The Silence of the Lambs is a novel by Thomas Harris. First published in 1988, it is the
sequel to Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon. Both novels feature the cannibalistic serial killer
Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this time pitted against FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling.
Plot summary Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, is
asked to carry out an errand by Jack Crawford, the head of the FBI division that draws up
psychological profiles of serial killers. Starling is to present a questionnaire to
the brilliant forensic psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer, Hannibal Lecter. Lecter is
serving nine consecutive life sentences in a Maryland mental institution for a series
of murders. Crawford's real intention, however, is to
try to solicit Lecter's assistance in the hunt for a serial killer dubbed "Buffalo Bill",
whose modus operandi involves kidnapping overweight women, starving them for about three or four
days, and then killing and skinning them, before dumping the bodies in nearby rivers.
The nickname was started by Kansas City Homicide, as a joke that "he likes to skin his humps."
Throughout the investigation, Starling periodically returns to Lecter in search of information,
and the two form a strange relationship in which he offers her cryptic clues in return
for information about her troubled and bleak childhood as an orphan.
When Bill's sixth victim is found in West Virginia, Starling helps Crawford perform
the autopsy. Starling finds a moth pupa in the throat of the victim, and just as Lecter
predicted, she has been scalped. Triangular patches of skin have also been taken from
her shoulders. Furthermore, autopsy reports indicate that Bill had killed her within four
days of her capture, much faster than his earlier victims. On the basis of Lecter's
prediction, Starling believes that he knows who Buffalo Bill really is. She also asks
why she was sent to fish for information on Buffalo Bill without being told she was doing
so; Crawford explains that if she had had an agenda, Lecter would have sensed it and
never spoken up. Starling takes the pupa to the Smithsonian,
where it is eventually identified as the Black Witch, which would not naturally occur where
the victim was found. In Tennessee, Catherine Baker Martin, daughter
of Senator Ruth Martin, is kidnapped. Within six hours, her blouse is found on the roadside,
slit up the back: Buffalo Bill's calling card. Crawford is advised that no less than the
President of the United States has expressed "intense interest" in the case, and that a
successful rescue is preferable. Crawford estimates they have three days before Catherine
is killed. Starling is sent to Lecter with the offer of a deal: if he assists in Catherine's
rescue and Buffalo Bill's capture, he will be transferred out of the asylum, something
he has continually longed for. However, Lecter expresses skepticism at the genuineness of
the offer. After Starling leaves, Lecter reminisces on
the past, recalling a conversation with Benjamin Raspail, a former patient whom he later murdered.
Raspail, during that therapy session, explained the death of a sailor named Klaus at the hands
of Raspail's jealous former lover, Jame Gumb, who then used Klaus' skin to make an apron.
Raspail also revealed that Gumb had an epiphany upon watching a moth hatch. Lecter's ruminations
are interrupted when Dr. Frederick Chilton - the asylum's administrator and Lecter's
nemesis - steps in. A listening device allowed him to record Starling's offer, and Chilton
has found out that Crawford's deal is a lie. He offers one of his own: If Lecter reveals
Buffalo Bill's identity, he will indeed get a transfer to another asylum, but only if
Chilton gets credit for getting the information from him. Lecter insists that he'll only give
the information to Senator Martin in person, in Tennessee. Chilton agrees. Unknown to Chilton,
Lecter has previously hidden under his tongue a paperclip and some parts of a pen, both
of which were mistakenly given to him by untrained orderlies over his many years at the asylum.
He fashions the pen pieces and paperclip into an improvised lockpick, which he later uses
to pick his handcuff locks. In Tennessee, Lecter toys with Senator Martin
briefly, enjoying the woman's anguish, but eventually gives her some information about
Buffalo Bill: his name is William "Billy" Rubin, and he has suffered from "elephant
ivory anthrax", a knifemaker's disease. He also provides an accurate physical description.
The name, however, is a red herring: bilirubin is a pigment in human bile and a chief coloring
agent in human feces, which the forensic lab compares to the color of Chilton's hair.
Starling tries one last time to get information from Lecter as he is about to be transferred.
He offers a final clue - "we covet what we see every day" - and demands to hear her worst
memory. Starling reveals that, after her father's death, she was sent to live with a cousin
on a sheep and horse ranch. One night, she discovered the farmer slaughtering the spring
lambs, and fled in terror with one of the slaughter horses whom she named Hannah. The
farmer caught her and sent her to an orphanage, where she spent the rest of her childhood,
along with Hannah. Lecter thanks her, and the two share a brief moment of connection
before Chilton forces her to leave. Later on, she deduces from Lecter's clue that Buffalo
Bill knew his first victim. Shortly after this, Lecter escapes by killing
and eviscerating his guards, using one of their faces as a mask to fool paramedics.
Starling continues her search for Buffalo Bill, eventually tracking him down and killing
him, rescuing Catherine. She is made a full-fledged FBI agent, and receives a congratulatory telegram
from Lecter, who hopes that "the lambs have stopped screaming". While writing the letter,
Lecter notes to himself that he will track down Chilton, but Clarice assumes he will
not come after her, correctly. He predicts, also correctly, that while saving Catherine
Martin may have granted Clarice some relief, the silence will never become eternal, heralding
her motives for a continued career at the FBI. Clarice eventually finds rest even after
Lecter's letter, sleeping peacefully "in the silence of the lambs".
Characters Clarice Starling
Dr. Hannibal Lecter Jack Crawford
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb Barney Matthews
Ardelia Mapp Dr. Frederick Chilton
Catherine Baker Martin Senator Ruth Martin
Paul Krendler Noble Pilcher
Albert Roden I. J. Miggs
Film adaptation
Following the 1986 adaptation of Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs was adapted by Jonathan
Demme in 1991. The Silence of the Lambs became the third film in Oscar history to win the
five most prestigious Academy Awards – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress,
and Best Screenplay. It stars Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling and Anthony Hopkins as
Hannibal Lecter. To this day, it continues to be listed by critics as one of the best
films ever made. Literary significance
The novel was a great success. Craig Brown of The Mail on Sunday wrote, "No thriller
writer is better attuned than Thomas Harris to the rhythms of suspense. No horror writer
is more adept at making the stomach churn". The Independent wrote, "Utterly gripping",
and Amazon.com wrote, "...driving suspense, compelling characters,...a well-executed thriller..."
Children's novelist Roald Dahl also greatly enjoyed the novel, describing it as "subtle,
horrific and splendid, the best book I have read in a long time". Author David Foster
Wallace used the book as part of his curriculum while teaching at Pomona College and later
included the book as well as Harris's Red Dragon on his list of ten favorite novels.
John Dunning says of Silence of the Lambs: [it is] "simply the best thriller I've read
in five years". Accolades
The novel won the 1988 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.
The novel also won the 1989 Anthony Award for Best Novel.
It was nominated for the 1989 World Fantasy Award.
References
External links