What about the wigged man?

[Milkman]

First of all, I wanted to wish all of you a happy new year. I really hope everything works out for you guys. Also hoping we hear from JAL soon ... ahaha.
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I just finished reading all of a_contemplative_life's fan fiction, and by the ending I found myself thinking a lot about the wigged man. The fan fiction kinda made me sympathise for him.
I've only read the book once. I've revisited various parts of the book a lot, but through and through I've only read it once. So, my question is, is it ever stated anywhere in the book what happens with the wigged man? My english is not as good as I wished it were, and I admit I found myself not understanding terms, words, even sometimes whole phrases didn't make sense to me. But I think that most of those moments were during descriptions of places. I also have trouble keeping focused while reading, so, I guess I could've definitely missed something this big.
Still, I wonder if somehow I missed something as big as the fact that the wigged man is known to be alive and well. The only time I remember him being mentioned is, well, during the moment in which Eli shows Oskar her memories from the torture. And from some pieces here and there where he's briefly mentioned. Other than that, is there any information given to us in the Novel, about his survival after 200 years?
Up until I started reading fan fictions, I barely even thought of the man, and when I did, I didn't consider the possibility of his survival until modern days. He definitely could, and would have survived, I simply never really considered it because I guess I didn't really enjoy the idea of Eli reuniting with that individual. Not only that, the probability of the two of them ever meeting each other (assuming he's alive) are quite small, right?
I guess that's why I shook off the idea of him being alive, it just seems odd I guess. After reading the fan fiction, though, I guess something interesting could be done with this character. And in a rational way, the man definitely was interested in surviving, even though he took quite the risks. He was also probably experienced in doing so.

I ask a lot of questions like this, but here goes: Imagining that JAL is writing right now the sequel to LTROI, would the wigged man have the slighest space in it? Personally I don't see it happening. I see only Eli and Oskar living, well, trying to live as best they can. Eli teaching Oskar the way. And a lot of adventure, good and bad, but not envolving that maniac.

By the way, something that I never fully understood. From the moment Eli was taken by the wigged man, to the moment she escaped... was released, I don't even know, how long did it pass? I always had the idea it was a matter of days. Could someone explain this to me?

[Siggdalos]

Nope, the book never reveals what happened to him. He's only brought up in the scenes when Eli is in the cancer woman's house, during the two memory sharing scenes, and once when Eli's thinking about the only other vampire he's met:

Only once after he had been infected did Eli meet another infected person. A grown woman. Just as cynical and hollow as the man with the wig.

For that matter, we don't know how Eli got away from the man. Did he escape or was he set loose? In general, JAL only provides fragments and hints of Eli's life prior to him meeting Håkan in Växjö. Most of it is a mystery.

I ask a lot of questions like this, but here goes: Imagining that JAL is writing right now the sequel to LTROI, would the wigged man have the slighest space in it? Personally I don't see it happening. I see only Eli and Oskar living, well, trying to live as best they can. Eli teaching Oskar the way. And a lot of adventure, good and bad, but not envolving that maniac.

I agree. There's definitely room to expand on him for those who want to do so, but I think that (at least for JAL) he works better as a backstory element and a symbol of all the abuse Eli has suffered, rather than as a character in his own right. He comes across as a pretty exaggerated villain more like the ones you'd see in classical vampire stories, and I think he'd feel out of place with LTROI's tone if he showed up in the modern day. Even if he dropped the wig and 18th-century clothes.

By the way, something that I never fully understood. From the moment Eli was taken by the wigged man, to the moment she escaped... was released, I don't even know, how long did it pass? I always had the idea it was a matter of days. Could someone explain this to me?

The only hint the book provides about this is in the second memory sharing:

More time ... Endless time. Imprisoned. The man bites. And drinks. Bites. And drinks.

What does "endless time" mean? Months? Years? Decades? Who knows? One thing that metoo has pointed out on this forum is that, in the story he tells to the cancer woman, Eli describes the farmer family's youngest child (himself, that is) as "a little boy, only eleven years old". However, when talking to Oskar, he insists that he is twelve, both in Saturday 24 October and in Saturday 7 November (Night). This suggests that enough time passed between Elias "winning" the wig man's competition and the wig man infecting him for him to turn twelve.
Side note: this also means that Eli could be almost a whole year younger than Oskar, who is a month away from turning thirteen when the story starts in October 1981.

