Flavian Philip

Professor Janelle Poe

FIQWS 10108

14 November 2018

            The Strength of The Dragon Tattoo

         Great things come from people who have experienced great pain. Take Oprah, Vincent Van Gogh, Jim Carrey, and Kelsi Grammar, they all share something in common other than their fame and legacy which is their experiences of trauma and hardships. Growing up my father was absent in my life for 8 years and my mother worked practically everyday to help to provide for herself, my younger brother, and I. Without the help of food-stamps and rental assistance, we probably couldn’t be able to be where we are today. These hard times of having to see my mother cry each and every night because she was not only going through a terrible divorce, but she had to raise her two children on her own motivate me to become successful and to make her proud.

        Although I’ve read a series of novels within my lifetime, one novel that has really resonated with me is The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Lisbeth Salander, the main character of the novel, is portrayed as a bold and fearful white woman covered in multiple tattoos with her hair shaved into a mohawk. Therefore, she stands out amongst a group of woman because of her physical appearance which is depicted as unladylike compared to societal norms. Within the second chapter of the novel, Lisbeth decided to get a new tattoo of a dragon on her shoulder to represent her strength against her sexual abuser, Bjurman, her therapist, who took advantage of her because he was in charge of her financial situation. Throughout Salander’s harsh circumstances, she never allowed her pain to have control over her life narrative, but instead took it upon herself to redefine her own identity and pursue her career of being a researcher and computer hacker.

Reading the novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo two summers ago inspired me, and made me come to the realization that I have both control and power over my own life. It made me come to the realization that I am more than just a lower-class black young woman within society, and that I should take it upon myself to write my own narrative. Although still unto this day I am uncertain of what career path that I want to take. I am certain that I want a job where I can encounter many human interactions and help people with something that they are going through, whether it is a medical problem, housing problem, or even an educational problem.

I always knew that I loved people growing up, because I’ve always enjoyed creating and building relationships with people. Although I may not become a computer hacker or a researcher like Lisbeth, I still felt elated to know that I could one day make a positive impact on the life of another person like Lisbeth did for the Vangar family. Within chapter 26 of the novel, Harriet and her uncle Henrik were finally reunited after her 40 year disappearance due to the severe amount of hardships that she had been through growing up, and I found that to be extremely powerful. Harriet had carried out a highly successful plan at 15 to runaway from home and live in Idaho, because of the fact that she was constantly being exposed to murders that her father, Henrik Vangar, and brother, Martin Vangar had committed, and because she was being sexually abused by them as well. Although these horrific events had occurred, Lisbeth was able to bring a sense of healing to such unfortunate circumstances by bringing the Vangar family justice by killing Martin in chapter 24, because he was still trying to carry out his father’s legacy of being both a serial killer and rapist, and by reuniting Harriet with her uncle before his passing so that she could inherit the family company.

Helping a person can change their whole life within a matter of minutes, but also when a person not only becomes more confident and accepting of themselves and their past it would help to change their own lives as well. Just as Brenè Brown once stated “When we own the story, we can write a brave new ending.” When a person does allows their past, their society, and even sometimes the people around them to hinder their success they are allowing others to take control of their destiny and their lives. Thus, it is important for a person to take the initiative and live their lives for themselves according to themselves .Even though I am uncertain of my future career path today. I am extremely certain that whatever I do will help others, whether it is medicine, education, or even social work and I will not allow the hardships that I have faced growing up to hinder my successes just as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, I will use my hardships as a motivation to achieve my goals.

 

 

                                                           Works Cited
Zaillian, Steven, and Stieg Larsson. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: 2011.
Patricia. “Friends of Ocee Library.” What’s Your Story?, 1 Jan. 1970,
www.oceefriends.org/2015/06/whats-your-story.htm
VH1, Amanda Bell. “These Celebrities’ Horrific Childhood Stories Will Make You Hug Your Parents Tightly.” VH1 News, 29 Jan. 2016, www.vh1.com/news/239439/hollywood- celebrities-tragic-childhood/