Lisbeth Salander and Pippi Longstocking: a literary lineage
Is Lisbeth Salander the literary descendant of Pippi Longstocking 鈥� or is she closer to Anne of Green Gables?
Is Lisbeth Salander the steampunk version of Pippi Longstocking? "Not on my pigtails," says this blogger.
Courtesy of Music Box
Finally, I鈥檝e joined the crowds tearing through Stieg Larsson鈥檚 鈥淢illennium鈥� trilogy. As a fan of children鈥檚 books as well as grown-up thrillers, I had been especially curious about heroine Lisbeth Salander, frequently described as a grown-up Pippi Longstocking.
The books? A thrill a minute.
Lisbeth as Pippi? Not on my pigtails. I鈥檇 be less bemused if people went around comparing hero-journalist Mikael Blomkvist to Frank and Joe Hardy.
Larsson created Salander after thinking over a grown-up Pippi, according to his , 鈥渁 dysfunctional girl, probably with attention deficit disorder who would have had a hard time finding a regular place in the "normal society." Larsson strewed a few tributes to the idea (and to author Astrid Lindgren) throughout the books, as when Salander鈥檚 nameplate reads 鈥淰. Kulla鈥� 鈥� Villa Villekulla, Pippi鈥檚 home.
The New York Times once did between the characters, citing Pippi-Lisbeth similarities such as great strength and an odd appearance. It鈥檚 still a big stretch to me. Even as homage, it鈥檚 hard to see anything of that gregarious, cheerful, zany rebel Pippi in the brilliant, wounded, antisocial Salander. One embraced independence; the other was abused into it.
Salander, the books slowly reveal, endured a tortured childhood. She learned to rely only on herself. I can鈥檛 speak for the late Larsson, and don鈥檛 know how far he meant the Pippi comparisons to go, but Salander could be held up with equal ease (and equal disconnect) to another spunky child heroine 鈥� also 鈥渄readful thin,鈥� with 鈥渁 tongue of her own,鈥� spending her younger years in an asylum 鈥渨orse than anything you can imagine.鈥� That one would be Anne of Green Gables.
Let鈥檚 just hope no one, talented or not, starts dreaming up a grownup, steampunk, hard-as-nails Pollyanna or Heidi.
Rebekah Denn blogs at .
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