The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (intro cont.)

Who is who?! There are way too many characters and the fact that Larsson uses first names and last names interchangeable doesn’t help. I think for me, because the names are Swedish, I’m having trouble keeping track. I have included a character list below along with the major themes for this book. I hope this helps! You can read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_with_the_Dragon_Tattoo

CHARACTERS

·         Mikael Blomkvist, journalist, publisher of Millennium magazine, and amateur sleuth. Early in his career, he was compared to Astrid Lindgren's fictional boy detective Kalle Blomkvist (in the English translation, Bill Bergson), and the nickname stuck.

·         Lisbeth Salander, antisocial but extremely intelligent hacker and researcher, specialising in investigating people. She has a photographic memory, and is believed by Blomkvist to have Asperger syndrome. She has been compared to Pippi Longstocking,^[4] and a colleague has stated that Larsson conceived Salander partly as a "grown up Pippi Longstocking".^[5]

·         Henrik Vanger, retired industrialist and former CEO of Vanger Corporation.

·         Hans-Erik Wennerström, corrupt Swedish industrialist and Blomkvist's nemesis.

·         Gottfried Vanger, father of Harriet and Martin. An abusive alcoholic with neo-Nazi sympathies.

·         Harriet Vanger, Henrik's great-niece (usually referred to as his niece) who vanished 40 years ago.

·         Martin Vanger, brother of Harriet and President of the Vanger Corporation.

·         Holger Palmgren, lawyer, and earlier guardian of Lisbeth Salander.

·         Nils Bjurman, corrupt lawyer and guardian of Lisbeth Salander after taking over from Palmgren.

·         Cecilia Vanger, daughter of Harald Vanger, and one of Henrik's nieces.

·         Erika Berger, editor of Millennium, friend and occasional lover of Blomkvist.

·         Dirch Frode, lawyer for Vanger Corporation, and main friend and assistant to Henrik Vanger.

·         Dragan Armansky, director of Milton Security, Salander's boss and quasi-father figure.

·         Christer Malm, Art director and designer of Millennium. Also part owner of the magazine together with Berger and Blomkvist.

·         Gustaf Morell, Retired Detective superintendent (inspector while investigating Harriet’s disappearance).

·         Isabella Vanger, Harriet and Martin Vanger's mother and wife of the late Gottfried Vanger.

MAJOR THEMS
“Larsson makes several literary references to the genre's classic forerunners, and comments on contemporary Swedish society. Reviewer Dessaix writes that "His favorite targets are violence against women, the incompetence and cowardice of investigative journalists, the moral bankruptcy of big capital and the virulent strain of Nazism still festering away ..." in Swedish society.
Larsson further enters the debate as to how responsible criminals are for their crimes and how much is blamed on upbringing or society.  Salander has a strong will and assumes that everyone else does, too. She is portrayed as having suffered every kind of abuse in her young life, including sexual assault and time in a psychiatric clinic. Since she holds others responsible for their actions, she takes revenge on those who abuse others.”