In the Dark in Hwang's M. Butterfly

“Marc: Before you know it, every last one of them- they’re stripped and splashing in the pool. There’s no moon out, they can’t see what’s going on, their boobs are flapping, right? You close your eyes, reach out- it’s grab bag, get it? Doesn’t matter whose ass is between whose legs, whose teeth are sinking into who. You’re just in there, going at it, eyes closed, on and on for as long as you can stand. (Pause) Some fun, huh?”(Hwang 8)

I see this scene in David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly as very telling, a foreshadowing of things to come, and also indicative of the attitudes of the male characters toward women. The darkness and anonymity of the sexual encounters described here by Gallimard’s friend Marc mirrors that of the later encounters between Gallimard and Song. There is a lack of knowledge of one’s partner described here that Gallimard will mirror later in the play. His exposure to this concept now also makes him more accustomed to it later on, and less likely to question similar encounters with Song. This passage, as mentioned before, also is exemplary of the characters’ attitude toward women.

Here, as in much of the play, a very objectifying view of women is shown by Marc. This view is often echoed by Gallimard. Women are often seen as something that men can have, as little more than objects. To Gallimard, a woman is important, but for the wrong reasons- she is seen as a mark of manhood, of status. She is also valued for beauty and little else. This could be seen as a result of Gallimard’s background- it is evident that his peers shared this view, and from cultural exposure to things like Madame Butterfly, and his interpretation of them, he gleaned what he thought were the qualities of the ideal woman. This can be seen time and again throughout the play, and in this passage in particular.

"Home" in James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room

‘She looked at me steadily for awhile and then she said, “David. Don’t you think we ought to go home?”

“Go home? What for?”

“What are we staying here for? How long do you want to sit in this house, eating your heart out? And what do you think it’s doing to me?” She rose and came to me. “Please. I want to go home. I want to get married. I want to start having kids. I want us to live someplace, I want you. Please, David. What are we marking time over here for?”’(Baldwin 160-161)

This passage, which comes toward the end of Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, brings together several very important themes of the novel. One of these is the nuclear family structure, which is so essential to American life, that David seems to feel almost trapped into, as having no choice of whether he wants it or not. Regardless of his sexuality or true feelings on the matter (which are muddled at best), David feels that he will do these things because he has to, almost as a sign of manhood. Still, he is definitely hesitant to do this. Another, even more central theme, explored here is that of home.

Earlier in the novel, Giovanni says “you will go home and then you will find that home is not home anymore. Then you will really be in trouble. As long as you are here, you can always think: One day I will go home….You don’t have a home until you leave it, and then, when you have left it, you can never go back” (Baldwin 116).  This quote applies very heavily to the one above. David may be an American, but he has changed during his time in Europe, and America won’t be the same for him when he returns- it is no longer home for him. David, though confused and in deep denial, was able to be more open about his sexuality in France than he ever could have been in America, and this has changed him. When he goes back to America, if indeed he ever does, it will never be the same, be the home that it once was.