Thomas Harris in his book, “The Silence of the Lambs” what does he really mean by silence is the question? What is the psyche of these people represented as Agent Starling, Dr. Hannibal, and Buffalo Bill?
Table of Contents
In the book “The Silence of the Lambs”, almost all characters have a true example of psychological implications and seem to have a deep-rooted “psychological disorder”, the fact that Dr. Hannibal displays signs of a mental disorder could be a facade as he was a psychiatrist of great repute, a common manipulative trick would be to design a character of “cannibalism” with underlying of a different personality altogether. https://www.studocu.com/en-us/document/camden-county-college/basic-psychology/mental-illness-essay-grade-a/7218239
The novel seems to bring in psychological similarities than distinctions with Hannibal, Buffalo Bill, and Agent Starling. A certain point in the novel seems to imply education, and family background with the profession- a doctor, a tailor, and an agent. http://students.aiu.edu/submissions/profiles/resources/onlineBook/F5B8y5_Abnormal_Psychology_9th.pdf
Differences in Methodology
Hannibal and Starling are methodical hence they would murder with refinement restriction while Starling would be an investigation agency to pierce the truth of the disorder of Bill who believed in peeling skin for covering his identity. Towards the third novel, we actively see Hannibal devouring victims openly and Starling aiding or accepting the hideous occupation.
The hideous occupation is coveted by the action of eating meaning trying to hide and remain elusive, the peeling of skins could mean the inconsequential nature of the body but the importance of something on the sidelines and memories of hauntings the cause of which is creating a fissure leading to some disturbances.
Difficult Memories
Nothing is as it seems on the outside that is the reason it could be summed, under the genre of “psychical trepidation” the FBI agent herself has nightmares of slaughterhouses and animals which keeps recurring in her dreams, an imagery which is never sorted until the end. https://www.gradesaver.com/the-silence-of-the-lambs-novel/study-guide/themes
Inferences
The Killer “Buffalo Bill” who has never clarity in his thoughts, keeps emphasizing the point of gender issues by killing women and peeling their skins to make a suit for himself, the point here is, the cold-blooded killer is sick to the point he mirrors the impact on his victims wherein he forces a young girl to apply moisturizer for easy extraction and tailoring. https://www.gradesaver.com/the-silence-of-the-lambs-novel/study-guide/summary
The procedure of moths emerging from the cocoons could mean the de-moulding of skin to have new skin, and his attraction to men could depict the state of mind craven and full of pleasure at the girl’s cries, and sadistic leanings. https://tdznkwjt9mxt6p1p8657.cleaver.live/success-story-of-stephen-king/
Positive Side of Dr.Hannibal
We must give credit to Dr.Hannibal in spite of his murderous mindset he acknowledged the level of intelligence in Agent Starling and his anti-social behaviour, there was an innate ability that possessed him to connect and reveal parts of Starling’s life facets which aided the journey or success into the team of FBI agents.
Trigger Points
His habit of eviscerating is directly a result of Mischa his sister who was killed and keeps recurring in his life as a memory triggering the repeated killings and hatred towards society.
The latent childhood memories of disrepute “solved” by himself, unites Starling and Hannibal in the later novels, the question here being what has been “solved” the killing of one human by another, what is this emotion that transfers the power to kill even if they are morally corrupt?
A lot of imagery has been drawn up on how Hannibal kills detailed incidents by the author are debased and “negative”.
Hannibal as a “Healer”
As a psychiatrist, he was supposed to heal and brutally kill so in order to heal he must be treated not with jail but a solution must be “death”. People with such severe childhood trauma and hate can never lead a normal life.
The trauma is social neglect and involves continuous cycles of murder, and repeated actions ultimately venting latent ferocious pain to others and depicting a sort of helplessness. Reckless tendencies cannot be contained as shown in the novel the way he rips open the entrails of the guards is horrifying, one can feel the sound effect as if it were happening in front.
Impact of Incarceration
Isolation only increases the multitude of a trigger for pent-up emotions which leads to violent corrosive expulsion and the subject as said has become blank to empathise with the emotion of anyone else but the self.
This could lead to the discovery of similar victims for healing purposes, a vague of form of social mixed with the Ego or needs of society.
