A sonic in-depth look at one of contemporary literature's most complex characters, Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

1. Typing

If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, there is one important thing you need to know about the novel’s titular character: Lisbeth does not do well with people. Lisbeth is independent, isolated, and perhaps even a little lonely. Instead of surrounding herself with friends and family, she chooses to commit herself to her passion/personal hobby: hacking. 

Lisbeth’s laptop is essentially an extension of herself. The click click clack of a computer keyboard is not only a sound that dominates Lisbeth’s life, but it is also a sound she is able to create with her own fingertips. Lisbeth, a flawed and complicated woman in constant search for validation, undoubtedly enjoys having this sense of control. There is also a rhythmic and orderly sense to the sound of typing, which coincides with Lisbeth’s need for predictability of her surroundings. 

2. "In A Rhyme" by No Fun At All

Stieg Larsson’s thorough description of Lisbeth’s attire, style, and attitude is impossible to ignore. Characterized by tattoos, suggestive graphic tees, Doc Marten’s boots, and black clothing, Lisbeth would (at least visibly) fit into a crowd at a punk rock concert. 

I like to think that this song would be on Lisbeth’s Top 25 Most Played on iTunes. The busy, loud, and erratic guitar in the background signify her attempt to drown out all other noises, whether they are from others or from the darkest corner of her mind. The song also has no repeated verses and only has four stanzas, which symbolizes Lisbeth’s sparing use of words.

Additionally, the lyrics could easily come out of Lisbeth's diary. One particularly evident example of this is the verse "Ticke ticke, talking around my head, voices everywhere." Lisbeth is haunted by a multitude of demons, from her evil mentor Bjurman to her tumultuous family life to her own conscience. All of these people try to pull her in different directions and influence her; I imagine that she is constantly hearing these voices talking to her in her head.

3. Fluorescent Buzz

As a private investigator, Lisbeth works long hours in a large office space; when reading the book I pictured a never-ending floor lined with hundreds of rows and columns of cubicles. Lisbeth, ever the independent, frequently did not show up for work in favor of coming in erratically when she felt inclined. Whenever she did come in to the office, she typically slunk in through the garage entrance in the early morning and spent hours working on cases alone. 

I believe she did this in attempt to avoid meaningful relationships as well as responsibility; Lisbeth firmly believed that not even her boss could even slightly dictate her life. Though the office was surely silent otherwise, the nearly inaudible buzzing of the fluorescent lights overhead Lisbeth as she worked served as a constant reminder that she could not truly escape humanity or the obligations of her job.

4. Humdrum of a Crowd

When I read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I often visualized Salander making her way alone through a crowd of people on the streets of Stockholm as she walked to and from her apartment. Lisbeth often isolates herself and is quite a loner; weaving her way quietly through a crowd of people who are all talking and interacting with each other is a perfect way to demonstrate this characteristic.

In another sense, the sound of a crowd is the part of the ideal environment for Salander to do what she does best: remain undetected. Salander is infamous for her disguises that allow her to pass through both strange and familiar surroundings without being noticed. The most prevalent example of this is her disguise as Irene Nesser, a rich housewife she poses as in order to succesfully complete a hacking money transaction. Walking through a crowd and hearing a dull lull with no interjections of detection or notice would be Salander's true measure of success at camouflaging.

5. "Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky

One key part of this song is that there are no words, which is fitting for Lisbeth's terse demeanor. She only speaks when necessary -- and, sometimes, not even then. Her actions and body language, however, convey more about her thoughts and feelings more than her words could ever describe, and causes the readers to fill in the gaps of her personality and make their own assumptions and conclusions about her character. I believe this song does the same for its listeners, as it creates an overall mood with its intermingling percussion instruments by manipulating pitch and volume, but the lack of lyrics provides each listener with a unique perspective and takeaway.

