CATEGORY: MOVIES
We know from part 3 of the analysis of Hannibal, that Lecter wants to experience the beatific vision, that is, he wants to see God. In the bible, Gospel of John chapter 3, verse 3, Jesus says to Nicodemus [New International Version]:
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
Lecter needs to be reborn in order to see the kingdom of God. In The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (Volume 9, part 1 of The Collected Works), Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Carl Jung described five forms of rebirth. Let us look at each of these, and try to determine whether Lecter goes through any of them (in The Silence of the Lambs or Hannibal).
1. Metempsychosis (also called transmigration of souls): "According to this view, one's life is prolonged in time by passing through different bodily existences; or, from another point of view, it is a life-sequence interrupted by different reincarnations. Even in Buddhism...it is by no means certain whether continuity of personality is guaranteed or not: there may be only a continuity of karma."[a]
Lecter would have to have had a sequence of existences prior to modern day, to fit the definition of metempsychosis. We have no indication that Lecter has had prior existences.
2. Reincarnation. "Here the human personality is regarded as continuous and accessible to memory, so that, when one is incarnated or born, one is able, at least potentially, to remember that one has lived through previous existences and that these existences were one's own...As a rule, reincarnation means rebirth in a human body."[b]
As stated above, we have no indication that Lecter has had previous existences. Therefore, the criteria for reincarnation are not met.
The topic of Lecter's attempted rebirth is continued in the next post.
a. Jung, C.G. The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Vol. 9, Part 1. Princeton University Press, 1969. para. 200.
b. Ibid., para. 201.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
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Marcus Aurelius's Meditations - from Wikisource (except where otherwise noted); portions from Wikisource used on this blog are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Saint Augustine's Confessions and City of God from Wikisource (except where otherwise noted); portions from Wikisource used on this blog are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Saint Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica from the 'Logos Virtual Library' website (except where otherwise noted), compiled and edited by Darren L. Slider; believed to be in public domain.