Band As Reminder
Lisbeth decides to get a band tattooed on her ankle after her rape for it to serve as a reminder. While rape victims often tend to try forgetting the details of the crime, Lisbeth decides to get herself a reminder forever etched on a part where she was tied. To her, it is a symbol that she can trust no one.
Pressed flower
Henrik Vanger receives a pressed and framed flower on his birthday every year. He used to get these flowers from his niece, but after her presumed murder, he assumes that the flowers are sent to him by the murderer when the ritual doesn't stop. For him, this is a taunt from the kidnapper that he couldn't protect his niece and can never discover what happened to her, rendering him helpless.
Martin Vanger's Binder
Martin Vanger, like sadist serial killers, liked to collect souvenirs from his victims. In his case, it was their photos and videos as he tortured them. He wrote detailed description of them pain and suffering while he raped and assaulted them. He liked to deliver deep into their lives and destroy their identity.
Sexual Crimes Against Women
This is a common motif throughout the novel. Every chapter starts with a statistic on sexual crimes against women. Lisbeth is raped by her legal guardian. Harriett is abducted from her house, a serial killer is found loose in connection to her abduction.
Crime Scenes
The crime scenes of the murders Harriett had recorded in her diary were found to be not only gruesome but with some sort of element associated with the murder, like a used sanitary pad to choke a victim or dead animals arranged in a particular manner. The killer was trying to create scenes from the Book of Leviticus as a way of punishing these women for their supposed crimes.
