Let's read about Mr. Norman Bates.
Norman Bates:
When we first meet Norman in Psycho he is a character to be pitied. He works at the Bates Motel, caring for his sick, elderly mother and is often having to clean up her murders.
This is not a big spoiler: Norman Bates' mother is dead.
I haven't met too many people who haven't seen the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho or read the Robert Bloch novel of the same name. Even if they didn't read book or seen the movie they would still know who Norman Bates is because the character has been talked about for decades. Well then, if Norman's mother is dead, whose murders is he cleaning up?
Let me explain if you're culturally inept:
Norman is the killer. But there is something else, here's the kicker: Norman is kind of, sort of, maybe, NOT THE KILLER. Let me explain further:
Norman suffers from what is commonly known as multiple personality disorder. In a way - and this does not excuse his crimes - Norman really is not the one who committed the murders, rather the second person inside Bates, his mother Norma, is really the one doing the killing.
Bates was instilled at a very young age to the believe that sex is the ultimate transgression of the mind, body and soul. Bates doesn't know when bouts of this disease will strike, and in some ways this is both a blessing and curse for Norman. After all, if someone else is doing the killing, even if it's his body performing the acts, he doesn't know about it because he is mentally unhinged at the time. Norman is free from the guilt of knowing he did the deed. Yet he is cursed because he loves his mother and doesn't want her to get into trouble.
This is quite a difference from Lecter who knows he's insane, admits it even to himself and enjoys the fact the person is dead. In many ways, the reason why Lecter is as smart as he claims or shows is because of his insanity. Perhaps there is something about being Coo Coo for Cocoa Puffs which makes a person's mind able to do task that a normal human being is unable to perform. We'll get to that a bit later.
Bates, who thinks of himself as a good man, still does not think he's done anything immoral because he does not or chooses not to remember for the remorse would swallow him whole.
Bates could be a virgin or perhaps he engaged in incest with Norma, his mother. The man obviously has attractions towards the opposite sex - who is not his mother - but due to the abuse put upon him by Norma during childhood he would never act upon those natural emotions. Actually, he believes killing the other person to avoid having intercourse with them - a simple “no" would sufficed, “I have a headache”, or “I'm watching football, damn it”- is a lesser crime then sex itself.
Lecter, however, is not a sexual, or perhaps in this case, an asexual predator. Lecter has attractions towards women but it is not violently sexual. Some would argue Hannibal did engage in immoral sexuality with his step-aunt after his uncle had died but others would say that since she was not a blood relative this would not be considered incest. Those who engage in deviance may offend Lecter. At one point in the novel Hannibal, Lecter fed pieces of a man's sliced face to dogs perhaps because the man was a pedophile. This might not have been the sole reason for doing such a thing but I'm sure it was on the list. Other times, perhaps, Lecter sees sexual violence as a great tool, even complementing, though not specifically on the sexual violence itself, on the activities of The Tooth Fairy who is a known rapist and serial killer. Lecter probably didn't believe the rapes The Tooth Fairy committed had anything to do with sex and like the old saying goes: “Rape is not about sex but power.” I believe Lecter was complementing The Tooth Fairy on his power, not his sexual activities, be them extreme.
Bates' weapons of choice for killing are a butcher knife and poison. He used Strychnine on his mother and her lover when he was a teenager because of the jealousy he felt over the other man's sexual relationship with Norma. Lector uses a wide variety of weapons, his teeth mostly and I don't believe he'd use poison - after all he is a cannibal and who would want to spoil their dinner and make themselves ill.
There, we have just entered the mind of a killer and madman. Now, we will focus on a character that is both and could be something else entirely.
Hannibal Lecter M. D.
The name Hannibal implies someone ancient, wise, powerful and brutal (heavy on the brutal). It is not a coincidence that Thomas Harris the creator of Hannibal Lecter series chose this name for his title character. Once you get to know Hannibal Lecter you'll understand why.
Lecter was born in Lithuania in 1933 to patrician kin who loved him. This is a sharp contrast from Bates, who had a terrible family life. I've always believed that even if you have a bad childhood you could still grow to be good or even great person. It's not necessarily the acts which shapes a human being but the human being who learns from the acts. If the horrible things - and I'm going to tell you about them in the next few paragraphs - didn't happened to Lecter as a child, would he be the same person? Or, and this is a more startling question: would he be just as bright a man as we know him today?
As an emotionally frail man where anything could set him off, Norman Bates is a classic example of what our collective consciousness perceives as a serial killer and yet, that is not how we perceive Lecter. Hannibal finds great joy in murder, makes it an event unto itself - at least for him - and is actually something quite special in terms of physiology and brutalism.
Lecter's best friend at a young age was his sister Mischa. The events in 1941 would change Lecter's life. Young Hannibal must have known about the great evil that would be set against his country and his family, after all he is not naive as most children his age.
Nazi Germany had invaded his land, some just outside Lecter's front door. It was during this time his parents were killed and collaborators to the Nazi Party invaded his home. Food was short during the winter so the invaders took what sustenance they could find: Mischa.
Eight year old Hannibal watched as his sister was butcher and eaten. From that moment on the person who would have been Hannibal was gone and “The Cannibal” Lecter remained.
Lector was brought up from his adolescence into his teenage years at an orphanage. He rarely spoke, if not at all, in fact some thought him mute. Soon he was taken in by his rich Uncle Robert and his Japanese step-aunt Murasaki. Robert eventually died and Murasaki, more then just a motherly figure, taught him about life, death and love. However, this was not enough to save him from neither himself nor his actions.
Lecter's first murder was a fisherman who insulted Murasaki. He killed the man with a samurai sword own by Murasaki, slicing him open, terrifying him and then finally beheading him. Lecter, as he committed the evil act, got pleasure for himself, as if the fisherman, twice his size, was a mere plaything for him to use and throw away.
Fright has always been one of the main tools Lecter uses against his victims before the end. Bates, at least, is quick about his killing. Yes, it's brutal, but he doesn't scare you into a heart attack while doing it. Lecter, however, seems to be successful at causing this fright every time his mood turns bloodthirsty.
Later, Lecter found the people who killed his sister and got his revenge, snuffing them out in ways that even his future victims would find more terrible then their own deaths. He traveled to America, educated himself even more then he did while in Europe, and eventually earned several degrees. Even after his revenge, Lecter kept killing and eating his victims. Late in life, he was caught by FBI Agent Will Graham, who had first consulted Lecter on a serial murder case but found out soon after that Lecter was in fact the killer.
Prison was hard on Lecter. He killed many even within the walls around him, sometimes without even touching them (Miggs). People often came to see him regarding cases on murders or to do surveys; he was after all one of the brightest minds in the country, if not the world, on various subjects, it's a mere -okay many not mere - coincidence he is a cannibal and serial killer. Prison just wasn't right for Lecter; like a lion he needed freedom and freedom is what he got.
Lecter had escaped and as far as we know - unless Thomas Harris writes another novel and please do so- he is still at large.
Just remember, if you see Hannibal Lecter, please be nice to him. To piss him off, well, let's put it this way: You'll go well with the seasoned dumplings.
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