We, The Infected

I'm sure we're all familiar with the 'Oskar is the new Hakan' interpretation of the film (yes, I know this is the novel section, but bear with me) - while we know about Hakan's past in the novel, nevertheless there are parallelisms between the two (in the film, a strong hint of them being somehow analogous is with Oskar using the same plastic tube Hakan had used). One that I don't recall having been mentioned is that, before he pours acid on his face, he fantasises with Eli coming down, as an angel, to save him, to take him away somewhere where they can be together. Hakan expects to die, but dreams with salvation from Eli. Oskar in the pool also expects to die but is saved by what the witnesses later describe as an angel coming down to save him, and they go away together to an unknown destination. The only salvation Hakan gets from Eli is death (which by then he wants as a cure for all the ills of living, hence the references to Socrates and Aesculapius), but even this salvation does not end well; Oskar is saved at the pool, and gives up, and cuts ties with, his previous life - his old life ends abruptly, curing him of its ills. But this salvation (being with Eli) can eventually only be a mixed blessing - he cannot be with Eli without eventually at least aiding and abetting murder in some way, and somehow sharing in Eli's affliction, either by becoming infected himself or just coping with being at Eli's side (which is why I view the ending as supremely bittersweet).

Hakan did not start out as an Oskar, and Eli does love Oskar, but Oskar eventually becoming a sort of new Hakan - Eli's adult helper- cannot be ruled out even in the book. While an obvious and important difference between Oskar and Hakan is that Hakan is driven primarily by lust, and Oskar loves Eli and is too young for lust, my interpretation is that Hakan does feel some genuine affection for Eli, though his main motive is lust. While in the film there is no sign Eli has ever felt any affection for Hakan, in the novel Eli does seem to feel some degree of friendship for him, though he is primarily motivated by his need for a helper.

Another parallelism between Oskar and Hakan is a key moral difference between them and Eli: they actually have more choices apart from death. Oskar could have asked the adults for help (the one time he asks for help of any sort, the fitness training, he gets it without hindrance) ; he chooses to live in a world of violent revenge fantasies instead. Likewise Hakan had choices other than his (admittedly limited) indulgence of his lust. Neither one's options were particularly attractive, but they at least had some choice.

And please, lets try to keep this thread decent , lest the wrath of the wolfchild be visited upon us.

I wonder if the shared use of the pole was intended as a device to link Håkan and Oskar through their employment of violence, and how that ties into their relationship to Eli? Håkan uses pole to hide Jocke's body, which is evidence of Eli's killing; Oskar uses pole to defend himself after Eli tells him to fight back. Kind of thinking out loud here . . . can anyone help?

I had forgotten about Håkan's fantasy of Eli appearing as an angel to take him away and be with him forever, and also had failed to make a connection between that and the description of Eli as an "angel" saving Oskar at the pool. Pretty cool that you saw this, and could draw some interesting conclusions!

On the issue of choices, I question whether Oskar or Håkan thought of themselves as having choices. Sometimes little kids are motivated to act in ways that would seem counter-intuitive to adults, but make perfect sense to the child because he is looking at the situation as a child, not as an adult. Sometimes kids just aren’t capable of seeing the bigger picture and doing what would be best for themselves. Although I can't really articulate why, I was not surprised that Oskar did not tell anyone about the bullying. He probably felt ashamed of his weakness; who knows?

Also, while objectively I can say that Håkan had choices, again from his perspective, perhaps he did not see things that way. As a result of his sexual attraction to young boys, he had lost his job as a teacher, and ultimately lost his home as well. He lost the ability to control or conceal his pedophilia, since he openly fondled boys and was beaten up. He began to abuse alcohol before encountering Eli, and continued to have problems with alcohol even after he moved in with her. So I am not convinced that if you had asked Håkan whether he had options, he would have agreed.

Maybe both Oskar and Håkan could have learned a lesson from Eli about the benefits of self-revelation, rather than keeping everything bottled up inside. Eli certainly seemed to benefit after he was able to open up to Oskar.

The soul that companies with Virtue is like an ever-flowing source. It is a pure, clear, and wholesome draught; sweet, rich, and generous of its store; that injures not, neither destroys. - Epictetus

In the novel, the parallel is most evident when we read of Håkan's first victim as it is chronicled in the novel. Håkan obviously is repulsed by this work. He languishes over it. The next passage, we see Oskar fantasizing. "The earth shall drink his blood!" and this goes back and forth.

a_contemplative_life wrote:I wonder if the shared use of the pole was intended as a device to link Håkan and Oskar through their employment of violence, and how that ties into their relationship to Eli? Håkan uses pole to hide Jocke's body, which is evidence of Eli's killing; Oskar uses pole to defend himself after Eli tells him to fight back. Kind of thinking out loud here . . . can anyone help?

The "baton" has been passed from Håkan to Oskar?

Indeed it has. Big, bad indicator .

TAPETRVE wrote:Indeed it has. Big, bad indicator .

Perfect! Oskar and Eli are matched perfectly.

TAPETRVE wrote:Indeed it has. Big, bad indicator .

What it really that obvious? (Slaps self)

genie47 wrote:

a_contemplative_life wrote:I wonder if the shared use of the pole was intended as a device to link Håkan and Oskar through their employment of violence, and how that ties into their relationship to Eli? Håkan uses pole to hide Jocke's body, which is evidence of Eli's killing; Oskar uses pole to defend himself after Eli tells him to fight back. Kind of thinking out loud here . . . can anyone help?

The "baton" has been passed from Håkan to Oskar?

Now that you put it that way, it's blatantly obvious. Also agree with what you mention about the novel switching back and forth between the two, establishing a parallelism.

a_contemplative_life wrote:On the issue of choices, I question whether Oskar or Håkan thought of themselves as having choices. Sometimes little kids are motivated to act in ways that would seem counter-intuitive to adults, but make perfect sense to the child because he is looking at the situation as a child, not as an adult. Sometimes kids just aren’t capable of seeing the bigger picture and doing what would be best for themselves. Although I can't really articulate why, I was not surprised that Oskar did not tell anyone about the bullying. He probably felt ashamed of his weakness; who knows?

Also, while objectively I can say that Håkan had choices, again from his perspective, perhaps he did not see things that way. As a result of his sexual attraction to young boys, he had lost his job as a teacher, and ultimately lost his home as well. He lost the ability to control or conceal his pedophilia, since he openly fondled boys and was beaten up. He began to abuse alcohol before encountering Eli, and continued to have problems with alcohol even after he moved in with her. So I am not convinced that if you had asked Håkan whether he had options, he would have agreed.

Neither one had choices that were easy or very palatable. It's fairly clear in the book that shame kept Oskar from asking for help, yes. Nevertheless, however difficult their choices, they still had more choice than Eli did. Improving or escaping their predicaments was far from easy, but still not as bad as for Eli.

a_contemplative_life wrote:Maybe both Oskar and Håkan could have learned a lesson from Eli about the benefits of self-revelation, rather than keeping everything bottled up inside. Eli certainly seemed to benefit after he was able to open up to Oskar.

Yes - and Hakan could have learned a lot about self-discipline and restraint from Eli.

I've noticed in the discussion about pedophilia, it seems that it always amounts to adult men being attracted to little boys. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always been under the impression that pedophilia was the attraction of adults for little children of any sex. When Hakan first met Eli, I'm fairly certain that Eli still looked like a girl. And yet he still made a pass at her. Comments?

He was drunk. We wouldn't know how he first saw Eli.