Running head: SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ANALYSIS

Silence of the Lambs Analysis

Dana Burse
Kent State University

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ANALYSIS

Abstract
In this assignment I analysis the film, Silence of the Lambs for non-verbal communications
and behaviors that explain theoretical reasons of the effect following them. Through
communication theory research, and conclusive evidence in scholarly articles I am further able to
explain motives and subconscious behaviors behind people interaction.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ANALYSIS

Fear of the unknown, but interest for justice is exactly the point of view Clarice Starling
has in the film, The Silence of the Lambs. In summary, Clarice Starling is a top FBI training
agent in the FBI training academy who is summoned by her boss and FBI agent Jack Crawford
to investigate a case involving a missing woman. Crawford wants Clarice to interview
psychiatrist and cannibal psycho-path, Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Dr. Lecter is a very intelligent, and
manipulative psychiatrist who once examined patients, but was a violent criminal who thrived
from cannibalism and murder.
In theory, Crawford believed that Dr. Lecter had insight in a spring of murder cases from
another killer named Buffalo Bill, and knows who the kidnapper of the missing woman
(Catherine Martin) is but needs someone to withdraw the information from Lecter. Crawford met
Clarice and instantly believed that since she was a very attractive woman Dr. Lecter would
possibly open up to her about the information pertaining to the case.
At the end, Crawford and Clarice go on a spree of hunting, and investigating to follow
up on tips of the murderer given from Dr. Lecter to Clarice. With Clarices persuasive appeal she
found much more revealing information on the case, but dealing with passionate appeal from
Lecter was even scarier for her. Throughout the course of this assignment I will analyze the film
based on the textbooks chapters and determine in what ways do they apply to nonverbal
communication. These chapters are: Chapter four: Effects of the Environment; Chapter five:
Territory and Personal Space on Human Communication; Chapter six: Effects of Physical
Characteristics; Chapter seven: Effects of Gesture and Posture; Chapter eight: Effects of Touch;
Chapter nine: Effects of the Face; and Chapter 10: Effect of Eye.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ANALYSIS

Territory and Personal Space

Territory and personal space was seen in this film when Clarice goes to Jack Gordons
home to investigate the mystery of the missing girl, Catherine Martin. During this she rings the
doorbell several times to see if hes home. Aggravated that someone disturbed him he opens the
door partially as if he didnt want to be bothered. This is Gordons primary territory, which is
determined by Knapp & Hall as the domain of an owner. The primary territory is the primary
function of an owner, and is guarded carefully against intruders (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 124).
Prevention is also seen from Gordon based on how he placed Catherine in the well-hole
away from his personal space. Prevention is a method of territorial defense because it is how we
position ourselves to keep others away from our space (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 126). Gordons
dog is what prevention considers possessional territory. He becomes increasingly angry when he
notices that Catherine has lured his dog Precious into the well-hole. He expressed his angry by
saying, Hey dont you hurt my dog! exhibiting signs of shock and pain in his face by raising
his eyebrows and having a widely opened mouth as he sees Catherine rubbing his dog.
Possessional territory are primary territories that personally effect people. Examples are jackets,
hats, pets, and children (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 124).
In the police academy drills with another trainee, Clarice kicks into a door and gives
specific orders. After she draws her weapon her training officer comes beside her and cocks back
his weapon as if he was going to shoot. However, the important piece in this scene is how close
he is to her causing her to jump in feared arousal that her proxemic distance is violated. Later in
the film this same gesture occurs, but with different learned results.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ANALYSIS

During the scene of Clarice arriving to the office of Crawford she walks pass an older
woman who isnt paying attention to the direction she is walking in by reading files in a folder.
This form of gazing is considered monitoring because she isnt permanently looking at her, but
wants to acknowledge that each other wont collide (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 297). However, as
Clarice begins to pass her by and comes within direct proximity of her the older woman glances
up to express that she sees here, and continues to read her folder after she walks pass. Clarice
then passes two men drinking coffee outside an office who also looks in attention to her coming
closer to the personal space.
Another example of territory violation is at the end of the film when Clarice is trying to
find her way through Gordons home and out of nowhere the lights are shut off. Gordon clearly
sees Clarice because he has on night vision goggles, but she doesnt see him. Her amount of
anxiety and fear begins to race. As the scene progresses Gordon becomes closer to Clarice-acting
as if he is touching her without actually doing so. Again she is unaware of his actions until she
hears him cock his gun back to shoot her. When people come close to us in face-to-face
encounters, we are physiologically aroused and our heart rate and galvanic skin responses
increase (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 127). Meaning Clarice was more subjective to negative arousal
because of the closure of proximity she wasnt aware of. Also the invasion of Gordon being
directly behind her caused a quick reaction of defense to restore the proper distance or comfort
needed to reduce our anxiety (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 128).
Environment and Physical Characteristics
One example of physical characteristics in this film is when Crawford comes into the
office and takes his suit off. Notice the clothing difference between the Crawford and the people

