Running head: PSYCHOPATHY, FATHER-DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP AND AUTHORITY IN THE SILENCE 1

OF THE LAMBS

Analysis of the concepts of psychopathy, father-daughter relationship and authority in the

movie The Silence of the Lambs

Carlo Robles

St. Marys University

PSYCHOPATHY, FATHER-DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP AND AUTHORITY IN THE SILENCE OF THE 2
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Analysis of the concepts of psychopathy, father-daughter relationship and authority in the

movie The Silence of the Lambs

Introduction

The Silence of the Lambs narrates the FBIs search for a serial killer nicknamed

Buffalo Bill. He kills his victims (mainly teenagers), skins them and dumps them, each

one in a different river. In order to catch him the FBI contacts Clarice Starling, an

outstanding student of the FBI Academy. By following her bosss instructions, Jack

Crawford, Clarice visits the prison of high security in which the government keeps locked

up Hannibal Lecter. He is an old psychiatrist and murderer who has been gifted with a

superior intelligence, and who rejoices at practicing cannibalism. Starlings mission will

be to try get as much information as she can from Dr. Lecter regarding the behavioral

patterns of Buffalo Bill. This film relates to psychology in many levels, the main of

which is the behavior of the serial killer known as Buffalo Bill. This first level can be

consider a superficial one, because it is the element that articulates the whole plot, and,

therefore, is the one that gets more attention along the film. However, for this essay three

other psychological themes have been selected in order to evaluate the accuracy of its

portrayal. The first concept that will be discussed is Psychopathy. Within the film it can

be recognized two characters that portray different stages of the disease: Buffalo Bill and

Hannibal Lecter. A comparison between both figures will be set in order to distinguish

such stages. The father figure is the next concept to be discussed. For this matter the

relationship that is initiated between Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter will be

analyzed. The third and final concept to be discussed is the notion of authority within the

movie. It will be recognized two types of authority by appealing to the characters that
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represent each of them: Hannibal Lecter and Dr. Frederick Chilton (director of the

Baltimore psychiatric asylum in which Dr. Lecter is locked up). At the end of the

discussion of each concept it will be analyzed the accuracy of its portrayal by appealing

to specific scenes of the film.

Psychopathy

Perhaps the most famous of the mental disorders, psychopathy is considered

worldwide a social challenge. It is a devastating disorder defined by a constellation of

affective, interpersonal, and behavioral characteristics, including egocentricity;

impulsivity; irresponsibility; shallow emotions; lack of empathy, guilt or remorse;

pathological lying; manipulativeness; and the persistent violation of social norms and

expectations. (Robert D. Hare, 1996, p. 107). Before we proceed it is worth pointing out

that sometimes psychopathic symptoms are misunderstood and confused with another

disorder known as Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD). Regarding this, Louth, S. M.,

Hare, R. D. And Linden, W. (1998) explained the following:

Similar to antisocial personality disorder (APD) as defined by the Diagnostic and

Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association,

1994), psychopathy also consists of a cluster of personality traits and affective

symptoms not considered necessary for a diagnosis of APD. (p. 91-98)

However, one of the psychopathic traits that has driven more attention is the lack of

empathy in the subjects diagnosed with such disorder: Most clinical accounts of

psychopathy make explicit and implicit reference to the serious difficulties psychopaths

have in understanding and appreciating the emotional significance of experiences and

events (e.g., Cleckley, 1976; Hare, 1993) (Louth, S. M. et al., 1998, p. 91-98). In fact, it
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has been suggested that for them emotion is like a poorly learned second language

(Louth, S. M. et al., 1998, p. 91-98). Nonetheless, recently the despairing atmosphere that

surrounds this disorder has started to turn lighter. A recent study held by a group of

scientists from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, has shown that:

Only when asked to empathize did the criminals' empathy reaction, also known as the

mirror system, fire up the same way as it did for the controls. Without instruction, they

show reduced activity in the regions of the brain associated with pain. (Hogenboom,

2013)

Based on this information, the group of scientists concluded that psychopaths

actually dont lack empathy but they have some sort of switch to turn it on and off;

however, under normal circumstances it seems to be off. (Hogenboom, 2013). This

opened a window for a better understanding of the disorder, and for the development of

new treatments. Since the notion of psychopathy was developed, it was believed that a

psychopath diagnosis was a despairing panorama, because of the characteristic lack of

empathy of the disorder. However, through this study, it has been proven that psychopaths

are not absolutely unable to feel empathy, but is just that this is not their automatic

response or, their default reaction. Now that it has been shown that they do have

empathy - even if only in certain circumstances - therapists have something to work with.

