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
The next time Starling sees Crawford, he tells her that Miggs is dead. No one knows exactly what happened, but it sounds like Lecter convinced Miggs to swallow his own tongue. Then, Crawford asks Starling if she is sure she put everything in her report. Starling assures Crawford she did. Still, Crawford is not entirely convinced. He asks Starling if she talked to Lecter about him. Starling tells Crawford he came up in their conversation, but she did not say anything that did not go into the report. She assures Crawford that she does not know anything about his personal life, and even if she did, she would not trade that information to Lecter.
The implication in this section is that Lecter killed Miggs as a result of what he did to Starling. Evidently, something about Lecter and Starling’s relationship bothers Crawford. He seems to think that Starling might have told Lecter about Bella. However, Starling does not know about Bella, and, as she says, she would not mention Crawford’s personal life if she did. As such, it sounds like someone is feeding Lecter information about Crawford without his knowledge.
Themes
Crawford changes the subject and asks Starling about the Raspail car. Starling tells him that she hit a dead end. In response, Crawford asks Starling if she ensured Raspail had only one car. Starling says she assumed he only had one. Crawford warns Starling that she should never assume anything in her position. Starling takes his point and leaves to find out if Raspail had a second car. As she walks away, Crawford looks at a letter from Lecter that says, “I’m so sorry about Bella, Jack.”
Although Starling is exceptionally bright, her oversight regarding a second car demonstrates that she still has much to learn. Meanwhile, Lecter’s letter confirms he has access to information he shouldn’t. Given that Crawford and Lecter hate each other, the note is an expression of mockery rather than genuine sympathy.
Themes
