What Is Hannibal Lector Mental Illness

The 1991 psychological thriller, Silence of the Lambs, follows the heart-racing story of Clarice Starling, an aspiring behavioral science FBI agent, as she attempts to catch the serial killer Buffalo Bill. In order to complete her mission, Clarice seeks the aid of the infamous killer and cannibal Hannibal Lector. Lector, being a former killer himself and an expert on human behavior, provides much insight into the case but also plays with the people around him psychologically for his own personal gain. Throughout the course of the movie, a twisted relationship forms between the killer and FBI trainee that eventually assists in both the escape of Hannibal Lector and the death of Buffalo Bill. The film highlights several mental illnesses throughout

These symptoms were evident in the portrayal of both of the killers in Silence of the Lambs. Buffalo Bill felt no regret for murdering and skinning several young women for his own personal gain, a suit made out of human skin, or for violating basic social norms by kidnapping girls and keeping them in a hole for extended periods of time. This blatant indifference towards the wellbeing and feelings of others is one of the key indicators of ASPD (Meloy). He also demonstrated aggressive behavior towards his kidnapped victim, Catherine, by spraying her with a hose when she would not comply with his demands. Hannibal Lector also demonstrated several characteristics of antisocial personality disorder. One of the first and most obvious indications is that he feels no regret for murdering and eating multiple people and continues to do so at every chance he gets. Another reason is that he is insensitive to the feelings of others (National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health). When talking to Catherine’s mother while he is being transferred to a new facility, he makes several sexual comments while discussing her daughter’s disappearance. Most people would respect an anxious and devastated mother’s feelings and tread lightly on most subjects, but Lector did not feel the need to, nor did he see anything wrong with his actions. Hannibal Lector also is extremely deceitful and manipulative, almost to the point where he seems amused by his own cleverness. These characteristics indicate the presence of antisocial