There are several novels written by two of the worlds most critically acclaimed literary writers of the 20th century James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. But I would like to focus on just two of their works, James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. In these novels in some way the authors suggest a theme of how the past is rooted in the present. Now each of these authors shows this in a different way. This is because of the contrast in their story outline and the structures of their novels. Yet they both seem to suggest that if the past is not clear then the present or the future can not be clear as well. One can not run from ones past, it will only dictate ones future.I would like to start with James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room. From the very beginning of the novel we see this man standing in the window of his apartment building in France. He begins to reminisce about the things that he had done and the past that had caused his present reality. From this very moment the author begins to suggest to us that something about this man's past is relevant to the plot or story about to be told. The man, whose name is David, tells us about this person named Giovanni, and how he was about to face the guillotine. David also tells us about how his fiance Hella had left him. And how he told her that he loved her. He begins to go back in time to explain to us how he met and asked Hella to marry him, as well as to tell us that he lived with Giovanni. So what was this dilemma that Giovanni was about to face or had already faced. David dose not tell us at this point, instead he starts to tell us about this guy named Joey who was once his best friend, until that night. The night that he began to feel different for him. He says: I laughed and grabbed his head as I had done God knows how many times before, when I was playing with him or when he had annoyed me.But this time when I touched him something happened in him and in me whic...
