Bianca Harkless
Editor-In-Chief
If you had read my column for a while, the title Call Me By Your Name should sound very familiar. Recently, I reread the book and noticed something I did not the first time around. spoiler here I finally realised that Elio and Oliver choose to die.
For those who have not read the book or watched the movie, Elio finds himself in his father library reading the book The Heptameron which details the story of a knight who is “madly in love” with a princess who is also in love with him, though she is not entirely aware of it. Despite that, the two become friends and then maybe more than friends, though he would never be allowed to marry her. One day, when he can no longer handle hiding his feelings but does not want to ask her directly, he asks the princess “Is it better to speak or to die?”
A few days later Elio brings up the book when talking to Oliver. Oliver pushes Elio asking him, “So does he or doesn’t he?” Elio ignores Oliver's question, telling them that the princess says that it is better to speak. Oliver asks Elio again, looking for the boy's response. “So, does he speak?” Oliver asks. “No-he fudges.” says Elio in return.
That section of the book proceeds the second part of the book known as ‘Monet’s Berm’ and comes before Elio confessed his feelings to Oliver although I do not really know if it can be counted as him confessed because he never really says anything about it, rather opted to use phrases like “you should know” and “you know what things.” On page 73, Elio tells Oliver “Yes, I know what I am saying and you’re not mistaking any of it. I’m just not very good at speaking.” In a way, Elio is speaking, but he is still avoiding actually speaking directly, much like the knight did.
Oliver truly speaks for the first time on page 78 when he and Elio are at Elio’s secret place. “You’re making things very difficult for me,” and Elio does notet understand what he means, taking the comment more as a challenge. The two go back and forth for a little while before Elio decides to push him again. “The best I can do is pretend I don’t care.” says Elio. “That much we’ve known for a while already.” He responded talking about all the time the two spent pushing each other away, staying quiet and ignoring the tension that had been going for some amount of time.
Oliver speaks the remainder of the time he is with Elio and the Perlmen until it comes time for him and Elio to leave for Rome. The two have a good time, but when it is time for Oliver to return to America and for Elio to return to his small Italian town, Oliver and him leave without saying much more. After some time, Oliver phones the Perlmens and they talk about how his life is going in New York.
After Elio’s parents hang up, Oliver is back to his same, quiet and distant way. Elio asks him if he thought of him and Oliver only responds with a “What do you think?” signally that he is not quiet back to where they were at the start but they are nowhere near who they were when they went their separate ways, when both of them made their choice rather to die than speak.
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman is one of the best books I have ever read. Everytime I open the book to read it again, I pick up something new or find a new meaning in a phrase. I would highly recommend reading the book and taking the time to actually think about what you are reading rather than rushing it, trying to find out the end and if they decided to speak or to die.
Image Credit: Glen Noble on Unsplash
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