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
Burroughs tells Starling that Crawford figured out Buffalo Bill’s identity. As they speak, Crawford and his team are on their way to Illinois, where they believe Jame Gumb lives. They tracked him to that location by tracking an illegal shipment of moths he had made somewhat recently. The FBI is moving as quickly and silently as possible. They do not want Gumb to know they are coming in case he kills Catherine immediately or tries to use her as a hostage.
Although Harris never explains why, Crawford gets to return to active duty to take down Jame Gumb. Perhaps, his superiors allow him to make the trip because of his work with Dr. Danielson and because he won’t personally participate in the raid. All of the preparations for the raid are performed with the utmost care because Catherine will die if they are not careful.
Themes
Unfortunately, Starling has no way of getting to Illinois, so she has to stay in Ohio. Thinking she might as well be useful, Starling offers to go around town to interview people who knew Fredrica. Burroughs tells her that is a good plan and promises once again to throw his weight behind her in her upcoming hearing.
If nothing else, Starling thinks she might be able to get some information that will help fill in some holes after the case is over. At this point, she feels her career is safe, and she does not have to worry about the case anymore.
Themes
After she is done talking with Burroughs, Starling looks around Fredrica’s town, which reminds her of her childhood. Starling takes a moment to reflect on her life and the case. Although she is happy the FBI might find Catherine alive, she is disappointed that she could not see the case through herself. Then, Starling returns to Gustav Bimmel and asks him who else she can talk to about Fredrica. He points her to Fredrica’s friend, Stacy Hubka.
Starling is not as overjoyed as one might expect, given that it looks like the FBI is about to catch Buffalo Bill. Perhaps, more of her ego is tangled up in the case than she realized. Of course, she could also be upset because she knows there is a possibility that she will soon receive bad news about Catherine Baker Martin.
Themes
