Critical Analysis of Silence of The Lambs APA format
Critical Analysis of Silence of The Lambs APA formatRunning Head: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Critical Analysis of Silence of the Lambs
Christopher Diffley
Introduction to Psychology
Critical Analysis of Silence of the Lambs
In the book �Silence of the Lambs� (Harris, 1988) the whole plot is based around three main characters. Clarice Starling is a precociously self-disciplined FBI trainee who is put into the position of trying to unravel the mind of an evil genius, Hannibal �the cannibal� Lecter, in order to find the answers needed to capture the serial killer, Jame Gumb, also known as �Buffalo Bill.� The psychological background is very strong in all of the characters, lending to their believability, except for some fragile associations between the characters Lecter and Gumb. The intrigue of Gumb with moths is particularly worth noting, since there is very little evidence of prior criminals being documented as having used this sort of post mortem decoration, yet the logic of the idea is impeccable.
Starling is the protagonist in the book, and the majority of the story line takes place from her point of view. She is driven by memories of her childhood, which is a recurring theme throughout the book. Most of these are in the form of flashbulb memories, a recollection of an event so powerful that the recollection is highly vivid and richly detailed, as if it were preserved on film (Brown & Kulik, 1977). She draws upon these memories for courage, and they give her the strength of will to accomplish whatever task it is she is about to perform.
Hannibal Lecter is neither an antagonist nor protagonist, but more like a middleman throughout the novel. He doles out parcels of knowledge to Clarice Starling in order to test her strength of mind, and to benefit himself by getting rewards for helping the FBI, such as a room with a window and unlimited access to books and any other sort of research material he might want, especially the criminal file on Buffalo Bill. He also wants to learn more about Starling, and the only way she usually got any information from him was through exchanging his knowledge for tidbits from her childhood.
Jane Gumb is an enigma during most of the book, and is an unseen antagonist except for brief periods when the author switches to his point of view to enlighten the reader to exactly what Gumb is thinking about before he commits his murders, and shed some light upon what sort of personality Gumb has. He is a heavy-set cross-dresser who kidnaps girls of his size and then flays them in order to make body suits out...
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