The Millenium Series By Steig Larsson: Theme Analysis

The Millennium series written by Steig Larsson is an award winning Swedish crime series, which explores multiple themes of discovery. Including major context of personal discovery - the notion of learning how to trust (which strongly corresponds with the development of relationships such as friendship). For example, to Lisbeth Salander as a character, her own personal discovery is learning how to trust Blomkvist and have confidence in her newly developed relationship with him. Within the third novel in the series The Girl who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest, this notion is explored thoroughly as her freedom depends on her trust in her friends. Since she's stuck in a hospital and in jail, she must rely on the people who care for her in order to gain back her freedom. Salander experiences difficulty with this, therefore finds it hard to learn how to be a friend in return.
Salander utilizes the power of technology and the use of computers to protect herself. In the first novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Salander takes advantage of her knowledge about Bjurman (her legal guardian & lawyer) and her later intelligence about Wennerström (corrupt billionaire financier) to plan the downfalls of both men. When Salander first meets Blomkvist in the first novel she explains to him ‘Salander’s Principles’: “One of them is that a bastard is always a bastard, and if I can hurt him by digging up shit about him, then he deserves it.” Here the readers are properly presented with Salander’s true capabilities. Therefore the fact that computers symbolize numerous opportunities that information can provide, the readers learn that they empower their users to make decisions, take calculated risks, and gather or discover knowledge that is essential for financial, emotional, and even physical survival (in Salander’s case that