Point of View

The novel is told entirely from the point of view of Elio. This use of point of view has a significant impact on the reader’s understanding of events because the narrative concerns a growing relationship between two people but only ever presents the views and interpretations of one of them. By having Elio narrate events in retrospect, the author is able to include hints about the unreliability of the way Elio interpreted events at the time: “The despair aimed at myself must have given my features something bordering on impatience and unspoken rage. That he might have mistaken these as aimed at him never crossed my mind” (15). While this highlights Elio’s self-awareness that his own perspective is biased, whether or not this is indeed how Oliver interpreted Elio’s behavior is never revealed.

In the early stages of the novel this puts the...