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What was Oliver's purpose in eating the peach? What point was he making? Or was he doing it to get a rise? Just curious of other opinions. I have mine.
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Call Me by Your Name,
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Alex
He said: "I could never stand my own. But this is yours." He was showing Elio that he wanted even the parts of him that could be considered dirty and sick. He made no distinction between them and the rest.
Apart from that, it's an allusion to the title and how Aciman descibes desire: that you become your lover and he becomes you, that you don't really know if you want to have him or be him.
Apart from that, it's an allusion to the title and how Aciman descibes desire: that you become your lover and he becomes you, that you don't really know if you want to have him or be him.
Alexandra Stuart
I think he did that for two reasons:
1) To possess Elio fully, with not a sliver of separation left between them;
2) To show him that when you love truly and passionately, nothing can possibly be considered filthy or sick.
It was a magnificent scene.
1) To possess Elio fully, with not a sliver of separation left between them;
2) To show him that when you love truly and passionately, nothing can possibly be considered filthy or sick.
It was a magnificent scene.
Felix Gomez
He was just horny as fuck
Xu
This sort of explained later in the book, “I believe with every cell in my body that every cell in yours must not, must never, die, and if it does have to die, let it die inside my body.”
Marc
Oliver demonstrating to Elio, if there is any question what I think about you, watch this! This is the depth of it.
He was still chewing on the peach when he said "What ever happens between us Elio, I just want you to know. Don't ever say you didn't know." Since Aciman added this while Oliver was still chewing, to me it is clear that by eating the peach Oliver chose to tell Elio 'I love you my so much.' If not by eating the peach, then at a minimum this was the point that he shared it. Yet Elio's head tried to deflect it, choosing not to hear that he was Oliver's beloved. Elio only admitted not understanding Oliver's words.
He was still chewing on the peach when he said "What ever happens between us Elio, I just want you to know. Don't ever say you didn't know." Since Aciman added this while Oliver was still chewing, to me it is clear that by eating the peach Oliver chose to tell Elio 'I love you my so much.' If not by eating the peach, then at a minimum this was the point that he shared it. Yet Elio's head tried to deflect it, choosing not to hear that he was Oliver's beloved. Elio only admitted not understanding Oliver's words.
forestation
Just eliminate the peach as intermediary and think of the act that's left. It's basically the same gesture that's often used to convey intimacy during sex.
Bob
Just as with the title, "Call Me by Your Name," which symbolically shows how both men become the same man, Oliver's wish to swallow the peach containing Elio's cum demonstrates a concrete fulfillment of that desire. Also, Elio is innocent and initially shocked by Oliver's action. He soon absorbs what Oliver has done. (Gay men have tasted one another's cum forever, but Elio is only a novice. He must learn quickly. He only has a few days to last him a lifetime.)
Though this isn't spelled out in the book, both men are Jewish and there's a famous quotation from "The Song of Solomon": "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." The words in Hebrew are frequently engraved on wedding rings.
Though this isn't spelled out in the book, both men are Jewish and there's a famous quotation from "The Song of Solomon": "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." The words in Hebrew are frequently engraved on wedding rings.
Cassandra
I thought he was just horny
Jonathan Osborn
I think they were testing boundaries. Elio was excited, but embarrassed and ashamed. Oliver noting Elio's discomfort, tests the boundaries of both Elio's discomfort, and then his own to see where those boundaries lay. It's telling that when Elio proclaims his sickness, Oliver reassures him that "we should all be so sick."
Ten Thousand
I think everyone is analyzing this way too much. It is very common in gay sex to each other's cum. Probably in heterosexual relationships as well, but that is more of a one way act. I don't think it is as symbolic as everyone is trying to figure out.
Katie
Total intimacy.
Jennifer Reyes
I think he was saying he didn't want anything that was part of Elio to not be part of him. Him eating the peach maybe signifies that Elio is part of him or something to that effect?
St. Gerard Expectant Mothers
I thought about that scene and apparently a variation of it in the movie. (I haven't seen it but I'll stream it when it gets released to DVD). At first, it almost fit into this fetish type category but I thought about it for a moment and there are several interpretations as described by the readers here. Obviously, obsession and possession. There is also that deep desire to part of someone so consuming the peach is in a way signifying that right of ownership or taking in a part of the other person's soul.
On a more psychological level, it's about dominance and control. I think Oliver finds it satisfying that he has some sort of power or can one up Elio in the relationship even though Elio might think otherwise. Again, this starts to fall into that BDSM subculture which is another topic entirely but it's interesting that author Aciman included this controversial scene as a way of bringing about a discussion that can be argued from multiple points of view.
On a more psychological level, it's about dominance and control. I think Oliver finds it satisfying that he has some sort of power or can one up Elio in the relationship even though Elio might think otherwise. Again, this starts to fall into that BDSM subculture which is another topic entirely but it's interesting that author Aciman included this controversial scene as a way of bringing about a discussion that can be argued from multiple points of view.
Jose
It fits the metaphor of bodily union. Oliver wanted to show how he could take Elio's essence and make it part of himself. remember his thesis was about Heraclitus and so the mutability of matter. Bodily functions are a big part of the books message. You love someone, you love what their bodies generate. Remember the scenes in Rome when Elio is defecating or vomiting and Oliver is right there with him. How Elio wanted to touch Oliver's scars. These normally disgusting things are transcended by love the same way saliva becomes the taste of a lover in a kiss, not just a gland's product.
Yossi C
I think that it has to do more with the desire of one becoming the other than with any particular sexual intention. Even though it was a real act it takes the whole thing to a more elevated realm. I absolutely agree that there is a deep desire to become the other person that you love.
Adis
I think it's simply acceptance. Acceptance, one, of his thoughts, the kind that Elio himself finds to be shameful and dirty and 'sick'. Elio playing out his fantasies for his pleasure is the most personal and vulnerable part of his life as it would be for anybody. Oliver accepts this part of Elio wholly and unabashedly without a moment's hesitation. And two, acceptance of something his body produced, his semen which is also private and supposed to be gross for anyone else other than Elio himself. This again doesn't bother Oliver one bit. This is why Elio broke down and recalls the time when Anchise drew out with his mouth a scorpion's venom from Elio's foot. Recounting it as an act of kindness. This part in the book signifies Oliver entering Elio's private world and creating a wall between themselves and the rest of the world.
Claudia Gavintip
He said: "I could never stand my own. But this is yours." He was showing Elio that he wanted even the parts of him that could be considered dirty and sick. He made no distinction between them and the rest.
Rod
I think to show his love, trust and affection to Elio.
Madisyn Pannier
I totally believe it was Oliver was trying to prove to Ellio that how fascinated and infatuated with him he really was it was pretty sick but isnt love sick in some ways?
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