Maya Jimenez 

 
11th Grade Humanities  
 
Honors Analysis Essay 
 
10 April 2020 
Escaping Oneself: An Analysis of a Room 

There are many rooms in our lives. Of course the literal: a hotel bedroom, a waiting room, or a 

hospital room, but what about the rooms that we want to escape from? We all have desires, flaws, or 

traits that we force ourselves to deny that in turn harm us and those around us. According to author 

James Baldwin, a room is a figurative representation of them. G

​ iovanni’s Room​ by James Baldwin is a 

fictional narrative set in the late 1950’s that focuses on a man’s physical and literal journey where his 

relationship with a bartender in Paris forces him to reflect on himself through the symbolism of a 

room. Most significantly, the novel reveals how difficult it is to accept a piece of oneself that not only 

society rejects, but one rejects themself. ​ Through his depiction of societal norms, internal conflict, 

and the symbol of a room, Baldwin shows the consequences of trying to escape a “room of self”, 

revealing it as a place ​we need to enter and accept instead.  

Baldwin introduces David, the main character, through a series of scenes that displays his want 

to escape both physically and figuratively from society and his immediate community. Literally, he 

flees to Paris, however figuratively, he flees to escape the constraints of society and himself. Before 

venturing he declares, “I had decided to allow no room in the universe for something that shamed or 

frightened me. I succeeded very well - by not looking at the universe, by not looking at myself, by 

remaining, in effect, in constant motion” (pg. 20). Through this quote, it can be interpreted that he 

tries to hide from the universe, or the laws that drive society, and himself, by escaping them and 

refusing to understand them. 

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 There were several events that led up to this point which reveal the urge to escape. The first 

was during a sexual encounter with a friend whom he loved. He discovers an important dichotomy 

that reveals the struggle between desire and restraint and describes this as he looks upon his lover’s 

body, “The body suddenly seemed the black opening of a cavern in which I would be tortured till 

madness came, in which I would lose my manhood” (pg. 9). He believes that the act can only mean 

doom for everything that society deems a man should be. This conflicts with his inner self and he 

therefore shuns a crucial piece of his identity.  

Another critical event is David’s tumultuous relationship with his father, which further 

compounds his self loathing and desire to escape. David maintains that, “He wanted no distance 

between us; he wanted me to look at him as a man like myself. But I wanted the merciful distance of a 

father and son, which would have permitted me to love him” (pg.17). This quote shows that he and 

his father have conflicting boundaries which strains their relationship and understanding of each 

other. His narration ensues that he is constantly reminded of what a man should and shouldn’t be and 

their contact is distant because of this. “I did not w

​ ant​ him to know me” (pg. 16). In other words, he 

wanted to escape his father and his desire to reach his son. This strain is further cemented through 

David’s car accident where their conversation leads him to believe that David failed his father and if he 

ever tried to explain his inner conflict to him, it would destroy him.   

However, when he arrives in Paris, it is soon apparent that he cannot escape society’s eyes. 

While in a gay bar with a friend, he meets the barman, Giovanni, and is soon drawn to him despite his 

pre-exsisting doubts and the hostile environment he finds himself in. “I knew that they were watching 

both of us. They knew that they had witnessed a beginning and now they would cease to watch until 

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they saw the end” (pg. 38). To put it differently, he is aware that judgement and toxic masculine 

culture has followed him despite all his attempts to escape.  

Underneath the surface of escaping society, there is an underlying motivation in David 

throughout the novel and that is to escape from himself. After meeting Giovanni, he is attracted to 

what he is trying to escape from. His friend Jacques pleads with him to, “Love him. Love him and let 

him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters?” (pg. 57) as well as advising 

him, “You play it safe long enough”, he said in a different tone, “and you’ll end up trapped in your 

own dirty body, forever and forever and forever - like me” (pg. 57). His warning reflects the restraint 

David has towards his true self and what can become of him if he does not recognise it. It is Giovanni 

who ultimately forces him to confront this. David observes how, 

“Each day he invited me over to witness how he had changed, how love had changed him, how he had 

worked and sang and cherished me. I was in a terrible confusion. Sometimes I thought, but this i​ s ​your 

life. Stop fighting it. Stop fighting. Or I thought, but I am happy. And he loves me. I am safe. 

Sometimes, I thought, when he was not near me, I thought, I will never let him touch me again” (pg. 

82).  

This quote demonstrates how even in the midst of their relationship, David constantly 

struggles with how he cannot accept himself. He resists it because of the accumulation of fear and 

shame from past experiences and the environment he is surrounded by. Throughout the novel, David 

wrestles with these constraints and in the process, denies himself. “I wanted to be inside again with the 

light and safety, with my manhood unquestioned, watching my women put my children to bed” (pg. 

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104). This quote forces the reader to infer that David desperately wants to escape from himself and 

instead be something that is safe and accepted within society.  

Lastly, Baldwin ties together the overall symbolism of a room towards the end of the novel to 

display his ultimate point - that one can either escape or accept themselves. “The world is full of rooms 

- big rooms, little rooms, round rooms, square ones, rooms high up, rooms low down - all 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?’’ (pg. 117) 

In this declaration made by Giovanni, it can be reasoned that the “room” in this story is, 

symbolically, a place for David to hide and a place for Givoanni to be freed. The room is cramped, 

dirty, and an escape from a judging society in David’s eyes. However, he also wants to escape because 

he has grown tired of hiding and wishes to have a “normal” life in a different room. As Giovanni 

suggests, David hates the room because it is restricting and certain doom to him. Giovanni, however, 

thinks of the room as hard won and, like he suggests, took time to find and make his own. To him, it is 

a place of individuality, safety, and vulnerability. He had shown it to David who, consequently, grew 

afraid because it was everything he could be if he only accepted himself .  

Giovanni’s Room p
​ resents the reader with a deeply flawed character who reflects the doubts we 

have within ourselves. The author uses David’s escape from societal norms, internal conflict, and the 

symbol of a room to clearly signify the consequences of trying to escape himself. In the end, David 

understands and acknowledges the ‘room of self’, but has yet to enter it, a reality that many of us face. 

Baldwin therefore, offers us a poignant warning of the reality of oppressing oneself and how we all 

have a ‘room of self’ we need to enter instead of escape.  

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