*Spoilers ahoy!*

In Giovanni’s Room, David Last Name Irrelevant is your run-of-the-mill white, American man cheating on his fiancée (Hella) with women and men, and he is not nice.

This is apparent from the first paragraph. David has a dead mother, a poor relationship with his father, and an ex-one-night-stand Joey whom he discarded because sleeping with men is #gay. He also slept with a soldier in the army #nohomotho.

To his credit, David is wildly self-aware even in his unreliability as a narrator. His feelings for anyone but himself are inauthentic. Yet, passivity and cowardice prevent him from fully exploring them. Consequently, his inaction leads to chaos in the lives of those around him.

Penniless, David goes to Paris and meets Hella, an American woman whom he eventually proposes too. Probably sensing David’s fakery, she goes to Spain to think about it. Bereft of his sugar mama and with his dad no longer sending him money, David gets a job buddies up with Jacques, an American splenda daddy with the hots for him.

However, Jacques is too old and ugly to pique David’s interest and he makes sure Jacques knows this while taking his money. At a gay bar, they meet Giovanni and Guillaume. The former is Italian, poor, friendless, hot, and working for Guillaume at said bar; the latter is rich, ugly, and probably also friendless but owns the bar. Guillaume is your typical slightly affluent loser who uses his wealth/status to exploit others for his own gain.

Obviously, David and Giovanni shag each other seeing as they’re the most attractive people in book, according to David. Giovanni is nice but misogynistic (topic for another day). Still, it’s baffling as to why he falls for David, who has zero redeemable traits beyond his youth and supposed looks. David has no job, no money, no goals, and no spine. He is also dull and mean. Giovanni isn’t particularly likable, but at least he has a job and does not pressure women who clearly like him romantically into sleeping with him only to ditch them a few hours later *coughs in Sue and David.*

Much time is spent in Giovanni’s room, which is a classic depression room. However, it’s the only place David and Giovanni can be their true selves (sort of – David doesn’t seem to know who he is, or what he wants). There’s a spoiled potato, spilled wine, half-finished projects, etc. Giovanni wants to renovate the room, but spoiler alert he dies before that happens.

From the start of their doomed relationship, David fully plans to ditch Giovanni the moment his fiancée comes to Paris. Rather than say this, he strings Giovanni along until Hella appears. Then, he continues to insist he’s not leaving even as he’s actively walking out of Giovanni’s Room.

Hella is actually cool and deserves better. Frankly, she should’ve ditched David for Giovanni or Sue. However, this is a tragedy, not a dystopian romance novel. Staying in character, David wordlessly vanishes when Giovanni loses his job over maybe false allegations of thievery. Mind you, David doesn’t even like Hella. He just doesn’t want to be perceived as feminine even though by his own admission, everyone already knows he’s fruity. Still, it’s not his job to bankroll Giovanni so que sera sera.

Fortunately, things don’t end well for David. Tragically, they end terribly for Giovanni, who BSODs, kills Guillaume, and is sentenced to death for it. For reference, the old lecher fired Giovanni because he wouldn’t sleep with him. David imagines some fantasy scenario where Guillaume dupes Giovanni into sleeping with him with promises of a job only to be like “lol jk you poor, dirty hoe, get outta here”.

It’s a tale as old as time albeit a gay version, since men punishing women who don’t sleep with them is typical in reality and fiction. David gets caught being a bisexual hoe with a sailor #nohometho and Hella dumps him. He ends up alone and feeling immensely guilty for causing Giovanni’s death, which is what he deserves.

To be fair, David doesn’t think much of ditching Giovanni likely because he has Jacques and his father. Interestingly, Jacques’ good will doesn’t extend to Giovanni, who is sexually exploited by him in exchange for money after he loses his job and struggles to find another because of a ruined reputation. Giovanni is an outsider and a foreigner, one who has been ostracized over rumors of thievery, so he’s ripe for Jacques picking unlike David.

David can always return to America. This is likely why despite being broke, he makes zero effort to get a job or do anything of value except complain about throwing away a spoiled potato.

David is never in danger of losing his livelihood, nor is he at risk of being exploited by the crustaceans around him because of his privilege. Thus there is no urgency on his end to do much of anything at all, which explains his passivity.

He has the luxury and privilege to allow things to happen to him. To decide between Giovanni and Hella, to make amends with his father? Nah. David can just wait for something to decide for him.

This is shown with the car accident. David has a frigid relationship with his father for probably valid reasons. After driving drunk, crashing, and nearly dying, his father has a heartwarming conversation with him. David goes to the army to placate his old man. However, this conversation only occurred because he physically can’t go anywhere due to his injuries. David doesn’t choose to make amends; the universe hands him this opportunity and forces him to do so.

David’s passivity is ironic because his inaction ruins the lives of those around him. He can’t accept his homosexuality/bisexuality, so he leaves Giovanni even though he doesn’t really love Hella either. He also can’t decide if he wants to be with Hella, partially because he’s not sure if Hella wants to be with him, and partially because David is just indecisive. As such, he goes off with a sailor, gets caught, and Hella ends things for him. With Giovanni about to get beheaded and Hella heading home, David can stay-in-character and continue doing nothing except bemoan his fate.

In some ways, David a foil to Giovanni.

Giovanni is an alien. This makes him mysterious and desirable, which is ironic since he wears his heart on his sleeve unlike David who can’t even be real with himself.

Giovanni desires authenticity. He could likely have an easy life with Guillaume, Jacques, or some other rich weirdo, but that’s not what he wants. Instead, he wants a free-spirited life free from social norms. Something he could have with David. Jacques even clocks this. If David could just accept who he is, he could probably be happy with Giovanni.

However, when Guillaume tanks Giovanni’s reputation by accusing him of stealing, he becomes isolated. He’s another foreigner whom can be easily demonized by conservatives the media as just another dirty, thieving foreigner everyone suspects him to be.

David’s Grand Disappearing Act only compounds Giovanni’s status as an other. No longer lovers or even friends. Unable to find a job due to Guillaume ‘s affluence. Understandably, Giovanni discovers his thirteenth reason. Before that though, he attempts to use what resources he has to pull himself out of the gutter.

Alas, like Tantalus what he desires is forever out of reach.

After death, Guillaume becomes like Hercules, regaled as a noble man killed cruelly by an evil immigrant despite the fact he’s undoubtedly the villain of this story.

Giovanni never reaches the object of his desire either: something real. Someone who genuinely loves him who will stay by his side.

Instead he dies perhaps like he lived: alone.

Giovanni’s Room Rating: 8.5/10