Eli's posessions

[a_contemplative_life]

I believe movie Eli had stolen stuff from his victims. The rings are there to give that impression, stuff that is easy to take off a victim, and the director's comments suggests as much about the money.

Novel Eli, on the other hand, denies having stolen his money. The sheer amount of money suggests he told the truth - people don't carry sufficient amounts of money around to add up to that. One may argue that Eli might have collected it during a long time, but I don't believe so. He spent his money too freely, and obviously allowed Håkan to take a fortune for his own purposes. Eli wouldn't have been able to save up.
Additionally, the shape of Swedish bills has changed over time, but nothing is told of Oskar finding any old bills in Eli's box. My conclusion is that Eli must have obtained all of it rather recently (in the 70s), and this makes the source of it being his victims even more unlikely.

I think Eli is a survivalist. To that end, I see no reason to believe that she would not take whatever she could to get by. She certainly saw no issue with stealing T-rod to flame Hakan, for example. Sure, some of it may have been given to her. But think about her circumstances. She's cut off from the normal world; has to move from town to town and place to place, periodically finding new people to help her when she needs it. It's hard to believe that all of her past helpers have been driven into her service solely as a consequence of their unnatural sexual proclivities. A little money would help grease the skids.

[ofelia]

I think stealing the T-röd is a little different than taking money. The T-röd was immediately necessary, money is more of a long term thing. Eli's not the best at planning ahead and neither are most kids. But this is also a child who likes logic and puzzles, so maybe he did make a plan to collect money as he went along. I just don't think kids have that kind of concept of the future, even if they are going to live forever. It did seem out of character that Eli would have stolen it, but then I also think the bunny is out of character (although it's really cute ) The story was changed so much in transition to film that the characters have changed a bit too.
As for who gave him the money if he didn't steal it, I have no idea, but I don't mind not knowing. I like Eli to be a mystery

[metoo]

I think Eli is a survivalist. To that end, I see no reason to believe that she would not take whatever she could to get by. She certainly saw no issue with stealing T-rod to flame Hakan, for example. Sure, some of it may have been given to her. But think about her circumstances. She's cut off from the normal world; has to move from town to town and place to place, periodically finding new people to help her when she needs it. It's hard to believe that all of her past helpers have been driven into her service solely as a consequence of their unnatural sexual proclivities. A little money would help grease the skids.

I agree, money would have been useful, and Eli would generally just take whatever he needed. Håkan's comment on Eli having borrowed Oskar's cube hints at this:
"Vad då 'lånat'? Du lånar väl aldrig någonting." (What 'borrowed'? You never borrow anything, do you?)

But Eli was very insistent that he hadn't stolen the money. Oskar's accusation came at a point when Eli had admitted to living on blood and to killing people. I think Eli's lying was over by then, he seemed very frustrated (in the novel) when Oskar didn't believe him.

And, to repeat myself, there is the additional problem that Eli had just too much money to have stolen it from victims on the street or even in their homes. He might of course have stolen valuables from his victims, like jewellery, but if so he would have needed a way to convert it into money. I don't see Eli being sufficiently well-connected to be able to sell the kind of jewellery that would generate the amounts of money that he had.

So if he didn't steal to get the money, how did he then obtain it? Maybe the urge felt by the hospital receptionist to give Eli something - anything - is a clue. Eli might have used that, somehow.

[drakkar]

I tend to think along these lines, also.

[metoo]

An addition: I think Eli's wealth is part of the supernatural, it is added to increase the mystery. However, it's mainly a feature of the novel, it's quite downplayed in the film.

[a_contemplative_life]

That would've been an interesting scene to have watched on film--when Eli hurts her ears with KISS and then hauls out her box 'o cash to compensate Oskar.

[Ash]

That would've been an interesting scene to have watched on film--when Eli hurts her ears with KISS and then hauls out her box 'o cash to compensate Oskar.

Yeh, Lina could have done that with panache!
I actually like the idea of Eli stealing the cash and stuff. It fits his character and ability to have survived for so long against overwhelming odds.
A harsher word that survivalist might be opportunist or even mercenary.
Another obvious, though distasteful, source of Eli's cash-stash would be through prostitution of himself to wealthy clientele (rent boy).
Maybe why Eli stopped the conversation about the money's source quicksmart.
Oskar, and the reader, aren't really prepared for the reality of what it would take to survive during the 18th/19th century as a young boy alone in the world.
Rather than diminishing Eli as a person for doing so, I actually admire his resourcefulness and ability to survive. Or there would be no Eli for Oskar and us to admire in 1982.
To survive for 200 years, I think "whatever it takes" would be a given, and the niceties of 21st century mores don't come into play.
Nor opening any can of worms with regard to Eli's past makes me love him less. Quite the opposite.

[metoo]

... Another obvious, though distasteful, source of Eli's cash-stash would be through prostitution of himself to wealthy clientele (rent boy). ...

The thought is obvious, and Eli evidently is prepared to do that - for food, at least. But I doubt there is sufficient money in prostitution to explain the fortune in that cardboard box.

That said, I don't think Eli would refrain from stealing money; I actually agree to liking the thought. But maybe he didn't bother, if he had a different means which was vastly more profitable and additionally less risky.

[Marlow]

Seems logical, but my problem with this approach is that I cannot find support for it in the film and book, rather the contrary. we never see Eli steal anything in the film, and in the book he passes the opportunity at the old lady, where it would be plenty of valuables he could steal - the possibility simply doesn't seem to occur to him. It also seemed to come out of the blue to him when Oskar accused him of stealing.

Maybe Eli was too zonked out on morphine to steal from the old lady. Having read the book only once, I remember thinking that Eli felt himself to be in a dangerous situation because he became intoxicated and unconscious and was vulnerable to discovery, or maybe that was my concern.

[drakkar]

Could of course be the case, but Eli doesn't search Jocke for valuables, so it looks more as part of a pattern than the exception.
Then it is metoo's point - Eli simply seem to have too much money too have stolen them from his victims. And especially not in a place like Blackeberg with a comparable rathr low average income (the neighborhood of the book old lady is better btw). Perhaps the money stems from an earlier wealthy helper (book "people have wanted to help me for different reasons"). Or perhaps he has stolen them - in the book he seems to roam about a bit finding his clothes in containers etc, so it cannot be ruled out.