Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Mirrors in Giovanni's Room

"The body in the mirror forces me to turn and face it. And I look at my body, which is under sentence of death. It is lean, hard, and cold, the incarnation of mystery. And I do not know what moves in this body, what this body is searching. It is trapped in my mirror as it is trapped in time and it hurries toward revelation" (168).

In the last chapter, as David describes Giovanni's execution, it almost seems as if David loses himself in Giovanni. It becomes confusing in David's language as to whether David is awaiting execution or Giovanni is. The use of mirrors has been a significant and symbolic tool in the novels we have read about identity this year. As in White Castle, mirrors help to raise awareness about identity and reveal the truth in their reflection. Perhaps David feels he is so deserving of Giovanni's punishment that he confuses Giovanni with himself. He feels that he is so deserving of Giovanni's pain that he himself can feel it. He feels so close to the man that he loves that he tries to interchange their lives in his final narration.

1 comment:

Rachel said...

i nominate this for pow, Great insight and discussion of the end of a great book.