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ANALYSIS

in this office versus the trainees and trainers. All the employees are wearing suits and ties, and
others are wearing sweat clothing.
Staying on the subject of Crawford allowing Clarice to uphold the task of gaining
information from Hannibal Lector it is noted that the more attractive are, the more likely they are
to get a job, and being hired at a higher salary (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 159). This explains the
logical persuasion of why Crawford decided that Clarice would be the investigator on Dr. Lector.
By being this physically attractive she was more likely to get Lector to do what she wanted him
to do. Persuasion is a major influence in this film for it explains that getting someone to do
something, or agree with people is much easier the more attractive a person is.
The setting of the psychological holding facility Clarice gets locked in when visiting Dr.
Lector is dark with brick walls, spotted lighting, and jail bars for the cells. When Clarice pays
Crawford a visit to his cell he attempts to smell Clarices scent through the vent stating, You
use Avon skin cream, and sometimes you wear Lepton but not today. This creates arousal of
interest for him making him more interested in who she as. Although, Dr. Lector isnt an animal
figure, he does have animal tendencies, and its believed that animals are more susceptible to
sense of smell than humans. We know other animals obtain a great deal of information from their
sense of smell: the presence of an enemy, territorial markers, finding members of the same
species or herd, sexual stimulation, mate selection, and emotional states (Knapp & Hall, 2014,
p.179).
After smelling her scent he then asks to read paperwork on Buffalo Bill, but doing so
makes a slight wink and smile at her. Based from analysis he is interested in Clarice opposed to
showing un-interest in her. He explains this by saying, You know what you look like to me with
your good bag, and your cheap shoes. You look like a robe, a wild scrubbed robe with taste.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ANALYSIS

Next lets take a look at the sound of certain scenes in the film. For example during the
scene where the officers brought his food into his cell at the end. In this scene the music has a
piano tune that is sad and guilt tripping. Out of nowhere it alternates into a very dark fast horror
sound as Lector beats the officers. Depressing music can add to the intensity of an already
gloomy mood (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 111). After this it flashes to the officers coming into the
caged jail room and seeing the hanging of another fellow officer with high intensity lighting
below it. Lighting helps structure our perceptions of an environment (Knapp & Hall, 2014,
p.113) and the emblem definitions of the officer hanging represented death. Following this
occurrence of events is the building of music.
The music slowly gets louder and intense as the anticipation of what the blood represents
in the elevator. Followed by the police speeding down the highway as the sound became more
patriotic. All of these occurrences convey a sense of urgency, and intensity to the viewers.
Results have shown that the type of music can affect the verbal and nonverbal behavior of
interactants, but the intensity of the music can affect the intensity of the interaction (Knapp &
Hall, 2014, p. 111)
Effects on Gesture and Posture
While in Crawfords office, Clarice stalls and sways as she waits for him to come into the
office. She then stops this action as she notices a wall of investigative information to Buffalo
Bills body skinning. This causes her to place her hands by her side giving a negative reaction of
shock. Prior to Clarice leaving Crawfords office she shrugs her shoulders, quickly flashes her
eyebrows, and glances away as she asks him of the urgency to have her examine Dr. Lecters
behavior.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ANALYSIS

Another topic in this discussion is when Clarice struggled to get the storage door open at
the storage facility. Studies by Bavelas shown that this is a form of motor mimicry. Motor
mimicry is when someone is in pain or needed and expresses this through facial and sound
expression-you are more likely to react in empathic expression as well (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p.
226). This is believed due to the increase of eye contact during the intertwined reactions. The
more eye contact involved, the more the brain relates the emotions to the opposing person feeling
joint emotion (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 226).
Effects of Touch
Clarice greets her friend with a hand grasp as she walks down the stairs to speak with
Crawford. The handshake is an emblematic expression of friendly, and professional
acquaintanceship giving mutual social understanding (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 375). Also during
the end of the film where Crawford approaches Clarice and shakes her head. Touching in this
form is more personally polite, or, social/polite as the text describes. Although handshakes are a
very old style of greeting it is treated as involvement of functional or professional depending on
the actual grasp in the hand (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 240).
Further in the film she reminisces herself hugging her father, and as they walk into their
home he places his hand along her shoulder and neck area as if he is proud to be home. This is a
representation of the shoulder embrace. The shoulder embrace gesture is usually between male
to female relationships or friendships that signify positive relationships (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p.
238). The father placing his hand on his daughters shoulder represents gentle care and a good
relationship where that she is like a buddy in theory.

