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Chapter 48
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
Gumb makes the final preparations to kill Catherine. He lays out all of his tools and supplies in preparation, admiring them as he does so. He thinks about how he will do it. Gumb’s goal is to kill Catherine in a manner where there is no struggle. However, he needs her skin to be useable. Some of his past kills have been more successful than others. He is wary because his latest victim, whom he had to shoot in the chest, was more trouble than he asked for.
Gumb does not care at all about Catherine’s wellbeing; he only worries about the condition of her skin. Everything Gumb does leading up to killing Catherine is ritualistic in nature. In this way, he is similar to many real-life documented cases of serial killers. Harris likely borrowed from these cases while creating Gumb.
Themes
Ultimately, Gumb decides it would be better not to mess with Catherine and chase her around the basement as he has with some of his previous victims. Doing so will only cause problems and potentially ruin the skin he so desperately covets. Instead, he will promise her a shower and then kill her while she is blindfolded and unaware of what is happening around her.
Gumb’s method to dispose of Catherine is exactly what Lecter and Crawford suspected. However, the methods he used previously were more sadistic in nature. He treated his victims as prey—in a base, animalistic sense—while positioning himself as a predator.
Themes
Eager to get started, Gumb places his beloved tape in the VCR and calls for Precious to come watch it with him. However, Precious does not come when he calls. Gumb searches for Precious and eventually discovers that Catherine has managed to lure her into the oubliette. Catherine lies and tells Gumb that Precious is hurt and needs a vet. She promises to care for Precious as long as Gumb lets her go. This development enrages Gumb, who contemplates shooting Catherine. Smartly, Catherine uses the dog as a shield so Gumb will not shoot. Angrily, Gumb leaves to reassess the situation.
Catherine’s plan saves her life for the time being. If she did not get ahold of Precious, she would be dead in a few more minutes. Instead, she bought herself some time, so there is still some hope that Starling and the FBI will find her. However, Gumb’s anger suggests that he plans to quickly resolve the issue. After all, he cares deeply about Precious, and he is eager to get his hands on Catherine’s skin.
Themes
