The Silence of the Lambs (novel)

This article is about the novel. For the film, see The Silence of the Lambs (film).

The Silence of the Lambs

File:Sotl1.jpg
Author	Thomas Harris
Language	English
Series	Hannibal Lecter
Genre	Thriller, Horror
Publisher	St. Martin's Press
Publication date	1988
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	352 pp (hardcover)
ISBN	ISBN 0-312-02282-4
Preceded by	Red Dragon
Followed by	Hannibal

The Silence of the Lambs is a suspense novel by Thomas Harris, starring his popular villain Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the sociopathic, cannibalistic psychiatrist.

Plot summary

The novel opens with Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, being 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 asked to present a questionnaire to brilliant former forensic psychiatrist turned cannibalistic psychopath, Hannibal Lecter. Lecter is serving nine consecutive life sentences in a Maryland mental institution for his murders.

We also learn of Jack Crawford's hunt for a serial killer dubbed "Buffalo Bill", whose modus operandi involves kidnapping overweight women, starving them for about two weeks then killing and skinning them, before dumping the bodies in nearby rivers. The nickname was started by Kansas City Police Homicide Division, as a joke that "he likes to skin his humps."

When Bill's sixth victim is found in West Virginia, Starling helps Crawford perform the autopsy. Starling finds a moth chrysalis in the throat of the victim, and just as Lecter predicted, she has been scalped. Diamond-shaped patches of skin have also been taken from her shoulders. Autopsy reports, furthermore, indicate that Bill 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 never have spoken up.

Starling takes the chrysalis to the Smithsonian, where it is eventually identified as the "Death's Head Moth," so named because of the signature skull design on its back. This particular specimen lives only in Asia, and in the United States must be hand-raised.

In Tennessee, Catherine Baker Martin, the 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.

After Starling leaves, Lecter reminisces on the past, recalling a conversation with Benjamin Raspail. Raspail, during that therapy session, explained Klaus's death at the hands of Raspail's jealous former lover, Jame Gumb, who then used Klaus's skin to make an apron. Raspail also revealed that Gumb had an ephiphany upon watching a moth hatch. Lecter's pleasant ruminations are interrupted when Chilton steps in. A listening device allowed him to record Starling's conversation, 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 managed to fashion and conceal a handcuff key. He knows that once he is outside the asylum, he will be in the custody of police officers who will use handcuffs on him, rather than straitjackets.

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.

Shortly after this, Lector manages to escape, but Starling continues her search for Buffalo Bill, eventually tracking him down.

Characters

• Clarice Starling
• Dr. Hannibal Lecter
• Jack Crawford
• Jame Gumb/Buffalo Bill
• Barney
• Ardelia Mapp
• Dr. Frederick Chilton
• Catherine Baker Martin
• Senator Ruth Martin
• Paul Krendler
• Noble Pilcher
• Albert Roden

Influences

Jame Gumb was based on five real-life serial killers:

• Gary Ridgway, who like Gumb only murdered women and dumped his victims bodies in rivers often with objects inserted inside their bodies.
• Ed Gein, a Wisconsin man who robbed graves and murdered women in order to flay their bodies and make clothing out of them. Gein was also the inspiration for Norman Bates in the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho as well as Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
• Ted Bundy, who killed dozens of women in the 1970s, often luring victims by pretending he was injured with a cast on his arm, a technique Gumb used to lure Catherine Martin into his van. Similar to Lecter, Bundy also offered to help investigators find other serial murderers by "giving insights" into their psychology while he was in death row, specifically about the Green River Killer.
• Gary M. Heidnik, who held women captive in a deep hole in his basement.
• Edmund Kemper, man who murdered women and had sex with his victims

Film adaptation

Main article: The Silence of the Lambs (film)

Following the 1986 adaptation of Red Dragon (filmed as Manhunter), 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 - Actor in a leading role, Actress in a leading role, Director, Motion Picture and Screenplay. It stars Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling and Ted Levine as the serial killer Buffalo Bill.

Literary significance

The novel was a great success and 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 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."

Awards and nominations

• The novel won the 1988 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.
• It was nominated for the 1988 World Fantasy Award.