Find Me

Setting plays an important role in Find Me. The cultures of certain geographical locations and the impact of those locations influence the development of character, plot, and theme.

Rome is an important setting for many reasons. Elio and Samuel both have formative memories of Rome. Samuel lived in Rome when he was much younger, unmarried, and childless. Rome, therefore, represents all of the potential for love and passion that Samuel once harbored. Elio visited Rome with Oliver when he was still a teenager, and it was the only place in which they could be openly sexual and romantic with one another. It is also the setting in which Elio discovered he wanted to be an artist. Now an adult, Elio lives in Rome and revisits the scenes of his first trip. He brings his father along on these vigils, which adds significance to Rome as a setting for the nurturing of his close relationship with his father. Samuel falls in love with Miranda in Rome, closing the circle of his youthful desire for love and his adult discovery of it. Italian culture is associated with passion and love in the novel, so characters in Rome are able to freely pursue their love in unconventional ways.

France is another important setting. Elio moves to Paris for work, and French culture, like Italian culture, is here associated with an open-minded perspective regarding sex, love, and sexuality. Elio falls in love with Michel in Paris, and Michel’s house in the countryside of France presents a layered geographical setting. Michel’s house is a locus of tradition and long-lost secrets. Here Elio discovers Ariel Waldstein’s music, which prompts him on a journey to discover the story of Ariel’s life. Ariel, a French Jewish man, was murdered during the Holocaust. This memory of France’s history is an important reminder of the tragedy of life.

In juxtaposition, Oliver’s life in the United States of America is much more repressed. American culture is associated with independence to the European characters but in Oliver’s experience is actually quite traditional and conventional. Because of his American upbringing and the influence of that culture, Oliver checks the boxes of heteronormativity: He marries a woman, has a nuclear family, and tries to repress his attraction to men. Life in the United States oppresses Oliver’s happiness because he can’t be his true self there. When he reunites with Elio, Oliver goes to Italy, rather than Elio traveling to the United States. In Italy, they can be if not accepted then ignored—their love can be protected from a judgmental society. Italy is also the setting of the birth of their love and therefore becomes the setting of its rebirth.

Geography keeps Elio and Oliver apart for decades; had they always lived in the same country, their love story would have been much different. The emphasis on geography echoes André Aciman’s own upbringing: He grew up in Egypt and Europe, and then ended up in the United States. These journeys have made Aciman a cultured author well versed in history, language, and difference. The influence of his cosmopolitan life is echoed in the geography of Find Me.