Why Doesn't Eli Shower?

[BravoHotel]

He thought:It must have been there a long time.

True, although I don't imagine it would take long for blood round the edges near the surface to coagulate and form that rim, blood dries pretty quick at first (as I found out about an hour before this post when I manage to slice my finger like a genius ) In however long it was between Eli crawling in the bathtub and Lacke showing up, a few hours or so is it, I think would be about enough time to give the appearence of being there a while, not that I'm an expert of course.

Plus Lacke was pretty drunk at the time if I remember, possibly an instance of unreliable or rather intoxicated narrator?
Good point about how much blood Eli would need though, dunno know why I thought one just Hakans' first victim would be enough (unless he had it all on him when Hakan killed him which could be another story altogether, as well as a stroke of luck for Hakan ) There would need to be around 30 people to get enough blood for your lowest figure, he'd have had to have had that a while that might add to the effect in the bath tub the blood being pretty old, so it does make the bath section a little farfetched, even with everything else in the book.
Overall though it doesn't bother the story much for me it's only now in discussion that it does seem a little strange.

[drakkar]

When Lacke had pulled the drain plug, he noticed a line of darker red where the surface of the blood had been. He thought:
It must have been there a long time.
So, no, the blood bath was Eli's normal resting place. That is why he dissuaded Oskar from entering the bathroom.

I have a problem with this. If Eli rested in a blood filled tub, he would have to wash off the blood every night when he rose, but Eli wasn't very good with his hygiene. This doesn't fit, someone must be wrong - I think it is Lacke. Blood dosen't take that long to form a darker red line in a bathtub.

[metoo]

We don't have to judge Lacke's trustworthiness to assess the weight of his thought. What is important is that the thought is in the novel at all, that JAL put it there. What would be his reason for that, if not to tell the reader that the blood actually (in the realm of the novel) had been in the tub for a long time?

About what is wrong, I still say it's the blood bath per se. It's inconsistent with much of the rest of the novel.

Addendum:
I do not say that the presence of the blood bath impairs the novel. It (the novel) is, after all, a piece of amusement, not intended to be taken seriously. It surely wasn't intended to hold up to the myopic dissection we do from time to time at this forum. And the paragraphs where Lacke watches the blood drain and sees Eli's body emerge is some fine writing. The novel would lose an intriguing scene without it.

[drakkar]

I still write whole it on JAL's homage to Carmilla. It simply doesn't fit as anything else.

[metoo]

I still write whole it on JAL's homage to Carmilla. It simply doesn't fit as anything else.

In that we agree!

[intrige]

I see why the bathtub is there.
Imagine if Håkan had put his hand inside the brobably almost brown blood, and pulling out a hand of a child. In a movie, that would be scary!
It diesn't do anything to the story, bus as mentioned by others. When trying to dit the pieces together, the bloodbath didn't add up.
Somehow I always thought it was animal blood, if Eli only rests in it, why does it have to be human blood?

I once started writing a fan-fiction about a girl and her father who sells houses, to check out an old house he would be selling. It was empty, but the girl found a bathtub in the basement filled with black thick liquid. Oskar and Eli then awaked as she spied on them, they had been having a long sleep in there, for probably half a year, after being hurt by the sun and killing lots of moose and .. other animals, in order to heal properly. That's how I got that idea. And it kinda fits.
Blood from cats!! Maybe! There are missing cats in Blackeberg right? I do remmeber it was, but maybe it was zombie Håkan who caused that, but I donno. Cats, dogs, moose, farm horses, I donno, anything. I feel human blood to Eli would be presious.

[Elias Eriksson]

I see why the bathtub is there.
Imagine if Håkan had put his hand inside the brobably almost brown blood, and pulling out a hand of a child. In a movie, that would be scary!
It diesn't do anything to the story, bus as mentioned by others. When trying to dit the pieces together, the bloodbath didn't add up.
Somehow I always thought it was animal blood, if Eli only rests in it, why does it have to be human blood?

I once started writing a fan-fiction about a girl and her father who sells houses, to check out an old house he would be selling. It was empty, but the girl found a bathtub in the basement filled with black thick liquid. Oskar and Eli then awaked as she spied on them, they had been having a long sleep in there, for probably half a year, after being hurt by the sun and killing lots of moose and .. other animals, in order to heal properly. That's how I got that idea. And it kinda fits.
Blood from cats!! Maybe! There are missing cats in Blackeberg right? I do remmeber it was, but maybe it was zombie Håkan who caused that, but I donno. Cats, dogs, moose, farm horses, I donno, anything. I feel human blood to Eli would be presious.

Yes! As a homage its fine, but it doesn't make sense in the history what so ever. But having such scene does not detract either. Personally, i thought it was a very cool, chilling addition. Imagine yourself immersing your hand inside a bathtub that is filled with blood that you KNOW there's something down there.
I remember that i saw something similar in a movie, where a vampire woman had a blood bathtub where she took baths. I think it was 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (not a good movie).

[Alice?Maybe]

I have known many abused children, was in a psychiatric facility as a kid with several girls who had suffered years of abuse. These kids, for the most, didn't shower. It maybe some unconscious defense mechanism to make themselves les "desirable", something. I've known adult women who intentionally gained lots of weight to be less attractive to sexually abusive husbands. We know that Eli was horribly abused, assaulted in the act that infected him. She tells Oskar that maybe the reason she has successfully survived for over 200 years was because she is small. She goes on to say that simply taking care of her was rarely the motivation. It certainly was not Hakan's primary motive. She chose him while he was being Aqualung, only eying lil boys instead of girls, in the park. She knew what he was and what motivated him. Perfect for her needs. So, no showering, stinking, to keep Hakan and others like him and their advances at bay.

[dongregg]

I have known many abused children, was in a psychiatric facility as a kid with several girls who had suffered years of abuse. These kids, for the most, didn't shower. It maybe some unconscious defense mechanism to make themselves les "desirable", something. I've known adult women who intentionally gained lots of weight to be less attractive to sexually abusive husbands. We know that Eli was horribly abused, assaulted in the act that infected him. She tells Oskar that maybe the reason she has successfully survived for over 200 years was because she is small. She goes on to say that simply taking care of her was rarely the motivation. It certainly was not Hakan's primary motive. She chose him while he was being Aqualung, only eying lil boys instead of girls, in the park. She knew what he was and what motivated him. Perfect for her needs. So, no showering, stinking, to keep Hakan and others like him and their advances at bay.

Good insights, @alice?maybe. Thanks for sharing them, and welcome to WTI.

[Alice?Maybe]

I have known many abused children, was in a psychiatric facility as a kid with several girls who had suffered years of abuse. These kids, for the most, didn't shower. It maybe some unconscious defense mechanism to make themselves les "desirable", something. I've known adult women who intentionally gained lots of weight to be less attractive to sexually abusive husbands. We know that Eli was horribly abused, assaulted in the act that infected him. She tells Oskar that maybe the reason she has successfully survived for over 200 years was because she is small. She goes on to say that simply taking care of her was rarely the motivation. It certainly was not Hakan's primary motive. She chose him while he was being Aqualung, only eying lil boys instead of girls, in the park. She knew what he was and what motivated him. Perfect for her needs. So, no showering, stinking, to keep Hakan and others like him and their advances at bay.

Good insights, @alice?maybe. Thanks for sharing them, and welcome to WTI.

Thank you very much. I am so glad I found this site.