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Chapter 20
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Silence of the Lambs, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Sexism and Law Enforcement
The Nature of Evil
Class and Shame
Manipulation
Summary
Analysis
When Starling arrives at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, Chilton is waiting for her in his office. Starling tells Chilton she is still investigating what happened to Klaus. Chilton asks Starling if she is wearing a wire. Starling says she is not. Chilton tries to give her a wire so she can record her conversation with Lecter. Starling rejects his offer under the guise that she fears losing Lecter’s trust if he finds out. Chilton is unsatisfied with Starling’s answer, but he does not force her to wear the recording device.
Chilton does not care about Starling’s investigation; he wants to listen in on her conversations with Lecter for his own purposes. Most likely, Chilton does not trust Starling and therefore does not believe she is working the Raspail case. Of course, technically, Starling is working on the Raspail case because the Raspail case and the Buffalo Bill case are one and the same. However, Chilton is not privy to that information.
Themes
Chilton expresses annoyance because Starling treats him like a doorman. He tells her he has better things to do with his evening than fret about her. In fact, he canceled his ticket to see a show. As Chilton shares this information, Starling immediately realizes that he slipped up and revealed that he only had one ticket for the show. In this moment, Starling sees Chilton for who he really is: a lonely, angry man. Chilton immediately realizes his mistake, and it only makes him hate Starling more.
In this scene, Chilton unintentionally makes himself emotionally vulnerable in a way that is difficult for him or Starling to bear. This moment between them only makes Chilton angrier; it is as if he blames Starling for his accidental reveal. Starling already did not respect Chilton, and this new information does not help. She almost pities him.
Themes
