Saturday, July 3, 2010

Table of Contents to the Silence of the Lambs analysis

CATEGORY: MOVIES; WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS CONTAINS SPOILERS!!









There is a button that links to this table of contents, at the bottom of each post in the analysis. The parts of the analysis having to do with the film's 'hidden plot', are denoted below by use of dark orange text.

The 'basic' analysis (parts 1-19)
part 1 - Introduction to the analysis

part 2 - Starling is being 'watched' in several scenes in the movie

part 3 - Miscellaneous observations on the film

part 4 - More miscellaneous observations; Starling represents a virgin

part 5 - The Immaculate Conception; Clarice represents the Virgin Mary

part 6 - The significance of our not being shown intervening physical events in certain scene sequences

part 7 - Events surrounding Starling's 'visit' to Gumb

part 8 - Determining who and what the characters represent: Hannibal Lecter functions as Starling's metaphorical psychoanalyst; he is a personification of Satan, and he also represents an evil hermaphroditic Jew; Jame Gumb is Lecter's pupil or 'apprentice', i.e., he is a 'pupil' of Satan/evil hermaphroditic Jews; he represents the Freemasons; Clarice Starling represents holiness itself: she is a (friendly) angel of death, sent by God to destroy Satan's pupil, Jame Gumb, and she also represents the Roman Catholic Church; Catherine Martin represents the 'typical American young woman', as well as the general public; Jack Crawford represents a father figure for Clarice; Ardelia Mapp functions as a Jungian psychopomp for Starling, i.e., as a mediator between Starling's unconscious and her conscious; Barney represents the Christian Holy Spirit

part 9 - The movie's use of colors; the religious meanings of green and red

part 10 - Lecter's prisoner number in Memphis, 'B5160-8', is a reference to the Passover

part 11 - Reflection and camera positioning are used to lend religious significance to Starling's second meeting with Lecter

part 12 - The positioning of mannequins in the 'dance' scene suggests that Gumb believes he is getting closer to becoming a woman

part 13 - Determining who it is that Dr. Frederick Chilton represents

part 14 - In certain scenes, Clarice Starling represents the 'presence' of the Holy Spirit

part 15 - The meaning of Starling climbing uphill at the beginning of the movie

part 16 - The beginning of Clarice Starling's psychoanalysis, performed by Dr. Hannibal Lecter

part 17 - The psychoanalysis continues; the 'Your Self' storage unit represents Starling's unconscious

part 18 - The reason Starling must defeat Jame Gumb: in order to become a 'complete' woman, Clarice must defeat the incomplete woman within herself, which is represented by Gumb

part 19 - The final scene: Lecter symbolically 'joins' the movie audience


The 'abstract' analysis phase 1 (parts 20-33)
part 20 - St. Augustine's Confessions; the addition to the 'skin suit' of each patch of skin from Gumb's respective victims, represents a day of creation (of an 'evil kingdom')

part 21 - The Confessions, Book 13.29; Gumb is attempting to 'usurp' God's power of creation

part 22 - Lecter's statement, "First principles, Clarice. Simplicity.", is a reference to one of the works of Saint Thomas Aquinas

part 23 - Color mixing is used in the movie as a metaphor for God's simplicity

part 24 - 'Reality check' on alphanumeric clues - verify that Lecter's two prisoner numbers are references to the bible and the Confessions

part 25 - Continuation of the reality check - see whether Lecter's prisoner numbers are references to other works of literature, in addition to the bible and St. Augustine's Confessions

part 26 - Lecter makes a reference to Marcus Aurelius's major work, Meditations

part 27 - Marcus Aurelius continued: references to marionettes, and that which "pulls peoples' strings"

part 28 - Aquinas's concept of God's Simplicity

part 29 - Aquinas on creation

part 30 - Lecter's relationship to the audience: Lecter, as an evil hermaphroditic Jew, represents the world's collective shadow

