Incentive: that which arouses to action, spurs on, urges on; the motive behind an action.
There will be a wide range of characters in this complex plot. Larsson assists the reader by leaving nameless lesser players in the action. Thank God becasue we have so many characters to watch. The protagonist, the antagonist, the uncle, the uncle's right-hand man, the Vanger family, the people in the village, the supporting personalities around the main characters, and all their impulses and motives.
The obvious protagonist is Mikael Blomkvist. "St. Michael, the Archangel, be our defender this day in battle. Protect us against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke [the evil one] we humbly pray..." [Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel]
Larsson sees himself in real life as a St. Michael, exposing evil and protecting children, "counteracting the growth of the extreme right and the white power-culture in schools and among young people", "exposing Swedish extreme right and racist organizations; he was an influential debater and lecturer on the subject." [from Wikipedia]. Mikael Blomkvist is a reflection of a cleaned up Stieg Larsson.
As Part 1 opens, our Protagonist Mikael has been convicted of 15 counts of aggravated libel in a Swedish court. Mikael libeled Wennerstrom, a shadowy Swedish financial figure in an Eastern Euorpean development deal. Mikael is fined a hefty sum and sentenced to three months in jail. He was set up to be taken down it is revealed. Mikael has enemies.
Do I have sympathy for Mikael? A crusading journalist, handsome, tall, a ladies man, proud. He's having an open sexual relationship with the married business partner in their weekly news magazine. (The husband of said woman doesn't care we are told. She goes from bed to bed as she wishes.) Mikael is pretty pleased with himself (Lisbeth makes this observation in the course of her investigation of the Wennerstrom affair). Mikael's resume is presented so that we should at least admire him if not like him. I am not persuaded at this point to respond either way.
We soon meet Lisbeth Salander, described on the back cover as a pierced and tattooed punk podigy. She's a very closed, icy, contained, controlled personality. A victim of child abuse, but we don't know the details yet. She works for a security organization as a Personal Investigator. (One would not enjoy having her looking into your background because she will find all your secrets. She has so many secrets herself, she knows how to find everyone else's.) I like Lisbeth very much and read with great interest when she enters the scene. Later on we find she is under guardianship of the state social worker system. I have a feeling her experiences with the system will not be pretty.
But it is not Lisbeth who has been approached to unravel the center mystery. The 82 year old, wealthy uncle of an industrial family approachs Mikael the investigative journalist to discover what happened 37 years ago in the disappearance of the then 16year old niece Harriet. Uncle Henrik has puzzled over her apparent murder, has kept copious notes and detailed photographs, and he wants to solve the mystery before he dies. She disappeared just before Michaelmas term. Henrik offers Mikael millions of kroner to solve the mystery. Here's a nice dramatic touch: every year on his birthday Henrik receives a pressed flower from ... Harriet? Someone who wants to keep him obsessed with her disappearence.
We have four characters here: Mikael, Henrik, Lisbeth and Harriet. Lisbeth and Harriet are mirrors of each other. Lisbeth has been abused and broken by her past but not crushed. She is loved and protected by two men: her employer (a wonderful Croatian) and her state appointed guardian (a thoughtful, warm-hearted lawyer). Harriet was ignored and finally abandoned by her parents to Uncle Henrik who adored her and raised her in the family compound in northern Sweden.
We see the mysteries.
Why and by whom was Mikael set up to take a fall in the Wennerstrom deal? He has enemies but what caused them to castrate him? Who betrayed him?
What happened in the disappearance of Harriet? Who murdered her? Why? There is no apparent motive. (Her murder is a "closed room mystery", as they say in the genre.)
What is Lisbeth's story of childhood abuse? How will Lisbeth impact the solving of the mystery of Harriet and the Wennerstrom mystery? How are all these nasty family members interconnected?
Is Mikael's odd "domestic" situation with married Erika a factor in his betrayal? (I always have trouble when male authors negate the natural female impulse to be at least serially sexually exclusive. Any real woman who humps two men at the same time without emotional consequences has a twisted story of emotional abuse in her past. Period. Don't argue with me. Sleeping around is a male fantasy not a female truth.)
What is Henrik's connection with Wennerstrom? Henrik uses this bait to lure Mikael into this investigation. Well, the millions of kroner help, otherwise who would leave comfortable Stockholm for the back of the beyond in Northern Sweden in wintertime?
Why does Henrik's right-hand man suddenly drop the investigation of Wennerstrom with no explanation? Lisbeth was put on the trail. Will she drop the scent now?
The book was first published under the title: Men Who Hate Women. Who are the men who hate women in this story? They are not yet revealed yet.
What are the incentives? What has caused the characters to be aroused to action? What urges them on?
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