The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The chapter opens with a discussion of trustees and guardians in Swedish legislation. Individuals who need help managing their lives can be appointed as trustees. If the need for assistance is due to an advanced mental illness or dementia, then a guardian can be appointed. Trustees hold partial legal authority, whereas guardians may have exclusive legal control, including of the client’s finances. The narrator describes depriving a person of control over her finances as “one of the greatest infringements a democracy can impose” (246). Clients who have pressed charges against their guardians have often faced silencing by the media or law enforcement. Lisbeth Salander’s psychiatric records keep her in a guardianship that deems her “legally incompetent” (245), a status she previously had not questioned since Palmgren did not control her finances or abuse his powers as her guardian.

Because of her status as a ward who is “non compos mentis,” Salander does not report Bjurman’s assaults and doubts that the legal system or police will support her. Since her youth, Salander has experienced bullying, sexual assault, and family trauma without sympathy, protection, or effective assistance from teachers or social welfare groups. Past efforts to defend herself only led to her classification as a “cunning and unjustifiably violent” (249) person.