PART ONE, Chapter 2

Summary

After two years in Paris, David finds himself broke and on the verge of losing his hotel room. With his girlfriend Hella in Spain and his father withholding funds, David reaches out to an older, gay acquaintance, Jacques. David sees Jacques—a wealthy Belgian-born American businessman—as a desperate and lonely man who gives financial support to young men in return for sex and companionship. In spite of his antipathy towards Jacques, David (who is in dire financial straits) agrees to meet Jacques for dinner.

Jacques gives David ten thousand francs (the equivalent to about $30 in 1956) at dinner, and they decide to continue the night by going to Jacques’ favorite bar. David notes that the bar is particularly rowdy that evening, filled with the local color and the “les folles” (a term that literally translates to “mad women,” but is used by David as slang for male homosexuals) who David scrutinizes for their flamboyant and femme behavior. While at the bar, the presence of a new barman, Giovanni, catches the attention of Jacques and David. David suspects that Giovanni will fall prey to Jacques and become another one of Jacques’s sexual conquests. Jacques, however, nudges David to invite Giovanni for a drink, suggesting that David might find a new friend in Giovanni. Eventually, Jacques and David are joined by the bar’s owner, Guillaume, at which point David reluctantly agrees to invite Giovanni to drink with them.

David and Giovanni strike up a conversation and discuss New York, Paris, and the differences between America and Europe. During their conversation, David expresses apprehension at being associated with America. Giovanni meanwhile laments that life in Paris is cold and detached, whereas in Italy the people are warmer, friendlier, and much more jovial. 

Eventually, Giovanni questions the nature of David’s relationship with Jacques, to which David responds by clarifying that he and Jacques are only friends. Giovanni then assures David that he has made a friend in him and hopes that he will come to the bar more often. David tells Giovanni that it would take some more time and thinking before they can really be friends. Giovanni returns to his bar duties but tells David that they will finish their conversation when he returns. Though David enjoys his conversation with Giovanni it becomes apparent to him that the bar has been watching them, and he anxiously begins to wonder what they must think of him and Giovanni. 

While waiting for Giovanni to return, David is approached by a “zombielike” and “ghoulish” figure. David is so unsettled by this person and their appearance that he describes them as an “it” before attributing them with a male pronoun. When the man speaks to David, the man makes the insinuation that there is a budding romance between David and Giovanni.  Offended by the suggestion, David lashes out at the man, telling the man to mind his own business and get away from him. The man leaves David alone, but not without warning David that his life will be very unhappy.

When David sees Jacques again, Jacques chides David for becoming the talk of the bar. David dismisses the idea that there is something going on between him and Giovanni. As David continues to drink at the bar, he acknowledges his happiness over Hella’s absence, and he thinks that if she were in Paris, he might not have met Giovanni. At the same time, David is overcome by the temptation to seek a prostitute but does not have the power to do so. The chapter closes with David acknowledging the impact that Giovanni has had on his life, and how even after Giovanni is executed, he will continue to haunt David.