The Silence Of The Lambs

Gumb’s ritual of watching the VHS recording of his mother—and a woman who he thinks is his mother—further confirms Lecter and the Gender Clinic’s theory that Gumb experiences a feeling other than gender dysphoria. The narrative explains that Gumb aspires to transform into his mother and that he seeks acceptance from her. Gumb pretends he is with his mother at the beauty pageant, as “when she smiled at the young man [on the tape], Gumb smiled too” (282). When the tape finishes, he tells Precious, “Mommy’s gonna be so beautiful” (283), explicitly giving himself his mother’s identity. Gumb further connects his goals to the images of the tape when he envisions himself in his new body, “running up the ladder of a water slide as fast as you please” (288). Gumb shows that he holds an idealized version of his mother in his mind—an imago—which he reinforces with the ritualistic consumption of the VHS tape.

Through the nonchalance of Gumb’s perspective, Harris hints at Gumb’s long history of skinning victims before his current project. As Gumb prepares to flay Catherine, he reflects on the “heartbreaks” of his practice over the years. The narrative reveals that he would sit “crying [his] eyes out” when a method of tanning, stretching, or sewing would go awry (284). The narrative emphasizes that Gumb’s sadness at these mishaps starkly pales in comparison to the pain he inflicts upon his victims, and that his emotional response is misdirected. This disparity in pity shows the little value he places on human lives, as he sees his victims as experiments and discardable materials for his own use. Gumb’s meticulous construction of his garment further portrays his devaluation of life; he remains unmoved about the lives he’s taken to hone his tailoring skills on human skin.

Clarice’s meditations on her family’s genealogy descends into a spiral of self-pity about her disappointments on the case. Her internal monologue reveals another motivation which connects to the theme of repressed identity. Clarice’s family doesn’t have anyone who achieved anything of greatness, so she fears that her destiny is to have an unremarkable life. Clarice overworks herself to prove her worth and uses her intelligence as a weapon against a life of ordinariness. Clarice believes that with good schooling she can be “approved, included, chosen, and not sent away” (291). As Lecter guessed, Clarice fears that others will shun her lower-class upbringing and won’t take her seriously. These doubts follow her to Belvedere, where despite gambling her place in the Academy to investigate Fredrica, Clarice can’t help but feel her task is unimportant.

Clarice develops a new theory about the case that motivates her to assert the importance of her female perspective. Clarice notices that for an investigation about murdered women, there is a severe lack of feminine perspective: “Not one woman was hunting him full time. Not one woman investigator had looked at every one of his crimes” (292). Clarice believes crucial evidence was overlooked because male investigators don’t understand the intricacies of the female experience. Clarice emphasizes this area of lacking when she asks Crawford to send her to Belvedere. Clarice also has the unique perspective of trusting Lecter’s information, which Burroughs says new investigators are deliberately ignoring. Her belief in Lecter’s honesty coupled with her womanhood allow Clarice to follow the correct leads that bring her face-to-face with Gumb in Chapter 56.

Crawford finally receives confirmation from Dr. Danielson of a fact the audience already knows: Buffalo Bill is really Jame Gumb. Harris subtly compares Danielson to Lecter based on both characters’ knowledge of Gumb and their initial refusal to reveal the man’s identity. However, the narrative portrays Danielson and Lecter’s motives for secrecy in opposite ways. For Lecter, withholding Gumb’s identity affords him personal enjoyment, and he is indifferent to whether Gumb kills more victims or not. For Danielson, withholding Gumb’s identity is a matter of protecting other vulnerable people, and the decision to reveal these details causes his doctor’s conscience great conflict. Danielson’s altruistic motivations foil Lecter’s selfish ones, further emphasizing Danielson’s integrity and Lecter’s wickedness.