Giovanni's Room Part Two, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

PART TWO, Chapter 4

Summary

Hella’s letter finally arrives letting David know exactly when she will be arriving in Paris.

David thinks that reuniting with Hella will give him a sense of clarity and direction for what to do next with his life. At first, he does not feel anything revelatory about their reunion, but once they embrace David is overcome by a sense of joy and safety. On their way back to Hella’s hotel, Hella raves about her time in Spain. Once they arrive at her place, they have a conversation about their time apart, and subsequently about their future, and Hella’s decision to commit to David.

David writes to his father with the news of his engagement to Hella and that his father should finally send him the money he has been withholding from David. David makes sure to include a picture of Hella in the letter and assures his father that she is an American from Minneapolis.

On the third day after Hella’s return to Paris, David and Hella wander around the city and Hella brings up the subject of how difficult it is to be a woman. David is surprised by this discussion because she has never brought it up before. Hella talks about how women are seen as needing a man and the power imbalance between men and women in a relationship. For Hella, men in a relationship are always strangers, even if they have been together for fifty years. Hella firmly stands behind the conviction that she will never be at David’s mercy and that she will continue to read, think, and argue, well after they are married. David humors her by saying that she is “adorable” and remarking about he does not understand her at all.

While David waits for Hella in a bookstore, he bumps into Jacques who tells David about how distraught Giovanni was after David left him. To David’s evident displeasure, Giovanni arrives and is introduced to Hella. Jacques suggests they grab a drink, but Hella declines due to feeling ill. Back in Hella’s apartment, David tells Hella that he was living with Giovanni and that they had become friends, but he does not admit that they were sexually intimate as well. This less than fully truthful explanation furthers Hella’s suspicions as to why David was so nasty toward Giovanni and why Giovanni was frantically asking about where David had gone. David explains to Hella that Giovanni’s position in life is very low and that he can no longer be around Giovanni because Giovanni has turned David into a sort of savior, which David finds insufferable. David ends the conversation by suggesting they get away from Paris and that they should get some sleep since it is almost morning.

The following evening, David visits Giovanni to settle matters between them. David finds Giovanni crying in bed. Giovanni condemns David for leaving him alone and begins to tell David about his life in Italy. Giovanni was happy there until he had to bury his stillborn baby boy.

David is speechless while Giovanni tells his story, until he finally tells Giovanni that they can never be together, that two men can never be together. Giovanni points out to David that the true reason David cannot be with him is because David stubbornly clings onto an idea of purity and manhood. David draws the line and claims that he will never return to Giovanni. Giovanni offers David one last drink and the two of them spend one final evening together.

David remembers the sense of regret he felt as he left Giovanni’s room for the last time. The money from David’s father arrives in the autumn, and Hella and David keep themselves busy preparing to leave Paris.

During this period, David has a series of encounters with Giovanni that reveal Giovanni’s precarious and changing circumstances as well as David’s obsession with Giovanni. First, David recalls sometimes running into Giovanni with Jacques. He notices that Giovanni is wearing better clothes and acting subservient towards Jacques. Seething with anger and self-recrimination, David concludes that Giovanni is sleeping with Jacques in return for financial support. Later encounters with Giovanni suggest that he is living an itinerant existence. He wears less expensive clothes, and instead of being with Jacques he is in the company of “street boys of the quarter.” While drunk one night, David encounters Yves, the “street boy” who is closest to Giovanni and buys Yves a drink. Without directly asking about Giovanni, David gets confirmation that Giovanni is no longer with Jacques. Yves also says that Giovanni might be able to get his old job back at Guillaume’s bar.

Shortly after David is informed about Giovanni’s prospects, he learns that Guillaume was found dead in his apartment above his bar, having been strangled with the sash of his dressing gown.

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