Let the Right One In

Oskar begins the narrative as a 12-year-old boy who suffers from bullying at school and a negative self-image. Oskar steals to feel better about himself, as stealing means he is good at something. Oskar likes macabre stories so much that he keeps an album of newspaper clippings about horrific events. He also plays a game where he stabs trees in the forest and pretends that they are his bullies. Oskar’s stealing, and his obsession with death, suggest that things might not go well for Oskar if he doesn’t soon find an outlet for his frustration.

When he meets Eli, whom he believes is the new girl next door, Oskar’s world changes. He focuses on befriending Eli, and as he does so, he becomes stronger and braver through their friendship. This suggests a similar undercurrent of sympathetic “otherness” in them both. Oskar has a Twilight of the Soul moment, however, when he discovers that Eli is a vampire. Though Oskar doesn’t want anything to do with Eli after he finds out, Oskar soon sees Eli as someone like him, someone looking to live without other people hurting him. Oskar also has a crisis moment when he discovers that Eli was born male despite mistaking Eli for female.