Guide Mentor

Character Role Analysis

Hannibal Lecter

Clarice needs Hannibal Lecter to get into the mind of Buffalo Bill. What she doesn't expect is for Lecter to get into her own mind, too. Lecter not only leads Clarice on a trail of breadcrumbs to the killer, but he forces her to look into her own past and to analyze her own motivations for joining the FBI and wanting so desperately to save Catherine Martin. Not a bad mentor to have in this aspect, as creepy as is.

If he were giving her cooking lessons, that would be another matter entirely.

Jack Crawford

Jack Crawford, the head of the Behavioral Science Unit, is a surrogate father figure to Clarice. He handpicks her to interview Lecter because he sees a special spark in her as a student. When the case quickly spirals out of control, he keeps her on it, and often takes her suggestions into consideration, as a good mentor does. In turn, she wants to impress him. Her own father is dead, so standing out to Jack Crawford will have to do.