his attitude.
David who is trapped in his own fear and confusion does not want to listen to Giovanni. Over and over, he persuades Giovanni to break the relationship before people hate them both. David also convinces Giovanni to show his kindness to Hella in front of him. Yet, Giovanni does not believe in David, and the quarrel between them cannot be avoided.
“To find out, to find out, you keep saying, as though we were accomplices in a crime. We have not committed any crime.” He poured the cognac. “It’s just that she’ll terribly hurt if she does find out, that’s all. People have dirty words for-for this situation.” I stopped. His face suggested that my reason was flimsy. I added, defensively, “besides, it is a crime-in my country and, after all, I didn’t grow up here, I grew up there (p. 118). The sentences above show that Giovanni asks David not to be scared of the situation and Hella. Giovanni says that people always have their own opinion about someone else life.
as a reason to avoid Hella’s suspicion toward him. We can see in the sentences below.
“There must-there must,” I said, “be other rooms.”
“Ca ne mangue pas, les chambres. The world is full of rooms, little rooms, round rooms, kinds of rooms! What kind of room do you think Giovanni should be living in? How long do you think it took me to find the room I have? And since when, since when-he stopped and beat with his forefinger on my chest-have you so hated the room? Since when? Since yesterday, since always?Dis-moi.”
Facing him, I faltered. “I don’t hate it. I-I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
“All I mean, baby, is that I wish we could move.”
“We can move. Tomorrow! Let us go to a hotel. Is that what you want? Le Crillon peut-etre?”
“I know,” he burst out, after a moment, “I know! You want to leave Paris, you want to leave the room-ah you are wicked.”
“You misunderstand me,” I said. “You miss understand me” (p. 172). The conversations above show that David tries to convince Giovanni to leave Paris. David wants Giovanni to find another apartment.
Atkinson and Hillgard’s theory in their book entitled Introduction to Psychologywhich tells that internal conflict is more difficult to resolve rather than external conflict (1983: 424) is suitably applied in David’s conflicts. Indeed, he eventually can run away from Giovanni, leave him and return to Hella, spend time with her like he used to do before he meets Giovanni, but as a matter of fact, he cannot forget Giovanni, his homosexual lover, and his memories with him. Below we can see how David forces himself not to think about Giovanni and to face the fate that he should be responsible for his promise to marry Hella. It is told in the quotation below.
possible: he had already divided us. I tried not to think of him sitting alone in that room, wondering why I stayed away so long (p. 177).
From the sentences above, it can be concluded that David wants to forget and not to worry about Giovanni. David wants to be with Hella.
Their fights bring the story to the climax. It begins when David who leaves Giovanni without telling Giovanni. He decides to meet Hella and spend few days with Hella for celebrating her return.
At last there came the note which I had been waiting for, from Hella, telling me what day and hour she would arrive in Paris. I did not tell this to Giovanni, but walked out alone that day and went to the station to meet her (p. 174).
Finally, Hella’s letter comes. Hella writes that she wants to come to Paris from Spain. David does not tell about this letter to Giovanni. He decides to meet Hella without saying anything to Giovanni.
In the meantime, Hella asks about David’s proposal to get married and she tells him that she is ready to do it. As it is told by Oswald Schwarz in his book titledThe Psychology of Sex(1956: 177) that a woman needs sexuality in order to have babies, Hella also needs David as her husband and she also wants to have children from him, and she tells David directly about this. It is explained in the conversations below.
“You know, I’m not really the emancipated girl I try to be at all. I guess I just want a man to come home to me every night. I want to be able to sleep with a man without being afraid he’s going to knock me up. Hell, I want to be knocked up. I want to start having babies. In a way, it’s really all I’m good for” (p. 180).
or say upon Hella’s changes. He knows that it will break her heart and ruin her dreams to get married if he tells the truth. David can do nothing when he sees how Hella shows her love and her preparations to be his wife. It is illustrated in the sentences below.
I felt cold. I shook my head in mock confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Why,” she said, I’m talking about my life. I’ve got you to take care of and feed and torment and trick and love-I’ve got you to put up with. From now on, I can have a wonderful time complaining about being a woman. But I won’t be terrified that I’m not one.” She looked at my face, and laughed. “Oh, I’ll be doing other things,” she cried. “I won’t stop being intelligent. I’ll read and argue and think and all that-and I’ll make a great point of not thinking your thoughts-and you’ll be pleased because I’m sure the resulting confusion will cause you to see that I’ve only got a finite woman’s mind, after all. And if God is good, you’ll love me more and more and we’ll be quite happy” (p. 184-185).
David’s attitude in responding to Hella’s wish to get married can be seen that David is not ready to marry her and he will never be. However, David still covers up by behaving as a normal man, as if he still needs her and wants to marry her.
In his confusion to face Hella’s desire to get married as soon as possible, once again, David is faced with one problem about his past. He meets Jacques when he walks around with Hella and Jacques tells about Giovanni before he shows in front of David and Hella. That event definitely shocks David, since he never expects to see his two gay friends, moreover when he spends time with Hella. It is described in the sentences below.
