Defining Spaces in Giovanni's Room

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itself and to find its place. Despite taking an active role in the American civil rights movement, Baldwin ignores issues of African Americanness in Giovanni's Room, taking up the topic of personal identity instead. While avoiding overt commentary on black-white race relations, he deftly illustrates that notions of equality are linked with those of identity. The two are intertwined because, as Baldwin frequently notes, you must know and accept who you are before you can exercise or fight for your rights as a human being. His treatment of identity and equality is still relevant today: words penned fifty years ago in response to the fight for racial equality evoke feelings of frustration and hope that resonate in the current struggle to achieve equal rights for homosexuals. Yet both race and homosexuality are traits that cannot be changed, and as such, must be accepted before one can move forward in life.

Baldwin argues throughout his work that identity and an honest sense ...

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does not equate to inner change.

Starting with his mention of David's ancestors, Baldwin highlights this dichotomy of acceptance and choice, showing it to be a distinctly American struggle. The struggle began with the framers of the Constitution, for they wrote the document which would shape America by choosing the rights and traits which they wished to claim for their country. The notion of choice is also reflected in the nation's immigration laws. America's first naturalization law in 1790 limited citizenship to “free white persons.” Matthew Jacobson notes that this law was challenged with the “massive influx of highly undesirable but nonetheless 'white' persons from Ireland,” and so ...

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