Character Relationship Map: Rabies

Characters

• Bo Stensson Svenningson (played by Max von Sydow) — protagonist
• Jenny (played by Gunnel Lindblom) — protagonist
• Sixten Garberg (played by Åke Fridell) — supporting
• Eivor (played by Bibi Andersson) — supporting
• Erik (played by Folke Sundquist) — supporting

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Sixten Garberg → Erik (Power Superior) — A power dynamic where Sixten's frustration impacts Erik's position.
• Bo Stensson Svenningson → Sixten Garberg (Professional Colleague) — Professional peers connected indirectly through the chain of frustration.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Bo Stensson Svenningson → Erik (Narrative Protagonist To Peripheral) — Narrative link showing how the protagonist's actions ripple through the story.
• Jenny → Eivor (Social Acquaintance) — Social acquaintances whose interactions are strained by the domino effect.
• Eivor → Erik (Conflict Chain Reaction) — Erik serves as the final target in the chain of displaced frustrations.
• Sixten Garberg → Eivor (Conflict Oppressor To Victim) — Sixten channels his frustration into aggression against Eivor.
• Jenny → Sixten Garberg (Conflict Victim Of Displaced Aggression) — Jenny becomes the oppressor toward Sixten, continuing the cycle of displaced aggression.
• Bo Stensson Svenningson → Jenny (Conflict Target Of Displaced Aggression) — Bo transfers his professional rejection onto Jenny as the first link in the domino chain.

Story Analysis

The film examines how rejection and oppression can transform private frustration into harm directed at others.

Plot Progression

1. The Roots Of Rejection — The film establishes rejection and oppression as the sources of emotional pressure. The available synopsis presents these conditions as the foundation of the drama.
2. Frustration In Motion — Frustration begins to move through the social chain described by the film's premise. The focus shifts from suffering to the transmission of anger.
3. The Domino Effect — Those who are rejected or oppressed take their frustration out on someone else. This creates the central domino pattern identified in the synopsis.
4. A Cycle Exposed — The drama emphasizes the repeated social consequences of displaced frustration. Its thematic resolution lies in exposing how harm is passed onward.