About Eli´s gender

[genie47]

Why was Eli sleeping in the blood in that scene?

JAL used that bathtub of blood for the "coolness" factor and also as a homage to Elizabeth of Bathory, the Blood Countess who bathed in the blood of 600 virgin girls to keep her youth.

In the described scene, Eli was using the blood to heal. Where did Eli get that much blood was speculated much on this forum.

[lombano]

I wonder how long Eli presented himself as a girl, and why.

Actually nowhere in the novel did it describe Eli deliberately presenting himself as a girl.

I beg to differ. When Eli takes the sundress, he does so even though there were good reasons to take something of Oskar's. Significantly, even though he doesn't mind, say, wearing filthy clothes, this is the only time he rejects any particular clothing - all clothing Eli is ever describes wearing is either gender-neutral (the t-shirts) or feminine (the pink sweater, the sundress). Surely an actual girl in the same circumstances would've just taken some of Oskar's more gender-neutral clothes.

[drakkar]

In the described scene, Eli was using the blood to heal. Where did Eli get that much blood was speculated much on this forum.

..and in the dvd comments JAL and TA also speculates:

-I have gotten a few complaints that Eli does not - like in the book - sleep in a tub full of blood.
-I thought that was almost exaggerating in the book too, but I kept it.
-In the movie it didn't feel right. Why would she?
-You could ask yourself where she'd get all that blood from.
- Pretty large quantities.
- Perhaps she killed a preschool class.
-The sound technician is looking at us, wondering if she should cut that..
- No.

[crazychristina]

Eli might not have deliberately posed as a girl, but JAL quite clearly used the words 'she' and 'girl' when Eli first appeared in the book. No hint of him/her being androgynous except for the slighlty deeper voice than expected. Oskar didn't seem to be in any doubt at that point either.

[drakkar]

Nor Micke in the pool scene. He sees a girl banging on the door asking to be let in.

But when Eli borrows Oskar's mom's old sundress - that coud be because Eli took the oldest and most worn clothing in the locker.
Which is maybe most likely to be his mom's, because Oskar's old clothes would be too small for Eli - he is a fast growing 12 years old kid.

[genie47]

Eli might not have deliberately posed as a girl, but JAL quite clearly used the words 'she' and 'girl' when Eli first appeared in the book. No hint of him/her being androgynous except for the slighlty deeper voice than expected. Oskar didn't seem to be in any doubt at that point either.

To keep us in that direction until the towel drop and then deliberately changed the direction of all things? It is quite clever of him actually.

I have to admit I nearly forgot about the point lombano made back then about the dress which deepens the speculation on both ends.

The ambiguous nature of the novel makes for a lot of free spirited interpretation.

[genie47]

Nor Micke in the pool scene. He sees a girl banging on the door asking to be let in.

But when Eli borrows Oskar's mom's old sundress - that coud be because Eli took the oldest and most worn clothing in the locker.
Which is maybe most likely to be his mom's, because Oskar's old clothes would be too small for Eli - he is a fast growing 12 years old kid.

We can also argue for Micke's case, it was dark outside and he was scared to make any clear observations. But yes, at first glance, Eli is identified as a girl by Micke.

[drakkar]

I can't help viewing LTROI film and novel as a unit, so this isn't easy. It makes Eli even more difficult to grasp.
Again, I like to show an animation of LTROI based on the book, made before the film release. This shows the more androgynous Eli the animator got from the book, compared to Eli after Lina Leandersson took over:

http://vimeo.com/4899534

[genie47]

Must be difficult to put that shaggy rag of hair on Lina.

[gattoparde59]

Eli might not have deliberately posed as a girl, but JAL quite clearly used the words 'she' and 'girl' when Eli first appeared in the book. No hint of him/her being androgynous except for the slighlty deeper voice than expected. Oskar didn't seem to be in any doubt at that point either.

Reading the book a second time I think we were given some hints that Eli is not all that he appears to be. HIs behavior can be interpreted as masculine. When we first see Eli in the book, and throughout most of the book in general the descriptions of Eli are Oskar's pov.

For me the most interesting images of gender and sexuality come with Virginia. She gives us a description of the infection that is otherwise lacking with Eli, and when she describes her own infection it is described in maternal terms. (All that blood during childbirth, yum!) For that matter her relationship with the shiftless Lacke is described in the same way.