Tragic Giovani

Initially I was confused by the jumping forward and backward in time--I made myself do a double take to be sure I hadn't missed a letter in someone's name and they were in fact two different people. After I did figure out that Giovani was a constant character, and that the one we meet is fated to die, I became absolutely transfixed with his character. By alerting us of his fate early one, Baldwin creates this morbid obsession for readers to fondle; I was constantly trying to dig deeper into everything Giovani said and did, changing my conception of him multiple times. This made me wonder how my fascination with Giovani might have differed had I not known his fate. His intensity might have fallen into the background, or the details of his life might have been harder to remember.

One important contribution made by mentioning Giovani's death is a reference to the extent of David and Giovani's relationship. When we first meet Giovani, and for much of David's interactions later, his significance to the story is hesitant. At any moment we could be pulled away and told a story of David's coming of age/self-realization. By knowing a longer relationship occurred, we are more invested in Giovani's earlier actions.