Subconsciously, the human factor involves is in pursuit of finding similar identities such as delinquent aspects attract them more and wavelength.
The novel is the search for one serial killer by another manipulator while the real victim is Starling as Hannibal manipulates her emotions through information for information policy and finally goes in search of her concluding the end of the third novel with the end of his sister’s memories and psychological manipulation of a “slave” which could mean the end of his “murderous” mindset which remains latent.
Buffalo Bill the”psycho-freak”
Buffalo Bill later on as we discover keeps a harvest of “Death-head” moths these insects relatively live for a few days, the relevance of this iconography could represent the lifespan of his victims, and the skull-head on the moth’s back is eerily placed in one of the victim’s throat emanates a freakish idea that this person operates at the ID stage of Freud’s level of personality theory.
The basic instincts here reveal fetishes such as representing the batch of butterfly eggs to genitalia and the pupae as a form of new life and regeneration or death with the moth’s subgenre.
The killer was jealous of his lover’s skin namely James Gumb whose skin he sew to make an apron. More than life the idea of love in death and preservation was more important to Bill.
All about Killers
Collection of items by killers is a common syndrome of death and preservation is anti-contextual creating a mysterious outlook for a normal person in this case when truth in the form of Agent Starling shooting Bill represented not the end of life for him but a shortage of medication as no police or law enforcement could bring him to justice as was the level of disorder but a creator God who paid the price for his creation.
In terms of the killer he received eternal fame and an award for his deeds but Starling the same act of killing represented killing her nightmare and memories of the men who slaughtered the innocent animals at the farm where she stayed thereby determining her individual brilliance.
The Fallen “Starling”
Starling is the marginalised “alpha woman” whom everyone desires but sadly plummets to the level of association with Dr.Hannibal who mentally alters her thinking by psychologically healing her pretending a wall of silent understanding of her woes while actually diminishing her capabilities to match his expectations.
He “willingly” treats her as a patient with “personal relations” than a human being he is a doctor and she is his “lover patient” with no given address but a sense of belonging to him like a weak, fragile thing indirectly impressing his Ego needs.
From the beginning to the end, she dealt with the world on her and was searching for a “safe haven” and the idea bordered with security guards at the end of the third novel is worth reckoning as instinctively fathomed – fear follows from and against the society, a kind of acceptable isolation and “peace” or pieces?
Egoistic “I”
“A census taker tried to quantify me once. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a big Amarone.”
Usually, portrayed as a “joke” the statement provided food for thought on his massive ego.
The issue at hand elicited the decapitation of “his family” in an anthropophagic way, as his ego had been embittered into fragments, and with Starling he assumed it all fine and sunder and his actions of “protecting” others reveals a trait to be associated with something inferior and helpless, might need “His” shield.
The author Harris could suggest when Hannibal escapes from jail with items such as using a pen to kill the guards, defacing the man, and taking to his heels that there is no cure, freedom, and murderous instincts were raging like wildfire.
Knowing and searching for truth was a part of Starling’s job and probably her life. Hannibal gave in small wins or “good deeds” to create a positive impression in the minds of people heavily weighing upon Clarice, access to the route, or map of the mind.
“I’ve been in this room for eight years now, Clarice. I know they will never ever let me out while I’m alive. What I want is a view. I want a window where I can see a tree, or even water”
Notice the number of times the ‘I’ surfaces.
The gaze and confinement of Hannibal is restrictive to his Ego hence to develop the “I” there is a need for his “heaven” and an “angel”.
About Abnormal Psychology
“Biology may build the foundation for personality disorders, but many researchers believe that psychological factors are crucial for their development. Human cognition—the processes by which we acquire, process, and retrieve information, may help explain how personality disorder symptoms develop and are maintained”
Abnormal Behaviour in psychology is atypical conduct referring to stages of noteworthy aspects such as illusion creation, inability to sustain a work-related matter, constant concern, or depressive episodes. The case here in concern pointed to Dr, Hannibal who was deemed to an “Experimental” technique such as control, coercion, isolation, and lack of societal exposure, whereas Carice Starling and Buffalo Bill ceded from an open free atmosphere to the “Experimental” method adding to the incident as discussed above of Buffalo Bill’s “complete escape”.