(Hogenboom, 2013).

In The Silence of the Lambs, nonetheless, one of the psychopaths is portrayed as

being in a bleak state, from which there seems to be no cure or turning back. Buffalo Bill

does not seem to want to stop his terrible assassinations at all. In fact, during the scene in

which the agent Crawford and Clarice Starling are talking in a car after have seen the
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corpse of Buffalos fifth victim, Starling asserts a number of things regarding the serial

killer. Among those characteristics she points out in order to build a profile, Starling

mentions that Buffalo Bill is a cautious and precise male, whos never impulsive and who

will never stop killing because is getting better at it.

On the other hand, Hannibal Lecter, even though he seems to rejoice with the power

that gives him other peoples fear, he decides to help Starling with the Buffalo Bill case.

This confers a bit of hope to his diagnose, because he hasnt been willing to help anyone

before Clarices visit.

The other trait in which both psychopaths differ is the stage in which each one is

regarding his disorder. Buffalo Bill, although is quickly progressing, is still in an initial

stage because his lack of empathy, remorse and guilt is not absolute yet. In the scene in

which he first interacts with the Senators daughter, once she is already her captive, his

attitude seems to be somewhat unstable and not totally sure. In fact, the way in which

their dialogue is held is symptomatic of some sense of guilt and remorse. He only gives

her commands trying to make no eye contact with her captive. However, he does not treat

her with the proximity of an interlocutor, but in a very impersonal way: instead of saying

Put the cream in the basket he tells her She puts the cream in the basket. This

avoiding attitude, as said above, is an indicative of guilt, which shows hat he has not lost

all sense of guilt yet. Hannibal Lecter, in contrast with Buffalo Bill, does not feel any

guilt nor remorse about the crimes he has done. In fact, sometimes he seems to justify it

by appealing to the bad manners of his victims. This shows that he is in a stage in which

his crimes are not regarded as horrendous, but almost as an unconventional necessity.
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Father-daughter relationship

The father figure is a concept that changes along the ages and between siblings. For

example, the notion of father that a son has may differ widely from the notion of his

brother and/or from the one of his sister. As it can be seen, such difference is not totally

determined by the gender. The relationship that will be taken into account for this essay is

the one that is established between the father and his daughter. Regarding that subject,

Sharpe mentions that:

There are clearly many kinds of fathers, and many kinds of fatherdaughter

relationships, which contain unresolved contradictions and ambivalence. The father-

daughter relationship covers a sensitive and uneven terrain, where positive and

negative characteristics can have a sometimes uncomfortable coexistence. (Sharpe,

2001, p. 4)

Very often, such bond is likely to change as the daughter starts growing and passing

through different stages of her development. However, in the film it can be recognized

some sort of identification from Clarice Starling with her father. Sharpe (2001) highlights

as following:

Children identify with people who are close and important to them, . . . they may

identify with those they love or admire, or those who have power in their lives. Parents

obviously play a crucial role, and children will identify with them differently

depending on the type and quality of their relationships. For instance, a girl usually

identifies with her mother, and takes on some of the characteristics appropriate to

femininity and the feminine role. She may also identify strongly with her father and

take on some of his attributes. (p. 30).

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According to this perspective, Clarice may have identified with her father because

she respected him very much. In fact, after her first encounter with Hannibal Lecter at the

Psychiatric Asylum of Baltimore, she has a flashback in which it is shown her attitude

towards her father as she was a child. She waited for him with great enthusiasm at the

porch and, once he got home, she used to be very interested in how his day go, specially

in events regarding his job. Clarices father was a police officer, and that may give us a

clue about how strong her identification with her father was. The need for approval seem

to play an important role too within the father-daughter relationship. Regarding such

concept, Sharpe (2001) makes a clarification:

If you admire or care about someone, it is reasonable to wish to please them and earn

their praise. This desire to please, however, seems to be a more female than male

quality; the need for approval is one on which girls appear to be more dependent than

boys. (p. 30).

