Eli as seen by other characters

For discussion of John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel Låt den rätte komma in
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manananmaclir
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Re: Eli as seen by other characters

Post by manananmaclir » Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:39 pm

lombano wrote:
Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:45 pm
cmfireflies wrote:I also liked the way (in the English translation) the pronouns used to refer to Eli change between he/she/it. Especially when Oskar confronts Lacke. Really neat way to illustrate what Eli means to all the characters and how Oskar accepts Eli.
Yes, the whole issue of Eli's gender is handled through Oskar's eyes, and it's done well.
cmfireflies wrote:This has also been brought up before but the entire film means different things to different people. I read a review where the reviewer liked the film but viewed Eli as a sexual predator and the horror, he/she said, came from us rooting for the predator. I only bring this up because it was a well-written review and the reviewer mentioned that s/he works as a social worker. Funny thing is, the review's tone was absolutely certain. It wasn't "one interpretation is...." but more like "this movie is about..."
The thing with that sort of angle is that even based on the film alone it's clear Eli isn't just using Oskar, a truly selfish Eli would find him more useful as a snack.
If you remember, Eli originally did see Oskar as a snack. Eli is about to kill Oskar when he responds in an entirely human way and stroke's Eli's cheek. At that point Eli seems confused. It's after that moment that Oskar starts to transition from "Easily obtainable snack" to "friend" It's one of my favorite scenes in the book, as it seems that Eli starts transitioning from a simple predator, trying to survive. The book really seems to be as much about Eli's salvation as Oskar's.

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dongregg
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Re: Eli as seen by other characters

Post by dongregg » Wed Feb 10, 2021 10:07 pm

Right! Who's letting in whom?
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

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