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Katrina asked this question about Call Me by Your Name:
Why did Oliver get married? Wasn't he still in love with Elio?
Luke I totally agree with Fernando. Being bisexual, wanting a conventional life, wanting children, worrying about his father, or whatever else....all these…moreI totally agree with Fernando. Being bisexual, wanting a conventional life, wanting children, worrying about his father, or whatever else....all these seemingly reasonable explanations didn't really seem valid to me.

Was there really no way out? Look, there could have been a hundred plausible explanations for why Oliver did what he did, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to this: perhaps he didn't love Elio enough -- at least not as much as Elio loved him.

If I were in Oliver's shoes, knowing that I'm madly in love with Elio, and that he's the one I wanted, I would say to Elio: let me go back finish my PhD, get a job, and I'll wait for you there. In the meantime, finish your high school, and think about where you wanna go for college. If you are interested, you could consider coming to the US and maybe look for a school that is not too far from where I am; that way, we could see each other regularly and continue our relationship. But if you prefer to stay in Italy, I will try to find in job in the academia in Italy and move here, so that I can continue to be with you....

They won't need to come out to the world if they choose not to. Oliver’s father didn’t need to know about them if Oliver chooses not to come out. And there are no rules saying that you must be married with children to be a university professor. Besides, Elio's parents were super supportive, so these two were very fortunate compared to many others' situations out there. The Perlmans would have welcomed him as a son-in-law with open arms.

Was there risk involved? Maybe. Or maybe not. At the end of the day, Oliver didn't want to take that possible risk -- whatever risk that may have been (career, family, societal pressure, conventional life.....etc). Perhaps he wasn’t sure if one day Elio might lose interest in him? Well, to break up with someone you love ‘just in case that this someone might lose interest in you’ sounds totally incredulous to me. That doesn’t fly at all.
Oliver would have been willing to at least make some effort to try to be together if he truly loved Elio that much. I would have if I were him.

Instead, he chose to break Elio's heart.
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Call Me by Your Name
by André Aciman (Goodreads Author)
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