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What I have learned in this book Giovanni's room is how judgmental society can be and the change that it can have on a person. As I read I learn more about David and how his decisions always seem to have to involve how he thinks people will react to it. It opened my eyes up to how difficult life was then being gay and not able to tell people about it because they were afraid of what others may think and how they may be perceived to people after coming out. Everyone always has a certain image that they feel they need to keep in order for them not to be picked apart by society and you never get to see how that makes people feel until you read about David. He is so scared of what others will think that he is unable to admit it within himself how he truly feels. This only makes this worse for David and you can see he is not able to truly love someone because he doesn't love himself. This was very interesting to me to see how David developed and what impact others had on him. In the world today we are so worried of what people are going to say or react to everything you do that we often are not able to live our lives how we want to. We are hidden behind this wall of guilt and shame of the judgment we will receive that we try to hide what we do or how we feel. What I have learned is that society can have a major impact on our lives more than we may think. Also, that others experience things differently and you never realize what someone is going through and what they could be hiding from the world because they are ashamed and scared of the judgment they will receive.

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I have learned that relationships are made by how well the people involved know and are comfortable with themselves. In David's case, his inability to accept or truly know himself causes all his relationships to deteriorate.

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I have learned that in order to make deep and meaningful connections with people you must first understand who you are. So far this book has thought me that if you do not love yourself then you will not be able to love anyone. I think the character that embodies this understanding the most is David and how his own insecurities have led to him not being able to fully love Hella or Giovanni. David not being able accept that he may be homosexual or at least bisexual has caused him to go down a path of self hatred that manifests itself as him being an alcoholic.

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I have learned a lot about the people in Paris during the 50s. It seemed to be a heavily immigrated city with people from all over the world, America, Italy, Denmark. It seems to be a common place for people who want to find themselves, because it's a city full of opportunity. Yet at the same time, the people in the book who live in Paris seem to be stuck in a bit of a rut. Guillame still owns the same bar and is getting to the age where he is starting to think out who to pass it on to after death. David has lived there for two years and is still sorting out the same problems he ran there to Paris to escape from. Giovanni is still very poor and has really only got a job to his name despite his long time there. Jacques is still wasting his money away day by day. Hella, however, seems to have the right mind, she isn't just going to Paris, she continues to travel the world after this and explore new things, although it is likely in the same manner as David as a way of escape the inevitable. The characters in this story all have different lives they are living but they all seem to have the same problems to face. As David had said in Chapter two, Paris is stuck in time and doesn't seem to be moving forward, and it is the same for the residents of this city. It seems as though they choose the right place to relocate to....

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After reading the book so far, there isn’t anything new to me. I already know that eventually love/ relationships leads to pain in the end. People are too scared to come out because they won’t know where it will lead in the end. They are probably scared mostly because of what other people will think of them which is nonsense. It doesn’t matter what other people think because it’s not their lives, it’s yours.

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Throughout this book, I have learned that facing what concerns you/your fears is a much better approach than avoiding it. In the book, David is constantly running away from his sexuality, but every time he take a bigger step away from his concern, he only worsens his concern. When David avoided Joey because of his fear, his actions costed him a dear friend. When David left for France in order to escape his homosexuality, he was faced with a situation more difficult to avoid than the previous one; he was able to avoid Joey back in America, but Giovanni is a much more challenging obstacle. Although David has not fully accepted the fact that he is gay, him slowly warming up to Giovanni instead of pushing the man away has resulted in fond memories and enjoyment instead of solitude and sadness. Facing what concerns you may seem difficult and useless at first, but at the end of the day, be-ridding life of any worries tends to make life easier and more enjoyable. Facing fears will only make one stronger in the end

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I feel I have learned a great amount from this book. David's character is some one who is very relatable when it comes to the LGBQ+ community, even now days, when it is something that is excepted. We have children's who grow up in   house holds that are against the idea of homosexuality,  and they then have the same mind set.
I also have am extremely interested with how the relation ship in this book will evolve, and how David and Hella interact with each other, with David having to guilt of cheating on his shoulders.

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Throughout the book there is a common message that running from problems or mental conflicts does nothing, and that most of these problems only exist because a person mentally decides that they exist. Societal bias and standards certainly have an impact in this, but the underlying issue for David is that he cannot mentally confirm his own existence as a free person, and instead worries about what other's think when he can't even decide what he truly thinks. 90% of the problem is David thinking that there is a serious problem with himself. Society shouldn't dictate who you are as a person, but in David's case this doesn't matter if he can't decide who he is.

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I learned that the way David acts is a manifestation of his internalized homophobia. David cant accept himself so he cant accept other people. He was disgusted by the Drag Queen he saw in the bar. He also talks down on women. For David, talking bad about women can make him feel manly. In the 1950s it was common for men to view women as less capable. When David disrespects women, he gets a taste of what it's like to be considered a man in the 1950s. David's homosexuality makes him feel feminine. He can't stand the thought of not being what society thinks is a man. Being gay wasnt ever the norm in terms of society's view on sexuality.

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Through out this novel it shows what it is like growing up in society in the 50's. It shows how hard it is especially when trying to find yourself like David. David was a vary confused man and because of this pressure he turned to alcohol. In society today it is still hard for some people to come out as gay. David was afraid of judgment so he kept everything to himself. No one walking down the street would have known how upset he was within himself. Even today it is hard for people to come out as gay. Society has accepted being gay more than it was accepted in the 50's. I have learned that society was harsh on people coming out as gay and todays society can still be the same way.