October 29, 1981

October 29, 1981, places Hakan’s jealousy and devotion side by side: he feels displaced by Oskar’s easy closeness with Eli, then presents Eli with a plan that he says demonstrates his care. The date’s brief scenes trace a shift from private resentment to a consequential declaration, though the plan itself is not specified here.

Date and Narrative Position

The novel marks the day with the heading Thursday, 29 October. Its scenes center on Hakan and Eli, and look back to the previous night, when Hakan overheard Eli saying goodbye to Oskar. That recollection makes the date’s emotional conflict depend on an intimacy Hakan has witnessed but cannot share.

Hakan’s Jealousy

Hakan sits on the floor in the narrow corridor, knees drawn up, listening to splashing from the bathroom. His jealousy is rendered as a fat, chalk-white snake in his chest, an image that makes the feeling seem both vivid and painfully simple. He thinks of himself as replaceable, set against the high voices and laughter he heard from Eli and Oskar. Their lightness is beyond him; he identifies his own presence instead with seriousness, demands, and desire.

The Plan and Its Meaning

In another exchange, Hakan takes Eli’s hand and leads him into the kitchen. He opens the pantry and takes out an old jam jar with a twist-on glass lid, half-filled with clear liquid. He explains what he has planned, and Eli objects emphatically. Hakan insists that he can go through with it and asks Eli to understand how much he cares. The scene turns his devotion into an asserted willingness to act, while leaving the plan’s nature unstated in this account; the jar and Eli’s objection give the declaration an immediate, uneasy weight.