54 pages 1 hour read

James Baldwin

Giovanni's Room

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1956

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Part 2, Chapter 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2, Chapter 4 Summary

Hella returns from Spain and David meets her at the train station without telling Giovanni. He feels comforted by her embrace, but there is new distance between them. David tries not to think of Giovanni when they arrive at Hella’s hotel, but she notices his hesitancy to be intimate. David acts confused about Hella’s letter, not wanting her to marry him for convenience. They realize they both yearn for a family, so David writes to his father for money for their marriage and honeymoon.

On David’s third day away from the room, he walks with Hella and discusses women’s gender expectations. They enter a bookstore and David runs into Jacques, who scorns him for abandoning Giovanni without money or food, leaving the boy to think David was hurt in an accident. Giovanni enters and is relieved to see David, but David introduces him and Jacques to Hella with an air of distance. Hella fakes an illness to escape dinner with David’s friends, and David escorts her home. Hella noticed Giovanni’s deep concern for David, and as she and David lie in bed, they talk about David’s relationship to Giovanni.

Related Titles

By James Baldwin

SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
James Baldwin
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
James Baldwin
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
James Baldwin
Guide cover image