Hannibal Lecter Psychology

Last year, I watched Silence of the Lambs for the first time. It is about Hannibal Lector helping the FBI find serial killer Buffalo Bill. This movie peaked my interest in serial killers and the psychological issues they have due to their childhood background. Hannibal Lecter was born in 1938 in Lithuania to wealthy parents. At age six Lecter met his sister, Mischa, and the two formed a strong bond. When Lecter was eight his family had to flee their estate in order to escape Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. Three years later Lecter and Mischa became orphans as German bombers killed their parents while trying to disable a Soviet tank. The two siblings were captured by looters and used as sustenance during the winter. While Lecter managed to escape, his sister was killed and eaten by the looters. Lecter wandered the forest …show more content…
Cannibalism. Murder. All of these things played a crucial role in Hannibal Lector’s childhood. Although he is a fictional character, his childhood more or less describes the events that many children have experienced during war. These horrible events can scar children for a lifetime, or in some cases, turn them into cannibalistic murderers.
Hannibal Lecter teaches us the negative effect war has on children. It shows our society that we have to do more to protect our children here and around the world. An example would be the children in Syria that have to go through unimaginable horrors every day. The counties that these children flee to need to take the appropriate measures to try to reduce the impact of their traumatic lives. Hannibal Lecter teaches us to take care of ourselves mentally so we never reach his point of illness.
Hannibal Lecter represents the fear of mental illness. In today’s society, mental illness is something people refuse to talk about for fear of being judged. We assume that anyone who is mentally ill is “crazy” or “dangerous”. This is simply not true. People with mental illness cannot be judged for the actions of a few