What's in a name?

[lombano]

I have plenty of experience with, mainly, native English speakers pronouncing my name with English phonetics (that is, using only standard English sounds) and not caring to correct them. I would've corrected them if they'd called me a different name altogether.

Spanish, like most languages, have sounds that English doesn't, and many Americans can't hear them for what they are and so tend to use the American English sounds that most closely approximates them. The same would be true of me trying to speak Spanish except that some of the sounds I'd use would include French or German sounds.

Of course, and likewise with me. In this particular instance, though, at least some English speakers do hear the difference, they just have trouble reproducing the sound.
Spanish has actually very few sounds, esp. the Latin American version - the only sounds not closely matched by some English phonetics are ñ (same as French gn) and our r's.
Sorry to hijack...

[intrige]

Well when I heard the name Eli for the first time, in the swedish movie, I had no idea what gender they name was, but it did sound very girly. But it was as strange to me as to Oskar, I had never heard that name before.. After, whenever I have seen the name Eli on the news or something, there has alwys been woman.

[EEA]

Well the name of Eli and Oskar I have heard already. My dad is name Oscar Elias. My grandpa was names Elias. And my older brother is name Oscar. I did find it strange though that Oskar was spelled with a k instead of a c. And then the name of Eli is famous here though to the quarterback named Eli Manning. Except the name Eli is pronounced differently.

Eli's name is important to him. Is part of his identity. Maybe he decided one day that he would call himself Eli.
It reminds me of what my second grade teacher said. That if we didn't have a name, then what would we call ourselves? How would we be able to know who we are?

[Nightrider]

I still think that there's a spiritual connection to Eli's name/character. Eli in my opinion is a creation that is a real guardian angel(for Oskar) and angel of vengeance(for Oskar's tormentors)...

Elias \e-lias\ as a boy's name is pronounced ee-LYE-us. It is of Greek and Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Elias is "the Lord is my God". Biblical name from the Greek form of Elijah. Common in the 17th century and now popular in Spain as Elías.
(Source:WWW)

As usual I am referring to the secular point of view. I am not expressing theological ideas, but simply trying to find clues to JAL's rationale for creating the character of Eli..

[drakkar]

I don't know if it has any significance, however Elias Lönnrots väg is the street crossing Ibsengatan right outside John/Oskar's courtyard gate.

[metoo]

In reply to nightrider: Well, JAL has stated that he came up with the name Eli spontaeously. He liked the sound, he has said. The connection with Elias was an afterthought, as was the connection with Jesus (Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani).

But even if JAL didn't originally make the latter connection, it is undeniably part of the western, Christian culture, and might have influenced him.

[a_contemplative_life]

... my question wasn't about how Eli percieves his gender, but what importance he might put into the name with which he chooses to present himself.

I think the two are closely related in Eli's case. I don't actually believe he picked Eli because it was 'Elias' abbreviated; he picked it because it was a girl's name first, and closely related to 'Elias' second. IMO he, for whatever reason, no longer wanted to be thought of as a boy. Lombano's comment in the "Eli's Androgyny" thread illustrates this nicely. He's discussing the place in the book where Eli picks a dress to wear after bleeding:

An important detail is that Oskar, when Eli asks what clothes he should take, replies 'Something of mine.' Thus Eli had several reasons to, at that moment, take something of Oskar's rather than a dress:

-Oskar himself had told him to do so.
-Oskar's clothes would be more likely to be his size - we are specifically told the sundress was too big.
-A missing dress would be more likely to be missed by Oskar's mum than something of his.

An actual girl, given the last two motives, may well have taken something of Oskar's - something gender-neutral like sweatpants and a t-shirt, say. In any case pragmatism dictated that he wear something of Oskar's. My interpretation is that Eli seizes a feminine role partly for pragmatic reasons, but also as a way of clinging to a human role - if you can't be a boy, what's the obvious alternative? Also possibly as to define his role for himself (a quasi-girl) rather than let his castration define it (a mutilated boy).
As for JAL's motives for making Eli a castrated boy, apart from de-sexualising the relationship, it creates a struggle for Oskar that wouldn't be there if he were gay or Eli were a girl, showing how unconditional his love is.

I might write a proper essay on this if I can get round to it...

If this is indeed the case, I suspect Eli would be quite protective of the name he has chosen for himself.

Couldn't an equally plausible explanation for the selection of the dress be that Eli consciously or unconsciously thought that something which emphasized the feminine might help Oskar deal with their budding relationship?

I think Eli is kind of a chameleon in some ways.

[metoo]

Couldn't an equally plausible explanation for the selection of the dress be that Eli consciously or unconsciously thought that something which emphasized the feminine might help Oskar deal with their budding relationship?

Right after he had very deliberately shown Oskar how he lost his genitalia? Well...

I think Eli is kind of a chameleon in some ways.

I can agree to that, though.

[lombano]

Couldn't an equally plausible explanation for the selection of the dress be that Eli consciously or unconsciously thought that something which emphasized the feminine might help Oskar deal with their budding relationship?

Right after he had very deliberately shown Oskar how he lost his genitalia? Well...

Plus, it can't be an accident that on the only two occasions Eli takes any interest in clothes whatsoever (one of them not involving Oskar at all) it is to go for feminine clothes, whereas otherwise Eli shows zero awareness that how he dresses might affect how Oskar sees him (like not even wearing clean clothes).

[drakkar]

In reply to nightrider: Well, JAL has stated that he came up with the name Eli spontaeously. He liked the sound, he has said. The connection with Elias was an afterthought, as was the connection with Jesus (Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani).

Could be, but he could also be primed. As a kid he probably crossed Elias Lönnrots väg every day.