Giovanni’s room seems to represent a place one goes to get nowhere. David saw Giovanni’s room as a “filthy little room”. He did not seem to enjoy being there, however he found himself unable to leave it for the longest time. Giovanni’s room represents a present with no future, in my opinion. Even though David “loved” Giovanni, he was well aware that anything more than temporary lovers between him and Giovanni would never be possible. David did not enjoy being in that room, though he was compelled to stay within with Giovanni. He referred to it as “stinking and dirty” when he spoke to Hella about Giovanni and his room. The “room” seemed to have had the same meaning for David at the end of the novel as it did in the beginning of it. He never referred to the room as anything more than “Giovanni’s room” even though it was his place as well. To me that indicates a moment in David’s life that was memorable enough to not been have been referred to as simply my apartment or the place i used to live in.
-Carlos L.
I think Giovannis room can be seen as a symbol of how David feels about himself, trapped, because he can’t leave since he doesn’t have any money and at the same time he doesn’t want to be seen as a gay man. David sees being gay as a way of minimizing his masculinity and Giovannis room has a lot to do with is because this is the place where he can be himself and act as he pleases with Giovanni and he doesn’t want to be reminded of that.