At becoming a police officer and trying to be the best at it, Clarice Starling seems to

be looking for an approval; however, it is not clear if it is a need for approval from

society or from her dad. In any case, an event that affects her the most, is the passing of

her dad as she was still a child. This tragic event must have left in her some kind of gap

craving to be filled. The relationship that is established between Starling and Hannibal

Lecter along the film, seems to resemble a father-daughter one. This may mean that

Clarice is trying to compensate the loss of her father by interacting with Dr. Lecter. He

treats her in a challenging and respectful way, and as if he was trying to protect her.

However, it is worth pointing out that Hannibal finds out, by means of the quid pro quo

deal, the relationship that Clarice had with her father, and may have used this
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information, his abilities as a psychiatrist and his manipulative skills to take advantage of

Clarice and play with her emotions regarding her father.

Authority

The notion of authority has traditionally been associated with the main social

institutions that regulated or at least had a major role in society. Meissner (1971) explains

for this matter:

The more traditional notion of authority had focused primarily on the definitional

aspect of authority and on the moral or ethical justification for the use of authority

either in the political organization, the state, or in the ecclesiastical organization, the

Church. (p. 20)

Therefore, authority implied any sort of organization within society and it was seen

as to serve this purpose. However, the functions of authority turned out to be more

diverse than thought before. In fact, Simon (1951) indicates that the paternal function of

authority is only one function among what must be regarded as a diversity of functions of

authority. He continues by saying that paternal authority seeks the attainment or

maturation of the capacities of the governed to enable them to govern themselves

effectively. Given that the notion of power may be confused with authority, Meissner

(1971) distinguishes between both terms:

Power is essentially the capacity to influence the behavior of other members of the

group, but authority is not just any kind of power, since it depends upon the

recognition by the subordinate members of the group that the one possessing authority

may legitimately prescribe patterns of behavior for the group to follow. (p. 22)

For Meissner (1971) authority is a form of institutionalized power (p. 26-27).

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Therefore, in The Silence of The Lambs it can be seen how many factors converge to

shape an authority figure. However, two types of authority are shown in the movie: Dr.

Chilton and Dr. Lecter. Both characters will be recognized as authorities by Clarice

Starling. Even though each one of them represent a different type of authority, the major

similarity between them is the fact that they are caucasian men with a postgraduate title.

Dr. Chilton will be analyzed at first. He represents the type of authority whose power

rests upon his despotism. He tries to flirt with Clarice Starlingin a rude waywhen she

comes to his institution for the first time, which shows his great sense of self-control.

However, he is depicted as being authoritarian and despotic. After seeing the agent

Starling coming repeatedly to the institution he manages to meet with Hannibal Lecter,

Dr. Chilton decides to confront her in order to find out the reason of her constant

meetings with Hannibal. But since Clarice remains reluctant of sharing the reason of her

visits, Dr. Chilton decides to record her conversations with Hannibal. Thus, Dr. Chilton

discovers that Clarice tells Hannibal that the Senator is offering him his transfer to a

better institution in which he would have more privileges as long as he cooperates with

her and the FBI to find her missing daughter. Hannibal accepts the deal and decides to

cooperate with Starling. However, after she leaves, Dr Chilton goes to Lecters cell to

mock at his naivety for believing in Starlings offering. He tells Lecter that he called the

Senator immediately after Starling left to prove the legitimacy of such proposal and found

out that such offer had never been made. By making fun of Lecter, he shows his

despotism and how his authority is merely based on pointing out peoples inferiority and

it is used to have power over them by aggressive means (such as mockery). As it can be

expected, this type of authority is rendered useless when the individuals lack fear. The
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authority of Hannibal Lecter, on the other hand, is quite different and much more

complex than the one held by Dr. Chilton. Hannibal Lecter uses his own disorder and the

stigma associated with it to amuse himself. He tries to scare Clarice Starling because he

knows that she is just starting to get involve with the FBI in a professional way. Besides,

before visiting him, Clarice is told by her boss (Crawford) that she must be really aware

that Hannibal Lecter is a dangerous and manipulative man. By this means, Crawford is

indirectly legitimizing Lecters authority. This seems to work within Clarices perception

of the situation, because along the whole film she always treats Hannibal with great

respect, and calls him as if she was a student: Dr. Lecter. Another factor that may

emphasize his authority is the fact that he was a psychiatrist before being out into prison.