[Milkman]

What does "endless time" mean? Months? Years? Decades? Who knows? One thing that metoo has pointed out on this forum is that, in the story he tells to the cancer woman, Eli describes the farmer family's youngest child (himself, that is) as "a little boy, only eleven years old". However, when talking to Oskar, he insists that he is twelve, both in Saturday 24 October and in Saturday 7 November (Night). This suggests that enough time passed between Elias "winning" the wig man's competition and the wig man infecting him for him to turn twelve.
Side note: this also means that Eli could be almost a whole year younger than Oskar, who is a month away from turning thirteen when the story starts in October 1981.

The most awesome aspect of asking questions here is that I end up learning new stuff all the time. It makes me fall in love more and more with the story everytime I do so. I absolutely love these little mysteries around Eli's past (and present).

I can always count on you to explain me stuff, Siggdalos. Thank you, and until the next one.

[Jameron]

There was a fanfiction where Eli encounters the Wig Man again. It was pretty good, I wish I could remember the title or even the author. If anyone knows of it they could mention it here.

[Milkman]

There was a fanfiction where Eli encounters the Wig Man again. It was pretty good, I wish I could remember the title or even the author. If anyone knows of it they could mention it here.

The one I just read features a reunion between them. It's "Once Bitten" by a_contemplative_life. link: http://let-the-right-one-in.com/fancont ... nce-bitten
If I remember right the reunion was around the last chapters. Maybe the 16th.

[metoo]

... One thing that metoo has pointed out on this forum is that, in the story he tells to the cancer woman, Eli describes the farmer family's youngest child (himself, that is) as "a little boy, only eleven years old". However, when talking to Oskar, he insists that he is twelve, both in Saturday 24 October and in Saturday 7 November (Night). This suggests that enough time passed between Elias "winning" the wig man's competition and the wig man infecting him for him to turn twelve.
Side note: this also means that Eli could be almost a whole year younger than Oskar, who is a month away from turning thirteen when the story starts in October 1981.

This might also be a slight oversight by JAL, an inconsistency he missed when working on his novel.

Or Eli might have made himself younger when telling his story, to make it more heartbreaking. After all he was telling a story, not necessarily the truth. For instance, he stated that his parents were serfs, although serfdom has never existed in Sweden.

I'm not an expert on vampire lore, but isn't blood from healthy and strong people "better" as vampire food?
If so, it seems likely that Eli wasn't bitten until he had sufficiently recovered from the mutilation. Thus he would have been able to turn twelve in the interim, and the inconsistency is gone.

[Siggdalos]

This might also be a slight oversight by JAL, an inconsistency he missed when working on his novel.

Or Eli might have made himself younger when telling his story, to make it more heartbreaking. After all he was telling a story, not necessarily the truth. For instance, he stated that his parents were serfs, although serfdom has never existed in Sweden.

True.

I'm not an expert on vampire lore, but isn't blood from healthy and strong people "better" as vampire food?

This is stated/implied in the novel. Håkan decides not to kill the old man with the dog in Wednesday 21 October partially because his blood would have "poor quality", and Eli notes after killing the cancer woman in Friday 30 October that her sick blood is serviceable as food but has a rotten taste.

[Jameron]

There was a fanfiction where Eli encounters the Wig Man again. It was pretty good, I wish I could remember the title or even the author. If anyone knows of it they could mention it here.

The one I just read features a reunion between them. It's "Once Bitten" by a_contemplative_life. link: http://let-the-right-one-in.com/fancont ... nce-bitten
If I remember right the reunion was around the last chapters. Maybe the 16th.

Yep, that's the one.

It's been a while since I read any fanfiction, to be honest. I've forgotten a lot of the details, maybe I should revisit them.

[Milkman]

There was a fanfiction where Eli encounters the Wig Man again. It was pretty good, I wish I could remember the title or even the author. If anyone knows of it they could mention it here.

The one I just read features a reunion between them. It's "Once Bitten" by a_contemplative_life. link: http://let-the-right-one-in.com/fancont ... nce-bitten
If I remember right the reunion was around the last chapters. Maybe the 16th.

Yep, that's the one.

It's been a while since I read any fanfiction, to be honest. I've forgotten a lot of the details, maybe I should revisit them.

Yeah you definitely should! This one was really an amazing piece of writing. I really loved it.
Eventually I'll be reading it all over again as well ahah.