The Girl Who Played With Fire

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, sexual violence, child abuse, physical abuse, and gender discrimination.

Lisbeth is the protagonist of the Millennium trilogy, though she shares this role with deuteragonist Blomkvist in the first book of the series, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The “girl” of the series titles is Lisbeth herself. In the first novel, Lisbeth is cryptic and obstinate, resisting Blomkvist’s attempts at getting to know her, but her entire past is exposed in The Girl Who Played With Fire, and she is deeply disturbed by this violation of her privacy. Many of Lisbeth’s character traits are explained in this novel, such as her resistance to discussing anything with authority figures. After suffering abuse as a child, Lisbeth tried to get help for herself; her sister, Camilla; and her mother, Agneta, but she was ignored by paramedics, police officers, and psychiatrists, and this experience precipitated her withdrawn nature. Lisbeth’s pattern of socialization is also explained by her past, with only select individuals like Blomkvist and Palmgren entering her inner circle.

Lisbeth’s appearance plays a critical role in her