Entertainment

Book review: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

By: Afra Noor

Editor’s Note: Views expressed in this article are

solely the author's opinions and beliefs.

James Baldwin’s 1956 novel, Giovanni’s Room, explores the battle between longing and conventional values through the story of a young American’s affair with an Italian barman. Set in the South of France, the novel introduces us to our protagonist, David, who is conflicted regarding his romantic pursuits while his fiancee, Hella, is away on a trip. While Hella is on the trip, David meets Giovanni at a bar, and the two pursue a passionate affair—one that eventually drives David to face his fear of being emasculated.

Born in 1924, James Baldwin grew up in an impoverished, religious household, in Harlem. Despite his circumstances, Baldwin sought knowledge: he visited libraries and eventually found his passion for writing there. During his early years, he went on to follow his father’s footsteps to eventually become a preacher. His experiences in religious work is later reflected in his work through the biblical allusions and imagery that he employs in his writing.

Baldwin eventually moved out of New York to escape the racism and discrimination prevalent in the States during the 1940s. By moving to Paris, Baldwin achieved a sense of anonymity and creative freedom that he didn’t have in the U.S. In fact, when Baldwin went on to publish Giovanni’s Room a decade later, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. refused to publish his novel in fear of alienating his previously earned reputation from Go Tell It on the Mountain. 

There are many motifs that are so creatively woven throughout the novel that regurgitate Baldwin’s fascinating commentary. For instance, there is a constant motif of the Old World and the New World colliding in Giovanni’s room. The novel’s protagonist, David, is characteristic of the New World as an American who escapes to Paris and brings his repressed and conventional values with him. On the contrary, Giovanni—characteristic of the Old World— is an Italian barman who exposes David to a chaotic and raw emotional reckoning. As a result, David's outlook on Giovanni’s room as unclean and disoriented, coincides with his views on his own sexuality. Due to this clash, David eventually abandons the affair and never embraces his sexuality in fear of being emasculated.

Early on in the novel, during a conversation between David and Jacques—a businessman who David often seeks advice from—Jacques says “Nobody can stay in the garden of Eden” when the two talk about Giovanni’s sentencing. According to Britannica, the Garden of Eden is the “biblical earthly paradise inhabited by the first created man and woman, Adam and Eve, prior to their expulsion for disobeying the commands of God,” making Jacques’s statement a biblical allusion. Reading this within the context of the novel, there can easily be many interpretations made. For instance, this reference can mean to highlight the inescapable fate of Giovanni and David’s affair. While the two pursue a passionate relationship, they both had different expectations for what the future had held for them: David viewing the affair as a temporary “dirty” life in contrast to the “clean” and conventional life with Hella; Giovanni expecting a committed and genuine connection rather than a passing fantasy. However, Jacques’s statement proves correct when David and Giovanni’s affair only provided them with a short-lived, secluded happiness in Giovanni’s room before David eventually leaving and believing it as unsustainable in his understanding of the conventional world.

While the novel is only 150 pages, and this article is about 700 words long, Giovanni’s Room will make you feel so much in a matter of paragraphs. From the first page of the novel, I was really drawn to the emotional yet simple writing structure. With every page, the characters continued to develop their beautiful arcs and I felt for all of them: Giovanni, David, and even Hella. Overall, I believe that there are so many broader themes beyond the homosexual themes that are present and almost secondary—in my opinion—to this story. While writing this, I was in utter chaos trying to figure out my best arguments or points to include and after diving deeper into the history of the author, that chaos only grew. All this is to say that Giovanni’s Room is an incredible story that will prompt you to think—think about how you or others have to sacrifice individual integrity everyday to live in a world full of societal conventions; think about the perennial themes that are still relevant today, 70 years later; or think about simply enjoying a story of love and pain.

Is Cancel Culture Necessary or Toxic?

By: Jasmine Zheng

Cancel culture is represented through a collective withdrawal of people’s support for a public figure or a company for actions or statements. It works as a kind of public shaming meant to diminish that individual’s influence or access to a platform. Cancel culture can happen in many different forms such as public shaming, boycotting, or deplatforming.  Social media has spread information rapidly, allowing for quick judgement from the general public. Cancel culture has sparked debate over whether it is too harsh and a form of censorship, or simply a way to hold individuals accountable. 

People arguing that cancel culture is necessary believe it gives a marginalized group of people a voice against those with influence—rich, famous, powerful people and companies. Supporters argue that cancel culture spreads awareness about issues especially when the law or official system does not do anything about it. 

Many believe cancel culture was necessary in the case of the global clothing company H&M due to their “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” advertisement in 2018. H&M posted a controversial advertisement of a Black 5-year old modeling a hoodie with a slogan that said “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” on their website. This caused outrage for many people and activists because they felt that the advertisement was racist. The word monkey can be taken as offensive. According to “All Of These Words Are Offensive But Only Sometimes” on Dictionary.com, in the context of calling people apes and monkeys based on their skin color, it’s considered derogatory language, which can make people feel dehumanized.   

Furthermore, critics pointed out other sweatshirts in the same product line worn by white children that did not have the same offensive language. The controversy quickly spread across social media as people screenshotted the advertisement and criticized H&M. According to a BBC News article titled, "H & M apologizes over ‘racist’image of black boy in hoodie”, celebrities such as The Weeknd publicly shared that they would no longer work with the company because of the image. Apart from celebrities, The New York Times Columnist Charles M Blow shared his concerns saying, “@hm, have you lost your damned minds?!?!?!” 

In “Protesters Trash South African H&M Stores Over Racist Ad" by Hayley Miller from The Atlanta Voice,  in places such as South Africa, protests were so intense that H&M had to temporarily close some of their stores in South Africa due to vandalism. H&M responded to the backlash by removing the advertisement and issued an apology for offending people and a promise to review its practices. In addition to the apology, H&M appointed a global leader Annie Wu for diversity and inclusion to prevent issues like this to arise again. 

Bayside High School sophomore Chloe Lin shares, “ I believe that cancel culture leads to genuine change because it raises awareness for many individuals who are oblivious. Meanwhile, it also allows organizations to be held accountable for their actions.”  

Bayside High School sophomore Florence Li agrees. “Cancel culture will lead to genuine change in a person because it can make someone able to change if they are doing or saying something bad.” 

On the other hand, there are people who believe cancel culture goes too far and can turn into censorship rather than accountability. Critics argue that people or companies are often “cancelled” without being given an opportunity to address the issue and improve. As a result, many people online and in real life may be afraid to express their opinions in fear of being attacked or cancelled. 

Bayside High School junior Mathew Dong believes cancel culture does not lead to genuine change. “No, this is coming from an avid user of social media. All it does is encourage further bullying and or disdain for the system." Similarly, Bayside High School senior Mysha Rahman adds, “I think cancel culture doesn’t lead to genuine change and instead simply pressures people to apologize, which might not seem honest, and it seems like cancel culture doesn’t lead to forgiving or letting that person change. Keeping a guide never leads to a positive change, but that’s what cancels culture thrives on.”  

Nevertheless, cancel culture is still relevant today in 2026 especially since social media continues to play a huge role in spreading information rapidly online. A recent example is when beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira faced backlash when old clips resurfaced leading users to accuse her of being dishonest in her product reviews. Several major brands paused collaborating with her because of the controversy. This shows how quickly public backlash can impact someone’s career.  

While cancel culture can hold people accountable and raise awareness, it can also go too far and turn into unfair punishment.