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ANALYSIS

Effects of Face
Fear is determined when the eyebrows are raised and drawn together. The upper lip is
raised while the bottom lip is tense and drawn upward (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 279). Surprise is
determined when the eyebrows are raised high and curved, the skin below the eyebrow is
stretched, and the eyelids are open showing the white of the eye. Also a persons jaw is dropped
exposing the mouth-separating the lips and exposing teeth (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 279). Disgust
is determined when the upper and lower lips are raised, the nose is slightly wrinkled, the cheeks
raised, and the eyebrows lowered (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 280).As the film progresses an FBI
trainer calls out Darling! to Clarice to inform her that Crawford wants to speak to her in his
office. Already tired, she wonders in curiosity of why he wants to speak to her. She shows these
signs with a slight pause of breath, widened eyes, and opened mouth before saying thank you to
the trainer. Syntactic Display represents this behavior as its a punctuation for words and clauses.
Raising eyebrows are typical results of syntactic displays (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 261).
During her conversation with Crawford over the phone she finds out Mig is dead and
asks how with a blank facial expression as if shes in complete shock. To further this, Clarice
becomes silent on the phone and when called upon by Crawford she states, Yes I am still here
sir I just dont know how to feel. This implicates a frozen affect or neutralized feeling where she
has no emotion to feel, because she is in shock and sadness (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p.262-263).
Therefore, Clarices facial expressions is a social representation of how others
(specifically Dr. Lecter) perceive her. The face is considered the window to feelings because it
allows you to be vulnerable to manipulation by someone who uses false expression to their
advantage (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 289). Dr. Lector is a prime example of this because he uses
his facial expressions and context behind it to his advantage in persuading Clarice.

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10

Effects of Eye Behavior

In the beginning of the film as Clarice runs throughout the woods. As the woods become
foggy her eyes began to lower and focus more at whats around here more than where she is
running. Also during their conversation she consistently stares at Clarice as he is talking to her,
with her also doing the same in respect. This form of eye communication is considered
regulatory gazing. Regulatory gazing is when a particular conversation is demanded or
suppressed via staring. For example, if a student is in a principals office-the principal gives the
student direct eye contact to demand his focus, and make sure he is listening (Knapp & Hall,
2014, p. 297).
Secondly, when Clarice approached the storage facility, Yourself Storage, she engaged in
conversation with a man who was familiar with the building. During the conversation she
referenced with her eyes and words to the driver sitting in the vehicle behind the man helping her
in the storage facility. This act is considered gaze-cuing effect where one or more people look in
a particular direction; which causes others to do so as well (gaze cuing) (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p.
300). Hannibal Lector exhibits several encounters with Clarice where he gazes at her intensively
as if he is sexually harassing her. Although he may not be, his interest in her represents this by
lowering his eye lids, and showing wrinkles on the sides of his nose. This particular
representation is called social dominance where men are more likely to sexual harass women
engaged in direct eye-contact. Also Dr. Lector is very intelligent and manipulative so his ability
to express more eye-contact is higher. People who have higher IQs or more intelligent than the
norm engages more in interpersonal gazing (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 311).

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Conclusion
To conclude, each character in this film displayed various signs of nonverbal behavior
that were both subconscious and conscious. Specifically, Crawford would be classified as loosely
coupled through facial emotion expression because he withdraws facial expression unless its a
particular circumstances (Knapp & Hall, 2014, p. 266). Examples of such are during the first
meeting in his office, the helicopter ride as he explained pictures of a spree of murder cases, and
at the closing of the film when he approached Clarice and softly grasped her hand with a slight
smile.
Whereas, Clarice expresses readout emotion because at any given time her feelings are
experienced by her gestures, posture, and facial expressions given in the paper examples. The
term readout are internal emotional expressions that are honest, and uncontrolled. Overall, the
film exhibited various nonverbal behavior through physical, environmental, and facial
expressions that conveyed subconscious meaning to the viewer. A person expresses nonverbal
behavior most times without actual knowledge of doing it, for it is common reaction to people,
and situations around us.

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References

Knapp, M. L. & Hall, J. A. (2014). Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. (8)

Wadsworth Cengage Learning.