The Sadism of Jame Gumb in Thomas Harris’ Novel The Silence of The Lambs

Nina Nova Anggraini Universitas Gunadarma Jalan Margonda Raya No. 100

ABSTRACT The backgrounds in this research for analyze is what are the causes main character perform in sadism. The aims of the study in this research, are to describe factors trigger Jame Gumb in performing sadism and to describe how Jame Gumb triggers sadism. The data in this research is taken from a novel. It is in the form of utterances and clauses reflecting the sadism of Jame Gumb. In analyzing the sadism that appear in the novel, the writer used descriptive qualitative method. The results of this study shown that Jame Gumb performed sadism because the background of life, he has a bad childhood, his mother is an alcoholic prostitute and his mother never gives attention, love and caring to him and he has killed and flayed at least eleven women, one of them is the first victim Klaus, who scalped and inserted pupa in her throat.

Keywords: Jame Gumb, Sadism, Psychological Approach, Personality Disorder, The Silence of the Lambs.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Silence of the Lambs is Clarice Starling. Starling must author Thomas Harris' third book, walk a delicate line in negotiating and the second in a trilogy of with the slippery Lecter, hoping to books devoted to the FBI's hunt for obtain his help in catching another serial killers. Since the advent of serial killer, nicknamed "Buffalo FBI criminal profiling, Harris' Bill," because he skins his female works are among the most popular victims. works of fiction dedicated to this Starling is plucked out of the subject. The Silence of the FBI Academy by her mentor, Jack Lambs is Harris' most famous work, Crawford, to track down Buffalo and has also been turned into a Bill before he kills again. The blockbuster movie starring Anthony novel takes Clarice on a journey Hopkins as serial killer, Dr. from Lecter's dank cell in the Hannibal Lecter. In this book, Lec- bowels of the Baltimore State Hos- ter's character is the antagonist pital for the Criminally Insane to to the main character, FBI trainee the slab where Buffalo Bill's la-

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test body lies. The pressure inten- fined as a type of personality dis- sifies when Bill kidnaps the daugh- order in which an affected indivi- ter of U.S. Senator Ruth Martin. As dual inflicts sadistic, cruel, ma- the only female assigned to the nipulative, aggressive and de- investigation, Starling is able to meaning behavior on others. use her feminine perspective to understand Bill's victims, and how Sadistic Personality Disorder he selects them. However, each day Classification she spends on his trail puts Star- ling in greater danger of being a. Enforcing Sadist flunked out of the academy, and not This category of sadistic peo- even Crawford can prevent this from ple can often be found within im- happening. In the end, Starling ri- portant positions of authority, ses to the occasion, and the green such as military sergeants, police trainee single-handedly tracks down officers, prison overseers and Buffalo Bill. She must then descend deans of universities. These indi- into the horrifying basement dunge- viduals are in a situation where on, where he traps his victims, to they feel that they are the ones save Catherine Martin. who should be in charge of contro- lling, overseeing and punishing Every analysis needs limita- people for breaking laws, rules and tion in order to make the analysis regulations. does not go far from the topic of b. Explosive Sadist discussion and make the analysis People having this form of focus to what being discussed. My sadistic personality are known to research is going to be focused on be unpredictably violent as they the sadism of Jame Gumb nicknamed are disappointed or frustrated with "Buffalo Bill in the novel The Si- their general lives. They lose con- lence of The Lambs using psycho- trol when they feel humiliated logical analysis. and/or hopeless and seek retribu- tion for the deprecation and mis- 2. LITERATURE REVIEW treatment to which they sense they have been subjected to. According to (Kennedy ,1991) c. Tyrannical Sadist novel is a book length story in This type of sadistic persona- prose, who’s the authors try to lity is counted among the more create the sense that while read, cruel and frightening of all sub- we experience actual life. types as they seem to really relish According to Worchel and She- their acts of brutalizing and me- bilske (1995:3) Psychology, Princi- nacing others. It appears that for- ples and Application. “Psychology cing their unwilling victims to is the scientific study of behavior submit and cower provides them with and applications gained from that some special feeling of satis- knowledge. ”According to Birch and faction. Wade-ley, “A psychological approach en-deavors to work towards an d. Spineless Sadist under-standing and explanations of This type of sadist is com- the biological basis of behavior. pletely opposite of other three According to Richard von types, as they are extremely inse- Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902), he was cure and behave like cowards. These introduced the terms to psychiatry people anticipate real danger, pro- in the 19th century. He was ex- ject their hostile ideas and strike plained sadism in deviant sexual first, thereby hoping to forestall actions and someone feels satisfied the antagonist and put forth ques- after do something. Sadistic perso- tions later. nality disorder (SPD) can be de-

