Freud’s insight that the unconscious is fundamentally sexualimplies that the content of the unconscious points to nothingother than our bodily existence.

It illustrates, in a strikingmanner, the ontological dualism that can, without a doubt, beconsidered the basic assumption of Lacanian psychoanalysis.°This ontological dualism is related to the fact that Lacan thinksof language and the body as originally external to each other.

Which implies thatmuch of the novel is about what is left unsaid than what is said; forexample, in “Monet’s Berm” Oliver says “Don’t ever say you didn’tknow” and Elio admits “His words made no sense. But I knew exactlywhat they meant” (Aciman 150).

This passage conflates Elio’s desire with the physical body. By connecting ejaculation with therevealing of his secret, Elio grounds his desire in the physical action of his body. With thismetaphor linking speaking and masturbating, he attempts to convince himself that the confessionhas been completed, resulting in a physical act.

’d commit the ultimateindignity, and with this indignity show him that the shame was all his, notmine, that I had come with truth and human kindness in my heart and that Iwas leaving it on his sheets now to remind him how he’d said no to a youngman’s plea for fellowship.

When I looked at my dessert plate and saw the chocolate cakespeckled with raspberry juice, it seemed to me that someone was pouringmore and more red sauce than usual, and that the sauce seemed to becoming from the ceiling above my head until it suddenly hit me that it wasstreaming from my nose. I gasped, and quickly crumpled my napkin andbrought it to my nose, holding my head as far back as I could.

wanted his tongue inmy mouth and mine in his—because all we had become, after all theseweeks and all the strife and all the fits and starts that ushered a chill drafteach time, was just two wet tongues flailing away in each other’s mouths

Now, in the silence of the moment, I stared back, not to defy him,or to show I wasn’t shy any longer, but to surrender, to tell him this is who Iam, this is who you are, this is what I want, there is nothing but truthbetween us now, and where there’s truth there are no barriers,

“What things that matter?”Was he being disingenuous?“You know what things. By now you of all people should know.”Silence.“Why are you telling me all this?”“Because I thought you should know.”“Because you thought I should know.” He repeated my words slowly,trying to take in their full meaning, all the while sorting them out,

This was probably the firsttime in my life that I spoke to an adult without planning some of what I wasgoing to say. I was too nervous to plan anything

and I never waited long enough to knowwhether I was even wanted there; look away because I was too scared to stareanyone back; look away because I didn’t want to give anything away

Oliver’s response “hated it?” turns Elio’sstatement into a question, just as Echo turns Narcissus’ question into a statement: dixerat “ecquisadest?” et “adest!” responderat Echo (“He had said, ‘Is anyone here?’ and ‘She is here!’ Echohad responded,” Ov. Met. 6.379)

I would have blushed, and blushed because I had blushed, fuddledwith words and ultimately broken down—and then where would I be? Whatwould he say?Better break down now, I thought, than live another day juggling all ofmy implausible resolutions to try again later

I asked, “Must we?” This was theclosest I would ever come to saying, Stay. Just stay with me. Let your handtravel wherever it wishes, take my suit off, take me, I won’t make a noise,won’t tell a soul, I’m hard and you know it, and if you won’t, I’ll take thathand of yours and slip it into my suit now and let you put as many fingersas you want inside me