This means that he has also an intellectual authority regarding psychological and

psychiatric subjects, which may have helped to increase Clarices awareness. In fact, it is

because of that scholar background that Crawford and the FBI decide to contact him

through Clarice Starling. On the other hand, Hannibal Lecter himself helps to build and

consolidate his authority too by using a cryptic language in his dialogues with Clarice.

For example, when she is about to leave after her first visit to Lecter, she is attacked by

another prisoner named Miggs. This unsettles Dr. Lecter and he decides to give Clarice a

clue by saying Look deep within yourself. By saying these words he did not want them

to be understood in a metaphorical way, but in a literal one instead. After such encounter,

Clarice finds out that Your Self was the name of a storage facility in Baltimore that was

rented by him in the past. Moreover, the person that Clarice should look for, according to

Lecter, was Ms. Hester Mofet. which was actually an anagram for the rest of me. This

shows the pleasure that Hannibal finds at talking in a cryptic language, because this gives
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him power and control over the situation. Such power lies in the unpredictability of his

actions and thoughts. Clarice Starling has almost to keep at his pace in order to solve his

enigmas. Because of such unpredictable behavior, Hannibal can not only play with the

doubt that he deposits in the people surrounding him, but also with the fear caused by

such uncertainty.

Conclusions

The way in which psychopathy is portrayed in The Silence of the Lambs can be

regarded as both despair and somehow hopeful. This is so, because such concept is shared

by two characters, although in different ways. Buffalo Bill does not seem to be willing to

change and stop his macabre plan of making himself a suit with womens skin. Therefore,

it can be said that Buffalo Bill stands for a morbid and despairing psychopathy, since

along the film his disorder seems only to get accentuated. On the other hand, the

character of Hannibal Lecter offers a bit of hope in the nature of a psychopath. Even

though he is manipulative and does not seem to feel empathy at all (as psychological

studies have shown), he decides to help Clarice Starling at catching Buffalo Bill. After

all, that can be seen as a bridge being set between Lecter and society.

The father-daughter relationship is also accurately portrayed in the movie. The

spectator discover through the dialogues between Lecter and Starling the great

significance that Clarices father had on her. Furthermore, it is shown by means of the

sudden flashbacks how she keeps struggling with his decease. However, the building of

that bond by means of her memories will help at the understanding of the relationship that

is developed between Clarice and Hannibal Lecter. Her trust on him and the great respect

that she feels for him seem to be hints that she tries to fill with the image of Lecter the
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gap that her fathers death opened on her.

Finally, the way in which the notion of authority is depicted shows with great

precision how some attitudes and circumstances enhance the legitimization of authority,

and how some others rather obstruct it. Dr. Chilton stands for an authority that tries to

claim his power by means of threats and an arrogant attitude. On the other hand, Lecter

portrays the authority whose legitimacy is almost built by itself: his disorder and his title

of Doctor confer him such an authority that even the FBI seeks for his help.
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References

Hare, R. D. (1996). Psychopathy: A clinical construct whose time has come. Criminal

Justice and Behavior, 23, 25-54.

Hogenboom, M. (2013). Psychopathic criminals have empathy switch. BBC News:

Science & Environment. Retrieved from

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-23431793

Louth, S. M., Hare, R. D. And Linden, W. (1998). Psychopathy and alexithymia in female

Offenders. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des

sciences du comportement, 30, 91-98.

Meissner, W. W. (1971). The assault on authority: Dialogue or dilemma?. New York:

Orbis.

Sharpe, S. (2001). Fathers and Daughters. New York: Routledge.

Simon, Y. (1951). Philosophy of Democratic Government. Chicago: University of

Chicago Press.