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Sue is an American woman living in Paris. Although she doesn’t run in the same circles as David, he’s familiar enough with her to know that he would never find her attractive. Nevertheless, he decides to have sex with her after learning that Hella will soon be returning to Paris, hoping that this will help him move on from his relationship with Giovanni and reacquaint him with a woman’s touch. However, he realizes that this is a bad idea once they actually start having sex, but there’s nothing he can do to back out of the situation, since he had to persuade Sue to invite him to her apartment in the first place. And though he hates having sex with her, Sue herself comes to enjoy the experience, even asking him if they can go out to dinner afterwards. Not wanting to spend more time with her, David makes up an excuse and quickly leaves, telling her that he doesn’t like to make plans. In response, Sue sadly tells him that he can visit her if he ever becomes lonely again, indicating that she understands that he used her for sex but is willing to put herself through the experience again.
Sue Quotes in Giovanni’s Room
The Giovanni’s Room quotes below are all either spoken by Sue or refer to Sue. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 2: Chapter 2 Quotes
Again, somewhere at the bottom of me, I realized that my fears had been excessive and groundless and, in effect, a lie: it became clearer every instant that what I had been afraid of had nothing to do with my body. Sue was not Hella and she did not lessen my terror of what would happen when Hella came: she increased it, she made it more real than it had been before.
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After Hella tells David in a letter that she’ll soon be returning to Paris, he decides he must have sex with a woman to prepare for her imminent arrival. This, he believes, will help him combat his fear about reentering a heterosexual relationship. With this in mind, he has drinks with an acquaintance named Sue and eventually ends up having sex with her at her apartment. This passage appears while he and Sue are having sex, as David gradually realizes that he was foolish to think that having intimate relations with a woman would do anything to change his attitude Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui
Yet it was true, I recalled, turning away from the river down the long street home, I wanted children. I wanted to be inside again, with the light and safety, with my manhood unquestioned, watching my woman put my children to bed. I wanted the same bed at night and the same arms and I wanted to rise in the morning, knowing where I was. I wanted a woman to be for me a steady ground, like the earth itself, where I could always be renewed.
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When Hella tells David that she’ll be returning to Paris, David has meaningless sex with his acquaintance Sue. This leaves him feeling even worse than before, since it only emphasizes the extent to which he doesn’t want to be with a woman. However, he feels differently on the walk home from Sue’s apartment, thinking that he truly does want to settle down with a woman and have a family. As he looks out over the city, he sees the lights in each apartment and wonders about the families who live in these buildings. Feeling lonely, he reminds himself that he Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae
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Sue Character Timeline in Giovanni’s Room
The timeline below shows where the character Sue appears in Giovanni’s Room. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 2: Chapter 2
...pass on the street and waits for someone he knows, finally recognizing a woman named Sue. David doesn’t find Sue attractive, but he eagerly invites her to have a drink and...
(full context)
David tells Sue that she should invite him over for a drink, and though she refuses at first,...
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After having sex, David and Sue lie in silence for a long while, though David itches to leave. As he dresses,...
(full context)
