Injury and damage
The novel picks up where the last novel left off: Lisbeth has been shot by her evil father, a gangster who leads a criminal enterprise that kidnaps women and sells them to be raped. Lisbeth's story in this novel is shaped by her experience of damage and healing. He shot her in the head and she is lucky to survive, but for the first time, she is helpless. She is forced to witness what life is like without power. Her experience of injury is a physical experience similar to the powerlessness Zala caused to other women.
Injustice and victim blaming
The novel's drama is painful: although Lisbeth was attacked by her own father, an evil man beyond normal evil, she is blamed for it. This is a depiction of victim blaming, and the community has to rally around her to support her and to prove her innocence. She is powerless to make others perceive her correctly, and the victim-blamers are convinced that she is guilty, instead of assuming she is innocent until proven guilty. The injustice is palpable.
Names and identity
Throughout the story, Lisbeth must face that Zala, her own father, has a deep evil in his identity that she is liable to contain in some way. He changes his name after their encounter, but they know his true identity. The name change is a portrait of identity dilemma. Throughout the story, Lisbeth must clear her name, and when she writes her autobiography, she finally puts her own name on her story and gives it out into the world for public reception.
Death
The novel is full of death. There is a triple homicide in the story, and the climax of the story could arguably be when Zala is murdered by Gullberg before Gullberg kills himself. Lisbeth is accused of murder, even though she is fighting for her life, on the brink of death from an attempted murder. The story is so full of death that when she publishes her autobiography, she is convinced a lot of people will go to prison.
