The personification of sadomasochistic ideals in the novel comes from Martin Vanger, head of the Vanger companies and, unknown to all, serial rapist and murderer. For example, Vanger may well have thought that his father, Gottfried Vanger, by raping him as a child, forced him not only to become the man he became, but to accept his “destiny.” Stekel and Brink also explained why many serial sadomasochists kill their victims, something he called the death clause. The death clause explained the idea of ​​the “parapathic fusion of death and normal relationship” (Stekel and Brink 2: 246). That is, that algolagnic behavior is so ingrained in their minds, that they can derive normal sexual pleasure only through the ultimate pain that can be inflicted, death. The death clause is something Vanger seems to have experienced a lot of, and it would explain not only his torture chamber, but also why he killed almost every girl he raped. Vanger is not an isolated example; Misogynistic and sadistic examples appear many times in this Swedish novel. Nor does the book describe an isolated culture of sadists in Sweden, as evidenced by Lisbeth Salander who states that “at the age of 18… she did not know a single girl who had not at some point been forced to perform some sort of sexual act against his will” (Larsson 228). The first sadistic scene experienced in the book comes from Nils Bjurman, Salander's court-appointed guardian. As previously stated, he expected a quid pro quo relationship and enacted his sadistic pleasures on her twice. It is important to notice how she focuses on what she doesn't like. “So you don't like anal sex” (Larsson 250), he asks, and once she states this statement, he has found her weakness; to us......middle of paper......school. Network. 17 February 2014. “Happiness in Sweden”. Global Happiness Organization. np and nd Web. March 18, 2014Helman, Christopher. “The Happiest (and Saddest) Countries in the World, 2013.” Forbes.com. Forbes Media LLC., October 29, 2013. Web. March 18, 2014Larsson, Stieg. The girl with the dragon tattoo. Trans. Reg Keeland. New York City: Random House, Inc., 2008. Print.Rosenberg, S., Robin, and Shannon O'Neill. The Psychology of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Understanding the Millennium Trilogy by Lisbeth Salander and Stieg Larsson. BenBella Books, Inc., 2013. Google eBook. Network. February 17, 2014.Stekel, Wilhelm and Louise Brink. Sadism and masochism: the psychology of hatred and cruelty. 2 vols. New York: Liveright, 1953. Question School. Network. February 17, 2014. Sussman, Henry. Around the book: systems and literacy. New York: Fordham UP, 2011. Questiona School. Network. February 17. 2014