Predjudice: A Catalyst For Isolation

The French philosopher, Voltaire, once said, "Prejudices are what fools use for reason." One cannot base reality on the inconsistent patterns of stereotypes. Also, with the addition of stubborn pride, altering this false reality is nearly impossible. David, the main character of Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, fails to realize this. Because of David allows stereotypes to dictate his judgment, he rejects his impurities, resorts to self-deception, and unsuccessfully attempts contradictory goals, which ultimately lead to his isolation.

In hopes to find familiarity and safety, David creates stereotypes for those without innocence. Despite the consistency of stereotypes, "People invent categories to feel safe. White people invented black people to give white people identity ... Straight cats invented faggots so they can sleep with them without being faggots themselves" (Bloom 132). Because David feels inferior as a homosexual stripped of his innocence, he creates a stereotype that is substandard to his own immoral acts of homosexuality. By defining what is impure relative the pure qualities that he values in himself, he protects is innocence and absence of affiliation to what is impure. David even sees "men who openly identify as gay, like Guillaume and Jacques ... [as] 'disgusting old ferries'' (Rohy 4) even though they are some of his only friends in France. (Sylvander 51) David allows the stereotypes to highly influence his negative opinion of Guillaume and Jacques despite his hypocritical desires for men as well.

However, as David reluctantly sees impure qualities in him as well, he rejects them and attempts to circumvent any association at all. He "refuses to admit or see or understand the 'darker side' of life. And fear the 'terror' within has led to the easier external 'evils' - homosexuals" (Sylvander 51) . By continuing to live in a world of self-deception, he holds the stereotypes as fact, rather than regarding them as cowardly ignorant judgments that have been proven false. "David's own homophobia pulls him back to the America that constitutes his nostalgic ideal of secure gender and sexual identity" (Rohy 2). Rather than risking obvious association with any unscrupulous type of homosexual promiscuity, he decides identify with a safer more traditional notion of gender and sexual roles that he was raised with in America. He then adopts the belief that, the ideal gay man does not flaunt his sexuality, but instead conceals his questionable lifestyle (Rohy 4). By keeping his orientation discrete and acting as a straight counterpart, he avoids affiliation with such unclean people, while still allowing him to surreptitiously explore homosexual lifestyle.

However, David's intentions create contradictory goals that he attempts to counteract though self-deception. As he struggles to hide his impurities, he convinces tries to convince himself that his counteracting deeds balance each other. David persuades himself that his early relationship with Joey started his loss of innocence. Despite their friendship and David's desire for Joey, he sacrifices it convincing himself that he will regain his innocence (Bloom 133). (Baldwin 10) Also later, because David feels tarnished once again after engaging in an affair with Giovanni, he attempts to avoid "homosexual guilt" though acquiring a fiancй, Hella (Bloom 134). This relationship represents a clean commitment that he believes will keep his purity.

However, David's self-deception catches up with himself, causing contradictory goals inevitably fail. By trying to keep himself pure while giving into his desire to explore his homosexual desires, David portrays two different people that cannot continue in accord. Despite the reality of his desire for men, he denies it to himself so not to contradict his impure beliefs of homosexuality. He inevitably becomes "imprisoned by his sense of obligation to a heterosexual life" (Shin and Hudson 9) in order comply with his greater goal of immaculacy. On the contrary, this overprotection of David's own innocence frustrates his lover as Giovanni says "You love your purity ... you walk around with your hands in front of you as though you had some precious metal ... down there between your legs! You will never give it to anybody, you will never let anybody touch it - man or woman. You want to be clean" (Baldwin 141). In this passage, Giovanni is telling David that his over protectiveness of his purity and his

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