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Chapter 4
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
Crawford sits in a reading chair in his bedroom facing two double beds. His wife, Bella, lays in one of the double beds, unresponsive—she has been unable to move or speak for two days. The second double bed is Crawford’s. Bella is slowly dying, and Crawford spends his evenings caring for her. He made Bella’s nurses teach him how to do everything she needs so that they could spend her dying days together in their home. After examining his wife, Crawford looks at himself in the mirror and tries to convince himself he is doing okay. He attempts to recall what he was reading but cannot. He reaches to the books beside him and picks up the one that feels the warmest.
Although life at the FBI certainly contributes to Crawford’s haggard appearance, Bella’s condition is the largest source of his stress. Essentially, Crawford is living a double life. In the daytime, he must be a strong leader. At night, he becomes his wife’s caretaker. Both positions are demanding, and Crawford gets little sleep because of them. In a novel that is largely dark and twisted, the chapters featuring Crawford and Bella are warm and tender, even though they are also tragic.
Themes
