Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Silence of the Lambs, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Sexism and Law Enforcement
The Nature of Evil
Class and Shame
Manipulation
Summary
Analysis
Finally, Starling returns to Quantico, where she must resume her everyday life. When Ardelia sees Starling, she makes her some tea and brings her up to speed on what she has missed at school. While Starling speaks with Ardelia, Brigham stops by and offers to take Starling to the shooting range if she wants to practice. He also gives her words of encouragement regarding her upcoming hearing with Krendler. Ardelia is similarly supportive. She promises to ensure that Starling is mentally prepared for her exams. Both Ardelia and Brigham are proud of Starling’s hard work on the Buffalo Bill case, and they do everything they can to ease her transition back to life as usual at Quantico.
Everyone does their best to support Starling, but they all know they will not be able to solve her problem. Starling barely cares about school at this point; she knows she will have to take her exams, but exams seem so trivial compared to Catherine Martin’s life. That said, the fact that Starling has people supporting her all over the FBI is good news for her future career, even if she cannot bring herself to think about it right now.
Themes