The statement is also quoted in the sentence below.
I felt a great need to get out of there before Giovanni arrived. “We haven’t eaten supper yet,” I said, trying to smile. “Perhaps we can meet you later?” I knew that my smile was begging him to be kind to me. But at that moment the tiny bell which announced every entry into the shop rang, and Jacques said, “Ah. Here is Giovanni.” And, indeed, I felt him behind me, standing stock-still, staring, and felt in Hella’s clasp, in her entire body, a kind of wild shrinking and not all of her composure kept this from showing in her face (p.188).
David is also confused about how to explain to Hella about Giovanni, since he never mentions Giovanni’s name in front of her, and he does not want it happen either. He is afraid if Hella asks about Giovanni after that moment, and he is also afraid that it may arouse her suspicion toward him. Hella then, finally asks David about Giovanni, their relationships and the event between them during her absence. We can see it from the quotation below.
“And who is Giovanni?” she asked, when we started walking again. She gave a little laugh. “I just realized that I haven’t asked you where you were living. Are you living with him?”
“We’ve been sharing a maid’s room out of the end of Paris,” I said.
“Then it wasn’t very nice of you,” said Hella, “to go off for so long, without any warning.”
“Well, my God,” I said, “he’s only my room-mate. How was I know he’d start dragging the river just because I stayed out a couple of nights?” (p. 191-192).
David’s lie and denial continue when, as David’s homosexual lover, Giovanni needs explanation from David. He is angry realizing that David ignores him. He never thinks that David will really leave him just to cover his real condition as a gay and return to Hella. Giovanni and David have a big fight when David comes to see Giovanni after he left him for a few days. Giovanni asks David to return to him and to leave Hella, since he knows that David does not love Hella. However, David denies it by saying that he only loves Hella and never loves him. It is said in the statement below.
“You are not leaving me for her,” he said. “You are leaving me for some other reason. You lie so much, you have come to believe all you own lies. But I, I have senses. You are not leaving me for a woman. If you were really in love with this little girl, you would not have had to be so cruel to me.”
“She’s not a little girl,” I said. “She’s a woman and no matter what you think, I do love her…” (p. 206).
From the conversation above, we can see that the conflict between David and Giovanni is becoming more and more critical. Both of them defend their own reasons. At one side, Giovanni believes that David leaves him just for the self-respect sake, not because he loves Hella. On the other side, David persists in his opinion that he is not a gay and he only loves Hella. No matter what David says Giovanni does not believe in David anymore. It becomes the peak of the climax. Because of that, David decides to leave Giovanni forever and go back to Hella.
with Giovanni. David’s love toward Giovanni can be seen through his feeling where he always worries about Giovanni and through his behavior where he is always looking for him, every time he walks alone. David is worry if Giovanni has a relationship with Jacques, the same as his relationship. His truly feeling is described in these sentences below.
And from time to time, around the quarter, I ran into Giovanni. I dreaded seeing him, not only because he was almost always with Jacques, but also because, though he was often rather better dressed, he did not look well. I could not endure something at one object and vicious which I began to see in his eyes, nor the way he giggled at Jacques’ jokes, nor the mannerisms, a fairy mannerisms, which he was beginning, sometimes, to affect (p. 216).
David actually feels guilty because he has to leave Giovanni with an uncertain reason. Behind his laughter with Hella, there is sadness deep in his heart because he has to sacrifice his love to Giovanni in order to avoid suspicion of his family, Hella, and people around him.
After so long time David does not see Giovanni anymore, he starts asking around because he is worried about Giovanni. He gets the information about Giovanni from one of the street boys named Yves. Yves tells David why Giovanni is no longer with Jacques. It is because Guillaume promises Giovanni that he will get his old job in Guillaume’s bar again if he wants to have sex with Guillaume. It is told in the quotation below.
The news about Giovanni’s case makes David shocked and sad. Giovanni killed Guillaume to protect himself from Guillame’s attack who wanted to rape him. Giovanni is caught, arrested, and punished to death with guillotine. David feels sorry for not protecting Giovanni on the day it happens. Since David hears that news, he never stops thinking about Giovanni and never stops looking for him. David’s behavior arouses Hella’s anger because he only thinks about Giovanni and never cares about her, though they have already been together.
“Why are you so upset?”
“Wouldn’t you be upset if a friend of yours was excused of murder and was hiding somewhere? What do you mean, why am I so upset? What do you want me to do, sing Christmas carols?”
“Don’t shout. It’s just that I never realized he meant so much to you” (p. 222).
Here, Baldwin wants to show the readers that David is indeed a gay through the way he thinks about Giovanni, though he stays with Hella. Every night and day, he cries alone and thinks about Giovanni, he imagines how poor Giovanni is if someday Giovanni will be caught by the police. He wants to help Giovanni, but he does not know what he has to do since he has returned to Hella. It is strengthened by the statement below.
