The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Tjorven is a stray cat who becomes Blomkvist’s companion during his isolated stay at Hedeby and represents Salander’s independence. The cat belongs to no one and comes and goes whenever it pleases, just as Salander holds few personal attachments and follows her own schedule. During her first month working for Armanksy, he even compares her to a stray cat, noting that “She turned up at the office now and then…and she quickly became an outsider wandering the corridors of Milton like a stray cat. She was generally considered a hopeless case” (42). Armansky quickly learns that he misjudged her and honors Salander’s independence by promoting her to a freelance position where she could “work the way she wanted to” (50) and “only when she felt like it” (51).

The cat’s visits to Blomkvist’s cabin also mirror the relationship Blomkvist develops with Salander. Like the cat, she begins to spend the night with him, and they begin sleeping together without defining their relationship. After they first sleep together, their morning-after optimism is cut abruptly short and juxtaposed with Salander’s discovery of Tjorven’s mutilated and charred remains. Tjorven’s shocking death foreshadows the violent encounters with Martin and the unlikelihood of Blomkvist and Salander becoming a traditional couple.