Exploring the Psyche of Infamous Fictional Cannibals

Typically, a psychiatrist is a well-known - highly qualified profession; so how would someone feel if theirs was a ravenous cannibal? Specifically correlating to Dr. Lecter, who is infamous for being the cannibalistic serial killer from the cinema picture, The Silence of the Lambs. Early in his childhood, Lecter experiences trauma from watching his parents being murdered and his sister cooked, which made him susceptible to severe psychological disorders. Likewise is Grendel, a notorious villain from the epic, Beowulf. Grendel was a human in a past life, but since he was not able to move on after his death, he became a monster who roams the Earth. Although both of these characters have vastly different back stories; they both are fated to have

Overall, Lecter and Grendel comparatively have a desire to bring evil into society, yet Lecter kills with an incentive to become God-like, antithetical to Grendel who murders out of jealously and anger. Both Lecter and Grendel are terrorizing figures in their cultures, therefore, proving their sly mannerisms. Dr. Lecter, a psychopath, kills not because of his mental deficits, but because he despises the rude and the intolerable. Unlike

His overwhelming sense of entitlement and hypocrisy, is proven when he refers to himself as ‘royalty.’ Hannibal’s occasional nice gestures are undermined when he is consumed with his cannibalistic urges. Some may say, he is only psychotic because of his early exposure to PTSD, but this theory is proven wrong. He showed severe symptoms earlier in his life, and the trauma only exaggerated the effects. His cunning and manipulative ways are far from unintentional; he manipulates people’s truth to discover their behavior and actions, so when he kills them it is more pleasurable. Hannibal’s unquestionable parasitic lifestyle is verified when he discusses the ‘finer things in life’. He discusses his interest in - dinner parties, fine arts, and fine dining. Authenticating his strange sense of