Does Eli dream?

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ltroifanatic
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Does Eli dream?

Post by ltroifanatic » Mon Apr 24, 2017 1:25 am

As I often do I day-dream about this beautiful story and the above question popped into my mind.What an interesting thought for the forum to ponder on I thought.Would Eli dream?And if so what would she/he dream about? I hoped that if she does it would be pleasant dreams of past happier times or perhaps of a lovely little boy with blonde hair and shy ways.I hoped it wouldn't be nightmarish dreams of her terrible ordeal.If that was the case I hoped she didn't dream at all.Then,as is my way,my mind wandered to the reality of children being bombed,starved and exploited and what they must dream about.I apologise for being so maudlin, but I hope for their sake ,they don't dream.I think I answered my own question. :(
Please Oskar.Be me for a little while.

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a_contemplative_life
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Re: Does Eli dream?

Post by a_contemplative_life » Mon Apr 24, 2017 4:00 am

I've always thought that Eli and Oskar (post-turning) dream, but it's kind of a guess as to what a vampire's mental state is after sunup.
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metoo
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Re: Does Eli dream?

Post by metoo » Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:05 am

I know this is the film sub-forum, but the film has little or no clues to the answer of this question.

The novel, though, is quite specific, although it mostly refer to Virginia on this subject. However, I believe Virginia is representative for eliform vampires in general. The experiences of Virginia are included to tell us stuff also about Eli's life, I think.

Thus, Eli does not sleep, he rests (Swedish: vila). In this state the human brain is completely switched off, and therefore Eli doesn't dream.
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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ltroifanatic
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Re: Does Eli dream?

Post by ltroifanatic » Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:19 am

Thanks METOO..I was hoping he didn't
Please Oskar.Be me for a little while.

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dongregg
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Re: Does Eli dream?

Post by dongregg » Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:49 pm

ltroifanatic wrote:I was hoping he didn't
Me, too. If Eli could dream, then perhaps she could sleepwalk. That could be fatal. :(
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

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metoo
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Re: Does Eli dream?

Post by metoo » Mon Apr 24, 2017 4:52 pm

dongregg wrote:[...] If Eli could dream, then perhaps she could sleepwalk. That could be fatal.
That is perhaps a different question.

Whatever it is that shuts the human brain down, the heart-brain, plausibly, takes control over the eliform vampire's body in the resting state, according to the novel. (It also suggests that suicide might not work for an eliform vampire, since the infection might survive and continue to control the body. One really needs to destroy the heart-brain.)

So, what if someone disturbs a resting eliform vampire? Maybe the heart-brain decides that immediate action is necessary. Only later it would activate the human brain, and the person embedded therein, who would then face what has happened.

This, I imagine, might have been the major reason behind the warning not to enter the bath room in Eli's note to Oskar.

I also imagine that this might have happened when Lacke was killed by Eli.
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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Drakeule
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Re: Does Eli dream?

Post by Drakeule » Mon Apr 24, 2017 8:38 pm

I hope for some writers they do dream. I've read a lot of fan fics that consist of a lot of them...

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cmfireflies
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Re: Does Eli dream?

Post by cmfireflies » Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:18 am

In the novel, right before he tried to kill Eli, didn't Lacke describe her as smiling at the evil that she'd done? To me that would imply that Eli has having a nice dream about Oskar...
"When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it."

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dongregg
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Re: Does Eli dream?

Post by dongregg » Tue Apr 25, 2017 3:18 pm

cmfireflies wrote:In the novel, right before he tried to kill Eli, didn't Lacke describe her as smiling at the evil that she'd done? To me that would imply that Eli has having a nice dream about Oskar...
And she purrs in her sleep.

I mostly ignore the Eliform vampire mode of the book when it is not supported in the film. Certain things in the book are not required in the film, such as the growth near the heart referred to by the female vampire in that brief encounter. When Eli considers ending it all, she knows where to pierce her chest, which is a charming book reference to the efficacy of wooden stakes. But the major vampire themes that are in the film suffice to show Eli as "Other." Rather than being controlled by her inner vampire, I present Eli with her pre-turned personality intact -- an emasculated boy (we see the scar) presenting as a girl (Lina) -- and her irresistible urge to feed based on hunger. Drink and kill or die. Seeing Eli that way is consistent with the film. We see that irresistible urge before she kills Jocke and in the basement scene before she attacks Virginia.

What I mainly see when forum members try to clarify things in the film by appealing to the book is not clarity, but a muddy "it would follow then that..."

But this is just one Eli-lover's opinion. Another member a while back put my objections in a more realistic frame -- It's endless fun to compare the film and the book and to create a single vision from the two works of art. Sounds about right, so lay on, Macduff and don't mind me!
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

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metoo
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Re: Does Eli dream?

Post by metoo » Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:33 pm

cmfireflies wrote:In the novel, right before he tried to kill Eli, didn't Lacke describe her as smiling at the evil that she'd done? To me that would imply that Eli has having a nice dream about Oskar...
My Swedish version says:
Det var när han tittade på ansiktet igen; ansiktet täckt med en tunn film av blod, och han tyckte att det ... smålog.
Log åt allt ont det gjort.

It was when he looked at the face again; the face covered in a thin film of blood, and he thought that it ... smiled.
Smiled at all the evil it had done.
My translation.

Now, the Swedish word used is småle (past tense smålog), små-le, small-smile literally. It has no counterpart in English, as far as I know, but it means smiling a faint smile, no teeth visible, just the corner of one's mouth slightly raised.

Anyway, as I interpret this, the smile was imagined by Lacke rather than actually observed.
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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