I think this book was beautifully written of course. James Baldwin is able to make you just as confused and uncomfortable as the characters themselves. From the very beginning of the novel, you know that there is a tragedy. Moving through the story you already have a sense of the tragic fate that Giovanni awaits. in the novel, Baldwin writes in a way that is so raw and real that it has you processing and analyzing the text way after you have read it. I still think about this book a lot. Baldwin is the first writer I have read that truly captures the internalized shame that comes with being outside societal expectations, sexual, and parental expectations. 
     Baldwin made the characters so complicated and unlikable at times that it truly felt real because of how realistic it is. in life you don’t always take action before it’s too late and then you have to deal with the consequences of that. I think Baldwin did a phenomenal job at depicting how excruciating it can be to have to be different people to different aspects of your life. How hard it can be when different parts of your life collide. 
    Baldwin does a great job at showing the complexity of love. He shows the different kind of love you can have and how it can be extremely complex and confusing. The way he truly shows the shame and denial to his sexual identity and attraction to Giovanni was such a raw and realistic depiction of how it feels trying to deny your sexual identity especially during this time period. Of course you don’t have to feel shame or suppress your sexual identity. There is nothing wrong with loving who you love, but I feel that during the 1950s it was not a common experience to be proud of your sexual identity that did not fit the Norm especially for people from America. 
    I know that that he did a good job at depicting the tragic relationship because I felt uncomfortable and avoided coming back to the book because of how real it felt. It is a book that will leave you thinking about it long after reading it.