Identity Quotes in The Girl Who Played With Fire

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

She lacked social inhibitions, one of her reports stated. Well, [Bjurman] could conclude a stage or two further: she was a sick, murderous, insane f***ing person. A loose cannon. A whore. (2.102)

Bjurman is reading the social welfare reports on Salander. These show how she's been identified by the system. His thoughts show us what her identity is in his mind.

Quote #5

Her eyes filled with tears. Never in her life had she felt like such a selfish s***. And never had she been savaged in such a furious manner. She bowed her head. (8.37)

Armansky has just let Salander have it for being so careless with those who care for her. But what she's upset about is assuming her beloved guardian Holger Palmgren is dead. Palmgren is one person who she knows cares about her. Now that she knows he's alive, her identity as his friend can return.

Quote #6

Armansky: "Files are one thing. People are something else." (13.180)

Armansky is trying to explain to Bublanski that you probably can't know a person by reading a file on them. You can only really know a person by getting to know them.