Subject to Sacrifice

Abstract This chapter analyzes psychoanalysis, ideology and the discourse of the species in Jonathan Demme's film The Silence of the Lambs. It suggests that cross-species identification for the character of Clarice Starling lies at the trauma for which the law of culture is felt to be compensatory. This chapter argues that Starling's relationship with Hannibal Lecter mobilizes and at the same time evacuates psychoanalytic discourse. It also discusses Jonathan Elmer's criticism on the film.