Another dimension of "Your Hand in Mine" that parallels to Lisbeth is its gradually building, but eventually booming, crescendo. Like the muted notes of the song's beginning, Lisbeth starts off slowly -- she is closed off, reserved, unattached to the readers and to the world around her. Gradually, however, she works through her character arc; among other things, she becomes strong enough to stop her mentor from molesting her and exacts her own revenge, she becomes independent, she begins to live a healthier lifestyle, and she aids Blomkvist in solving the Vanger mystery. Lisbeth, however, has a very obvious and punctuated crescendo -- just like the song -- when she bursts into Martin Vanger's torture chamber and rescues Blomkvist from his impending doom.

6. "I Think I'm Paranoid" by Garbage

This twisted Garbage classic perfectly encapsulates Salander's mentality concerning her sexual interactions with both Blomkvist and her mentor, Bjurman. The most obvious embodiment of this is within the initial lyrics:

"You can look, but you can't touch

I don't think I like you much

Heaven knows what a girl can do

Heaven knows what you've got to prove"

For Lisbeth, these lyrics have a double meaning. A literal interpretation of the lyrics coincides with the relationship between Lisbeth and her mentor, Nils Bjurman, who tries (and eventually succeeds) in molesting and sexually assaulting Lisbeth. Lisbeth approaches the situation with the "You can look, but you can't touch mentality" at first, but is forced to submit to Bjurman's will because he is technically her guardian and in charge of her trust fund. Lisbeth, obviously, quickly learns to hate Bjurman and begins to plan her revenge, lining up with the song's next two lines. "Heaven knows what a girl can do is right" -- I'll spare you the details of the gruesome and gory revenge Salander exacts on her evil mentor, but it's safe to say that he was incapable of harming anyone after she was finished. As for "heaven knows what you've got to prove," it's clear that Bjurman has an inferiority complex (among other deep-rooted issues) and has to assert and "prove" his dominance over Lisbeth with his crude and unforgiveable actions.

The song lyrics in their entirety encapsulate Blomkvist and Salander's relationship within the context of Bjurman and Salander's relationship. Salander has a hard time opening up to Blomkvist due to the abuse she suffered from Bjurman. She is also quick to be suspicious of Blomkvist, as Bjurman's treatment of her has affected her opinion and treatment of all men. She wants to like Blomkvist, but it is difficult for her to maintain a stable relationship in light of all of her traumatizing past experiences. I believe this is best represented through the music pattern that is first presented in the initial 5 seconds of the song and continues to play in the background throughout the song. Though there are additional instruments added in, such as a drum and keyboard, and the background music is manipulated and mixed, the same pattern remains until the end of the song. This parallel's to Salander's inability to shake her experiences with Bjurman; just like the pattern is in the background of the song and sets its tone, those experiences will always be in the back of Salander's mind and set the tone for all of her other relationships.

Reflection

This was the first assignment I completed in class that stepped out of the lines of traditional literary analysis. I appreciated that the assignment description was clear and was not too overbearing, but I also liked that we were given the freedom to pick any character of our choosing. Doing so made me more personally invested in and passionate about the assignment because I was able to analyze one of my favorite characters from a contemporary novel -- an opportunity not offered in any of my previous English classes. In terms of the items I chose, I tried to incorporate a variety of different sounds that summed up both Lisbeth's personality as well as defined her habits, her relationships, and her past. It was a bit more difficult than expected; I was tempted to choose all songs (as I believe lyrics have the potential to be packed with meaning and metaphor), but after speaking with Dan and my peers I realized that incorporating more ambiguous sounds (such as the buzz of the fluorescent light) better rounded out the soundlist and enhanced the depth of my analysis. 

Overall, I thought this assignment was a great success as well as the perfect introduction to experimenting with sonic elements in literary analysis. I believe this assignment also served as the bridge between traditional classroom assignments and the unique Boostlit assignments we eventually delved into; having to use sounds to convey meaning helped jog my brain about sonic analysis while providing written explanations on each sound made me more comfortable with the challenging transition.