Why Eli wants to live ?

[gattoparde59]

I think Eli really just lives with the day, as children do, and doesn't have a future perspective. Suicide doesn't fit in her way of thinking. Besides, she's lived for so long that her life has become a numb sort of routine. Despite the fact she has to kill, she never lost all of her innocence.

That is the way I see the character. Eli is not given to introspection and does not fully understand what happened to her or what she has become, at least in the same way Virginia does. I get the feeling that Oskar forces Eli to think about things that she otherwise avoids.

Eli's failure to fully comprehend her own predicament might explain the telepathy in the novel, (that almost made it into the Swedish and the American versions). Eli communicates something without really understanding it.

I have noticed sometimes that troubled people will describe their experiences, but I get the impression that like children they don't really understand what it is they are describing.

[bore]

I have noticed sometimes that troubled people will describe their experiences, but I get the impression that like children they don't really understand what it is they are describing.

Communication is not an easy thing. I have yet to find a language where there are words that correctly describe feelings.
With every word that is used the one who listens will hear different things depending on what previous experience this person has with those words. One could try to use other forms of communication to describe feelings but this too relies on the listeners memories and previous experiences.
It could very well be that the troubled people you speak of fully understands their experiences but are unable to find a way to communicate them to one who has not been through the same thing.
On the other hand, being able to define a problem is sometimes the hardest part in solving it. Once you have been able to actually understand what the problem is the solutions tend to be quite simple.

[metoo]

It could very well be that the troubled people you speak of fully understands their experiences but are unable to find a way to communicate them to one who has not been through the same thing.

This reminds me of an interview in the 1970s with the Swedish alpine skier Ingemar Stenmark. When asked about what he did to be able to win the way he generally did, he said:

Hä int så lätt å förklar för en som int begrip.

(It's not that easy to explain to someone who doesn't understand. In dialect, which I can't translate.)


I think this says it all.

[gattoparde59]

It could very well be that the troubled people you speak of fully understands their experiences but are unable to find a way to communicate them to one who has not been through the same thing.

I would agree with you, except that what I am saying is something different. Aside from issues of communication sometimes people simply don't understand themselves.