Yes, possibility 2 is rather explicitly told in LtODD. Eli and Oskar are seen mixing blood, which Eli stated in the novel would surely infect Oskar. And, of course, it worked. How else to explain that a 12 year old Oskar Eriksson is in a photograph taken in 2008?sauvin wrote:Metoo, and yet, there are two broad-brush possible futures for Oskar that we know of:
(1) Oskar remains uninfected;
(2) Oskar becomes infected.
The latter possibility, as I understand it, is mentioned in LTODD, where he's said to have a kind of "predatory" look. One presumes the kids live happily ever after, more or less. The former possibility means he'll be happy in some respects and miserable in others. Maybe Oskar's still headed for even greater crises in either event. Without knowing what kinds of things the kids might have discussed and decided, Oskar on that train is "blissfully" unaware of even greater horrors yet to come?
But I don't think it is correct to say that in scenario 2 Oskar would have been unaware of horrors yet to come. Remember that he had personally witnessed some of the consequences of Eli's plight, and had been able to figure some others out. He might not have known of all of the horrors, but I think he did have a rather clear view of their character and magnitude. After all, he had the memory of being mutilated and then turned into a vampire (he had in the novel, that is). He had been there, himself. I don't think Oskar looking forward to being turned into a vampire was blissfully ignorant. I think he was blissful despite looking forward to a future that he knew would in most aspects be very miserable.
Scenario 1, however, would be a different thing altogether. Oskar would not have known much of what hardships he would see as an unturned, growing up and eventually ageing companion to a child vampire. Your Oskar at 40 is completely plausible (and very well written, I might add).