The Silence Of The Lambs

Harris expands on the theme of manipulation in Chapter 19; Crawford includes Clarice in his plan to deceive Lecter, Chilton, and even the Senator. Crawford doesn’t want Clarice to approach Lecter seeking facts, because he knows Lecter will simply withhold information to toy with the Senator’s grief; he advises her to lie and talk to Lecter as if “coming to him strictly for theory and insight” (130). Their phony deal manipulates Lecter’s desire for minor freedoms like a cell with a window. Clarice sees that Chilton all but emptied Lecter’s cell of his few belongings—even his toilet seat—which makes her manipulation appear meanspirited, even against a murderer. The plans of deceit backfire: Chilton exposes the manipulation to Lecter and the Senator, and takes Lecter away to Memphis.

Harris uses Gumb’s behavior to emphasize the cruelty of his crimes. When the narrative follows Gumb’s perspective, the reader understands how the killer views his actions compared to how outsiders perceive them. The reader knows that Gumb abducts, confines, kills, and skins his victims, but Harris shows Gumb disregarding the severity of these crimes. Gumb sings in the shower and lavishly pampers himself, posing in the mirror and cooing at his dog. Hints of his violent behavior intrude upon this glamourous routine, like the automatic rifle that he carries around in his nightclothes. Gumb constructs a fantasy world in the upper levels of his house, “giv[ing] no sign that he heard the cry […] that echoed up from the black hole” that holds Catherine (138). Even as he lowers food scraps to her, Gumb ignores Catherine’s pleading and teases Precious instead. Gumb’s avoidance of Catherine’s despair highlights the contrast between his imagined world and reality, making his crimes more sinister for his bored inclusion of them in his daily routine.

Gumb’s fantasy life involves a heightened performance of femininity. Narrative exposition explains that Gumb, believing he is transgender, tried taking hormones to change his appearance. Harris questions “whether his behavior was an earnest inept attempt to swish or a hateful mocking” (136). Lecter also tells Clarice that Buffalo Bill isn’t genuinely trans, “he [only] thinks he is, he tries to be” (165). Lecter hypothesizes that Buffalo Bill’s actions are in retaliation for being refused sex reassignment surgery. Lecter connects Buffalo Bill and his supposed gender identity to the symbol of the moth, more specifically the moth’s matured form, the imago. In psychoanalytic theory, the imago is the idealized image of the parent in the child’s unconscious mind. Harris later explores Gumb’s imago in Chapter 46, when the reader sees that Gumb’s true desire is to transform into his mother.

Lecter exposes the rigidity of Clarice’s textbook understanding of human behavior. He claims it is too simplistic for the realities of life, such as defining Buffalo Bill as a sadist. Chilton and Dr. Bloom’s definition of Lecter as a “pure sociopath” is also inaccurate, as Clarice realizes she is “still waiting for shallowness of affect” from Lecter (146). Though Clarice is poking fun at Lecter’s emotional displays, Crawford did initially caution her that “nobody can say for sure” what kind of monster Lecter is (6). Lecter solidifies his argument using Chilton’s misdiagnosis of the new inmate, Sammie. By not considering Sammie’s deep religiosity and relationship to his mother, Chilton’s textbook diagnosis of hebephrenic schizophrenia mischaracterizes Sammie’s behavior and halts his rehabilitation. Lecter shows Clarice the necessity of considering individual motivations before making broad classifications—a lesson that helps Clarice better understand Buffalo Bill and how to find him.

The reader learns more about Clarice’s impoverished upbringing through the quid pro quo game. Lecter draws out Clarice’s worst memories, some of which she didn’t realize she had repressed. Lecter discovers that Clarice’s father was a night watchman, not a marshal. This difference reveals that Clarice either deliberately changed this fact to hide the true extent of her poverty, or she simply misremembered, as she claims. Clarice surprises herself by remembering her resentment for the mayor who came to her father’s deathbed for his work belongings; this becomes a memory she applies to other bureaucrats she dislikes, like Paul Krendler. Clarice tries to evade details about her stay at her mother’s cousin’s ranch. Her obvious pain in the memory interests Lecter so much that he makes her promise to answer further questions about it the next time they speak.

Clarice and Lecter’s relationship grows over the course of the two interviews, with Lecter even claiming that “it would be quite something to know [her] in private life” (151). Lecter now freely speaks to her in a way he doesn’t with anyone else, although he tries to uphold an air of mystery. Clarice notices he has a “slight metallic rasp beneath his voice” (144), proving that he doesn’t speak with anyone between their sessions. Lecter concocts two questions for Clarice to answer in the future, revealing his desire to speak to her again. Although Lecter still conceals the true identity of Buffalo Bill, he gives Clarice real clues and leads that all point toward the right suspect—a stark contrast to the pure lies he will feed the Senator in Chapter 32.