56 pages • 1 hour read
John Ajvide LindqvistLet the Right One In
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaSymbols & Motifs
Staffan’s Pistol Trophy
Staffan’s prized trophy for pistol shooting symbolizes skill, expertise, and tenacity. Staffan takes pride in his abilities. When Tommy steals the trophy, he essentially steals what makes Staffan himself—vanity, a belief in order, and a holier-than-thou attitude all mixed up into a policeman who shoots well. Ironically, Tommy uses the trophy to gruesomely bludgeon Håkan, proving that one doesn’t need to be an expert to be tenacious and skilled at hitting a target. Symbolically, Tommy’s use of the trophy as a weapon against the zombified horror Håkan has become also represents order triumphing (in a limited way) over chaos.
Oskar’s Rubik’s Cube
Oskar’s Rubik’s Cubes represent puzzles, games, and questions. He works on the Cube without figuring out its mysteries, yet when he gives it to Eli, Eli figures it out quickly. Eli loves to play games, as does Oskar. Yet the Cube also becomes a weapon for both good and ill. Oskar hits Lacke in the head with the Cube to protect Eli, and the force of the blow causes Lacke to fall. Eli then bites and kills Lacke. The Cube represents both innocence and mystery—it has different sides and different colors—and is therefore a symbol of Eli as well.
Blood
Blood appears time and again in the narrative. Eli feeds on blood and spends several scenes cleaning it off his body. Eli—and Virginia—describe vampirism as a blood illness. The infection begins in the blood and roots in the heart. For vampires and humans alike, blood represents a life force. For humans, blood represents blood ties to family and friends (Oskar initially wants a blood bond with Eli), but also, and for the purposes of this novel, represents horror (when Staffan finds the basement covered in blood; when Lacke finds Eli covered in blood). Humans are created in sexual reproduction by an exchange of fluids aided by and resulting in increased blood flow, and in this way, when humans reproduce, we literally “let the right one in.”
