Today in class I focused on the idea of decay in Giovanni’s Room. We began by talking about the description of David’s mother and the word “putrescent,” (10) and how he views her as a sort of zombie. She persists in his life despite her death, haunting him and “ruling” over him as a child. David’s relationship and sexual interaction with Joey is described in the same way, as a “decomposing corpse” (16), and right after, it is said that David came to realize that his love for his father was dying. Additionally, David keeps referring to himself at the time as “very young” (15), something which starkly contrasts the idea of decomposition, decay, or death. This unnatural concept is ever-present throughout his youth, and he grapples with the topic still as an adult, as Giovanni is about to be killed. Additionally, we had a discussion where I looked at the fundamental aspects of a mother and father. To be a parent, you must have had a child and created life, so the titles of mother and father are, by definition, in opposition to the idea of death. This idea is furthered when David says that his father’s “utter” emotional “nakedness” led him to the knowledge that his fathers “flesh was as unregenerate as his own” (17). “Unregenerate” can mean literally not regenerating, which makes sense here, but it also deals with irredeemability and objective wrongness. David is uncomfortable with the idea that his father will one day die and is already decaying, but this quote also tells us that David views himself as “unregenerate” too, probably due to his homosexuality. So, all of his family, including himself, seems to be plagued by death and unnaturalness. However, this idea of the “unnatural” is largely created by his own austere values and the judgement he feels all the way back from his childhood, where his mother watched from above and gave him nightmares. One last idea I thought of was the fact that a homosexual relationship would not easily lead to new life as a heterosexual one would. The thoughts of death that plague him and Giovanni’s demise are perhaps related to some deep internal worry of David’s that he is letting his parents and their bloodline and legacy die by being homosexual, and that he is wrong for doing this.
I will post again with more ideas soon! We have only just finished part one, and I am excited to keep reading.
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