part 31 - Reality check - continue to see whether Lecter's prisoner numbers are references to other works of literature, in addition to the bible and Augustine's Confessions

part 32 - Hannibal Lecter is betraying Clarice

part 33 - More on Lecter's deception of Clarice


The 'abstract' analysis phase 2 (parts 34-50)
part 34 - Details on the events in Memphis and their religious meaning; Officer Boyle represents the Paschal (sacrificial) lamb

part 35 - Saint Augustine quoted on the book of Exodus: what God said to Moses ("I Am Who Am")

part 36 - Aquinas on creation; application to Jame Gumb

part 37 - The bible, 1 Corinthians 12: the members of the Church are like the parts of Jesus' body

part 38 - References to bodily senses made by Lecter, during the first meeting with Starling

part 39 - Saint Augustine on the bodily senses and their relation to memory (this applies to Lecter)

part 40 - More from Aquinas on creation and God's simplicity

part 41 - The events in Memphis (continued); the Last Supper, the Lord's Supper, Passover, and the Paschal Lamb

part 42 - More from Aquinas; relationship to Aurelius

part 43 - More on marionettes; relationship to some of the characters

part 44 - Marcus Aurelius has advice to offer us

part 45 - The outcome of Starling's psychoanalysis

part 46 - The reason God wants Jame Gumb to be killed

part 47 - A listing of all posts (up to this point) on mannequins, marionettes, and body parts, and a brief summary of applicable material appearing in those posts

part 48 - More from Marcus Aurelius; relationship to 1 Corinthians 12

part 49 - Aristotle and the law of the excluded middle; application to Clarice Starling

part 50 - More on 1 Corinthians 12; in using his sense of smell, Hannibal Lecter covets Clarice Starling


The 'abstract' analysis phase 3 (parts 51-61)
 part 51 - Aristotle on the senses; relationship to Augsutine

part 52 - More advice from Marcus Aurelius

part 53 - Using the biblical book of Isaiah to determine who the "lambs" are in The Silence of the Lambs

part 54 - The "lambs" of the movie's name are the general public, being led to their slaughter by evil hermaphroditic Jews who want to establish a modern-day Zion/'promised land' in southern Indiana

part 55 - Reviewing Augustine on creation; relationship to Gumb

part 56 - Depiction in the movie of a biblical river from the bible's book of Genesis

part 57 - St. Augustine on the movement of the Holy Spirit, 'over the waters' at the beginning of creation

part 58 - Augustine and the waters; relationship to Gumb

part 59 - More from Augustine on the waters; relationship to Gumb

part 60 - Aurelius's 'tripartite divisions' correspond to the Holy Trinity; breath and the Holy Spirit

part 61 - The meaning of the suit of skin: its formation represents the unfolding of an 'evil scripture' over mankind


The final phase (parts 62-75)
part 62 - Jame Gumb's death

part 63 - Lecter set up the storage unit several years in advance, for he knew an angel of death was coming

part 64 - In-depth analysis of the meaning of Hannibal Lecter's name

part 65 - Plotinus on sense perception and memory; rel. to Aurelius and application to Lecter

part 66 - Lecter's imprisonment and the resultant denial of sensual pleasure, is God's punishment of him for his being 'overly-sensual' while free

part 67 - Analysis of the name 'Clarice'

part 68 - Roden, Pilcher, and Ardelia are working with Jame Gumb

part 69 - We address some supposed errors made by the movie-makers

part 70 - Ardelia acts as a Jungian psychopomp for Starling

part 71 - Gumb is attempting to trick Lecter; Lecter discovers this

part 72 - Contrapasso in the movie

part 73 - Confirmation from Augustine that Gumb is not creating

part 74 - Representation in the movie, of the abyss present at the beginning of creation

part 75 - Wrapping up the analysis; more about the moths

UPDATE: The 'unified analysis' of the Lecter series of movies contains some more posts for The Silence of the Lambs

Posted at 2:53 PM
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