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
Following Gumb’s death, the news and the FBI slowly link all of the pieces to the puzzle together. Apparently, Gumb’s mother was pregnant with him while she competed in the Miss Sacramento beauty contest. Following his birth, Gumb’s mother turned into an alcoholic and put him into foster care. When he was 10, Gumb’s grandparents took him out of foster care to live with them. However, he killed them two years later. While in a mental institution, Gumb developed his passion for sewing and later worked as a tailor.
Here, Harris explicitly lays out all of the details of the case and allows readers to come to their own conclusions about Gumb. One possible explanation for his behavior—which Lecter would disapprove of—says that Gumb turned out the way he did because of his difficult childhood. Another explanation for Gumb’s behavior is that there is no straightforward explanation; like Lecter, he is an anomaly that cannot be understood no matter how many psychologists put their mind to the job.
Themes
Additionally, the media uncovered some tapes from Lecter’s sessions with Raspail. On the tapes, Raspail talks about how Gumb killed Klaus. Also, after examining the basement, the FBI learns that Gumb killed and skinned many people they did not know about. Their corpses are preserved in lime, and they decorate his basement. Also, as Starling suspected, Gumb had a secret relationship with Fredrica before he killed her.
As it turns out, Lecter was not some genius who figured out the Buffalo Bill case in a vacuum. As Starling and Crawford expected, Lecter had intimate knowledge of the case that allowed him to discern Buffalo Bill’s true identity almost immediately. The crime scene in Gumb’s basement recalls the one found in the home of Ed Gein, who Harris partially modeled Gumb after.
Themes
Thinking back on the case, Starling believes Lecter would have led her to Gumb as promised, had Chilton not intervened. The media is mixed on its portrayal of Starling. Some lowbrow outlets suggest that she used her sexuality to allure Lecter. Meanwhile, others focus on her background and how impressive it is that she has become an FBI star at such a young age.
Starling’s gender is relevant to the media only because she is a woman. If Crawford had made the kill, his masculinity would not come into play, though the media might try to comment on his deceased wife because of their bias towards sensationalism. Regardless, there is little the media can do to hurt Starling, who comes out as an obvious hero in the situation.
Themes
