Silence Of The Lambs Chapter Summary

Silence of the Lambs

In the book Silence of the Lambs (Harris, 1988) the whole plot is based around three main characters. Clarice Starling, 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. Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter, a former psychiatrist, is in a mental institute for his ferocious attacks. Hannibal is known as a monster by many who surround him. The final main character is James Gumb, also known as Buffalo Bill. Throughout the story he is committing horrible acts of murder and skinning of many females in pursuit of becoming a
He is a white male in his mid thirties; most serial killers are white male, unemployed, intelligent and experience financial difficulty. Gumb is all of these things, he is unemployed but a very skilled seamstress, and using these skills is making him a second skin out of women who he is able to take control of and render them powerless. He is also very intelligent but is unable to interact with other people and therefore remains unemployed. James experienced financial difficulties until he was the recipient of a large sum of money from an
The reasons for the conflict between the FBI and Jame Gumb are evident- the FBI would like him to be captured and Gumb will do anything to stop them. He keeps quiet and avoids contact with other people; he hides the bodies of the murdered women and drops them away from his home to avoid being caught. He wants to achieve his dream of being a woman and he will let nothing stop him. The next conflict in the novel is between the FBI and Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The FBI sees Lecter as a threat to the case and does not advocate his involvement with the case of Buffalo Bill. The FBI knows how brilliant Dr. Lecter is and they are not sure if he can be trusted to tell the truth about what he knows about Buffalo Bill. The FBI wants to trick Lecter into helping them by filling out a "profile" that could help them come closer to the identity of Buffalo Bill. The last conflict involves Clarice Starling and the struggle that she is facing within herself. She is searching inside herself for answers to the questions that she forgot she knew about, things about her past, childhood and about her entire life. Dr. Lecter brings up things in Starling's life that she needed in order for her life to be complete. She is able to straighten things out in her life that have stopped her from achieving her full potential in the past. With doing this the case of Buffalo Bill is