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The Silence Of The Lambs: Cannibal Monster Or Heroic Avenger?

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The Silence of the Lambs: Cannibal Monster or Heroic Avenger? The Silence of the Lambs is a fascinating horror novel which depicts Dr. Hannibal Lecter as a top criminal mind whom develops a professional and personal relationship with Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) trainee Clarice Starling. Starling is assigned to interview Dr. Lecter in an attempt to gain insight to the mind of a serial killer on the loose known as “Buffalo Bill” and ultimately his capture. I will attempt to explore why we, the reader or viewer, gravitate to embracing and even respect Dr. Lecter while emotions of dislike and hate surface in the character of Buffalo Bill. Prior to Starlings interview she is advised to be cautious while interacting with the Doctor. Lecter is a convicted criminal of horrific murders involving cannibalism of his patients. As Starling initiates her interview with Dr. Lecter he quickly builds a rapport with the fragile young female trainee by establishing a common …show more content…

Lecter is a man that prays upon those he feels are unworthy of life and those that have caused heartache to others while Buffalo Bill targets those that are defenseless. At a young age we are brought up to help those in need and stand up against those bring harm or unpleasantness to us and those around us. Are we programed from childhood to judge harshly of those that do not respect others, those of a class that is not of our own? Do we look the other way on those that are educated, hold positions of power, interpersonal skills, humor and overall charisma because we feel that they are more human than those who do not display these traits? When did wrong stop being wrong regardless of the individual performing the act? Both characters killed others to fulfill a desire inside of them, even though the desires are drastically different in these two men; they both kill to fill that desire. Hannibal Lecter is not a Heroic Avenger as we may want to believe, he is no different from Buffalo

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Compare And Contrast Lamb To The Slaughter And A Jury Of Her Peers

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“Lamb to the Slaughter,” written by Ronald Dahl and “A Jury of Her Peers,” written by Susan Glaspell mirror many of the same events, while keeping ideas different along the way. In Dahl’s and Glaspell’s story, they share the same idea of having the murderers being the victim, if you look at it from a different perspective. In both stories, the wives kill their husband.

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Compare And Contrast Lamb To The Slaughter And A Jury Of Her Peers

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There are many similarities in “Lamb to the Slaughter” and in “A Jury of her Peers” but there are also many differences, here are some of them. Some of the main comparisons of these two stories had me in shock because they are really different stories. One of the main similarities were that these stories took place in the time where the wife didn’t really do labor and she just stayed home and took care of the family and took care of the house and husband. The husband expected dinner when he arrived home from work and a clean house so he didn’t have to worry about doing any labor when he got home from a hard day at work. Their stories also had in common that both their wives killed their husbands which I didn’t expect from either of them.

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Compare And Contrast Lamb To Slaughter And A Jury Of Her Peers

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There are a lot of similarities between “Lamb to Slaughter” by Roald Dahl and “A Jury of her Peers” by Susan Glaspell and an abundance of differences. The largest one thing in common being, the wives in each story kill their husbands. Another comparison are the women 's roles. They are both victims to their husband 's’ cruelty. In “Lamb to Slaughter”, Mary Maloney waits patiently for her husband to get home from work so she can make him dinner and get him a drink, do anything to make him happy basically.

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In “Lamb to the Slaughter,” Roald Dahl uses irony to highlight major points. Irony contradicts what is said and what actually happens. For example, dramatic irony is present when a detective in the story states, “‘It’s probably right under our noses. What do you think, Jack?’” (Dahl).

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1237 Words | 5 Pages

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