Giovanni stayed at large nearly a week. As I watched, from Hella’s window, each night creeping over Paris, I thought of Giovanni somewhere outside, perhaps under one of those bridges, frightened and cold and not knowing where to go (p. 223).
David’s behavior which always thinks about Giovanni. She feels that David ignores her existence beside him. It is explained in the sentences below.
It was that evening very soon thereafter, that I left her sleeping in the bedroom and went, alone, to Nice.
I roamed all the bars of that glittering town and at the end of the first night, blind with alcohol and grim with lust, I climbed the stairs of a dark hotel, in company with a sailor. It turned out late that the next day, that the sailor’s leave was not yet ended and that the sailor had friends. We went to visit them. We stayed the night. We spent the next day together, and the next (p. 237-238).
The situation is getting worse since David cannot deny his feeling toward Giovanni anymore. Hella, his fiancée, cannot bear her disappointment in seeing David’s behavior. She tries to ask David to go home to America with the expectation that they get better life by getting married there. David definitely does not agree with Hella’s plan because he does not want to get married with Hella. We can see in the conversations below.
“David. Don’t you think we ought to go home?” “Go home? What for?”
“What are we staying here for? How long do you think it’s doing to me?” She rose came to me. “Please. I want to go home. I want to get married. I want to start having kids. I want us to live someplace, I want you. Please David. What are we marking time over here for?” (p. 236).
David becomes an introvert person. He refuses Hella’s favor to help him to make Giovanni and him close again because Hella feels that Giovanni is in love with David. It never crosses her mind that David also loves him. It is illustrated in these conversations below.
“He was in love with you,” said Hella. “Why didn’t you tell me that? Or didn’t you know it?
I turned away, feeling my face flame.
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “Don’t you understand that? You couldn’t keep him from falling in love with you. You couldn’t have kept him from-from killing that awful man.”
“You don’t know anything about it,” I muttered. “You don’t know anything about it.”
“I know how you feel.” “You don’t know how I feel.”
“David. Don’t shout me out. Please don’t shout me out, let me help you” (p. 235).
David also lies to Hella all this time. Hence, she cannot bear her anger any longer after she sees David’s real condition in a gay bar, where he enjoys his drink with some gays around him. She is disappointed knowing that David is a gay, and it hurts her more when she realizes that David loves Giovanni, not her. But, David cannot say anything facing Hella’s anger and her decision to leave him. It is shown in the quotation below.
“If I stay here much longer,” she said, later that same morning, as she packed her bag, “I’ll forget what it’s like to be a woman.”
She was extremely cold, she was very bitterly handsome. “I’m not sure any woman can forget that,” I said.
Seeing at David’s conflict in choosing one of two different desires between living as a gay with a man he loves and ignores the society’s prejudice, and living as a normal man by marrying Hella, his girlfriend without love, it can be said that David faces the approach-avoidant conflicts (Coleman, 1969: 179-180). The approach-avoidant conflicts are the conflicts where an individual tries to approach and to avoid one goal. In this case, David tries to accept the reality that he has to fulfill his promise to marry Hella, while at the same time, he is afraid of losing his personal freedom as a gay and his homosexual lover forever though he knows that his marriage with Hella will save his life in front of the society. Still, it causes conflict for him.
From the analysis above, it can be concluded that in Giovanni’s Room, David finds some conflicts in facing the fact about his sexuality. Here, Baldwin describes David’s internal conflicts, it means that his conflicts to “struggle within his heart and his mind”. Those inner conflicts are: fear, confusion, shame, disappointment, guilt, introvert, anger, hypocrisy, loneliness, sadness, and anxiety.
B. David’s Solutions to solve his Inner Conflicts
This part is the end of the story. Everybody decides to do something important for themselves, included David. As explained above, in the end, Hella leaves David. She goes back to America with a broken heart and dreams. She cannot accept David attitude much longer that always thinks about Giovanni. And the worst thing is because David has lied to her about his real sexual identity. When Hella has given up and wants to help David, David refuses her idea again. It makes her more disappointed.
One day, David gets a note from Jacques about the day and time of Giovanni’s execution. However, leaving Paris is not a good way for David, since he always remembers Giovanni, especially about his case. David feels bored in spending time with Hella. He only expects that he can do something for Giovanni to get out of him from the prison, but he knows it is impossible to do it since has already with Hella. He only keeps his expectation in his heart.
I could not get Giovanni out of my mind, I was at the mercy of the bulletins which sporadically arrived from Jacques. All that I remember of the autumn is waiting for Giovanni to come to trial. Then, at last, he came to real, was found guilty, and placed under sentence of death. All winter long I counted the days. And the nightmare of this house began (p.231). David first solution to solve his problems is when he realizes all of his mistakes. David allows Hella to take a decision to return to America and to leave him. He knows that he cannot fool Hella any longer and he does not want to torture himself by marrying Hella.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to come with you as far as the station, Hella?”
She looked at me and held out her hand. “Good-bye, David.”
