In the novel, although more often than not Håkan simply refers to Eli as a genderless "beloved," there is at least one passage indicating that he considered Eli to be a girl:
A few sentences later, he encounters Eli as Eli emerges, naked, from the shower:Eli had started to behave more and more like the child her appearance gave her out to be; had started to move her body in a loose-limbed and careless way, use childish expressions, words. Wanted to play. Hide the Key. A few nights ago they had played Hide the Key. Eli had become angry when Håkan had not showed the necessary enthusiasm for the game, then tried to tickle him to get him to laugh. He had relished Eli's touch.
It was attractive, naturally. This joy, this . . . life. But also frightening, since it was something so foreign to him. He was both hornier and more scared than he had ever been since meeting her.
It seems very clear from this that Håkan got a good look at Eli's body; yet, there is no suggestion that he noticed Eli's scar/sexlessness. Yet, later in the novel, Oskar was quick to realize there was a problem:The bathroom lock turned and the door opened. Eli was standing in front of him. Completely naked. Pure.
"Oh-you're sitting out here."
"Yes. You're beautiful."
"Thank you."
"Will you turn around for me?"
"Why?"
"Because ... I want you to."
"No; why don't you get up and move?"
"Maybe I'll say something .. . if you do this for me."
Eli looked quizzically at Håkan. Then turned 180 degrees.
A short instrumental section and then the song was over. A mild crackling from the speakers, as the needle moved toward the next song, while Oskar looked at Eli.
The small nipples looked almost black against her pale white skin. Her upper body was slender, straight, and without much in the way of contours. Only the ribs stood out clearly in the sharp overhead light. Her thin arms and legs appeared unnaturally long the way they grew out of her body: a young sapling covered with human skin. Between the legs she had ... nothing. No slit, no penis. Just a smooth surface.
Oskar pulled his hand through his hair, let it rest cupped against his neck. He didn't want to say that ridiculous mommy-word, but it slipped out anyway.
"But you don't have a ... willie."
I'm not sure what to make of this. Are we to assume that Håkan is just an ignoramous when it comes to normal human genitalia? That would seem unlikely, given his penchant for porn ("Someone who worked at the post office and who lived in the area had tipped off the other neighbors about what kind of mail, what kind of videos he received"). Oskar presumably knew about female anatomy, as he ponders the photographs in a girlie magazine in the basement. I suppose one could argue that Oskar was in a somewhat different position than Håkan, because he had assumed from the get-go that Eli was a girl. But couldn't the same be said of Håkan, given the first passage above?
Can't figure this one out...