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Sadistic Personality Disorder (2006:155) descriptive qualitative Causes is a method to analyze, describe, There are no definite, clear and summarize the various condi- causes for people developing SPD. tions, situations and various data Some theories indicate that the way collected in the form of result or a person is brought up plays a observations, interview or studied major role in deciding if one is problem that occur in the field. going to develop a sadistic per- The data in this novel are sonality or not. utterances and clauses reflecting Sadistic Personality Disorder the sadism performed by Thomas Symptoms Harris in a novel The Silence of the Lambs. As the source of data, A person is said to have SPD the writer used The Silence of the when he or she displays certain Lambs novel as the main data. This behavioral patterns: novel written by Thomas Harris. a. A sadistic individual does not Source of the data in this research hesitate to humiliate people is a novel. Entitled The Silence of intentionally in presence of the Lambs. It consist of 185 pages. others. It was published in 1988 years. b. He considers all people to be The techniques that writer under his control, no matter uses to collect data in this re- whether the other individual is search is the collection of quali- a student, child, prisoner or tative data by doing reading the patient, and treats them in an The Silence of the Lambs, it can unkind and harsh manner make the readers to understands the c. A sadistic individual finds story and the main character per- pleasure in causing pain to sonality, thoroughly while identi- other people or harming them by fying the psychological factors lying without any apparent which influencing the main charac- reason or without any motive to ter by underlining. achieve any other goal. Making notes of the sentence d. Unlike a normal person, a sa- from what the character does or distic individual frightens and says on the sadism in sadistic per- terrorizes others for getting sonality disorder influencing the his job done. main character. e. He often puts restriction on the freedom of other people 4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION within a close relationship. f. A sadistic individual gets The Silence of the Lambs Synopsis highly enthralled by all forms The Silence of the Lambs is a of violence, martial arts, wea- novel by Thomas Harris. First pub- pons, injuries, torture or lished in 1988, it is the sequel to death. Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon. Both g. He does not falter from making novels feature the cannibalistic use of violence or cruelty for serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, establishing his dominance in this time pitted against FBI Spe- any form of relationship. cial Agent Clarice Starling. Its film adaptation directed by Jona- 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY than Demme was released in 1991 to box office success and critical acclaim. The method used in this re- search is descriptive qualitative method. According to Wirartha

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The Causes of Jame Gumb in The way Jame Gumb Performing in Performing Sadims Sadism The Childhood of Jame Gumb a. Jame Gumb do is choosing women Jame Gumb was born in Cali- with big bodies and kidnaps fornia in 1948, and was abandoned them to become his victims. He at birth by his mother. His mother then keeps them alive for a was an alcoholic prostitute, who week or just long enough for had named him James, but upon them to feel pain. signing his birth certificate in- "Now dry off and rub the cream correctly, spelled the name Jame, all over. Rub it all over." The and was left unchanged. cream was warm from the bath water. Its moisture made the jumpsuit “His mother had been carrying stick to her skin. "Now pick up him a month when she failed to your litter and wash the floor." place in the Miss Sacramento Con- She did that too, gathering the test in 1948. The "Jame" on his chicken bones and picking up the birth certificate apparently was a English peas. She put them in the clerical error that no one bothered bucket, and dabbed the little spots to correct. When her acting career of grease on the cement. Something failed to materialize, his mother else here, near the wall. The flake went into an alcoholic decline; that had fluttered down from the Gumb was two when Los Angeles Coun- crack above. It was a human finger- ty placed him in a foster home. At nail, covered with glitter polish least two scholarly journals ex- and torn off far back in the plained that this unhappy childhood quick.” (The Silence of the Lambs, was the reason he killed women in 1988:79-80)” his basement for their skins. The film of the beauty contest that The explanation above Jame Gumb Jame Gumb watched as an adult was kidnap and torture daughter from real footage of his mother, but the Senator Ruth Martin the name is woman in the swimming pool film was Chaterine Martin, she don’t have a not his mother, comparative mea- good body but she have a big body, surements revealed.” (The Silence and he need a big body for sewing a of the Lambs, 1988:180). suit from a female skin. Before her body flayed, Jame Gumb let her life “Gumb's grandparents ret- until a moment, when the time comes rieved him from an unsatisfactory she’ll died and flayed. Jame Gumb foster home when he was ten, and he want before her died, Chaterine killed them two years later. Tulare Martin must feel pain. Vocational Rehabilitation taught

Gumb to be a tailor during his b. Jame Gumb hangs his victims years at the psychiatric hospital. upstairs and ends their lives He demonstrated definite aptitude with a bullet. for the work.” (The Silence of the “Do you know what an imago is, Lambs, 1988:180)” Clarice?" "An adult winged insect." "But what else? "She hook her The explanation above main head. "It's a term from the dead character have a grandparents and religion of psychoanalysis. An ima- when they want take Jame Gumb, he go is an image of the parent buried killed them, and they are the first in the unconscious from infancy and victims whom Jame Gumb killed. He bound with infantile affect. Even was rehabilitation in Tulare Voca- the phlegmatic Crawford must see tional Rehabilitation and he taught some significance in the insect to be a tailor. chrysalis is change. Worm into butterfly, or moth. Billy thinks he wants to change. He's making him- self a girl suit out of real girls.

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Hence the large victims--- he has d. Jame Gumb does after flaying his to have things that fit. He's doing victims’ skins is throws away this in a two-story house, did you the victims by dumping them in find out why two stories?" "For a running water. does after while he was hanging them on the flaying his victims’ skins is stairs."" (The Silence of the throws away the victims by Lambs, 1988:87). dumping them in running water. The explanation above all of “In a stainless-steel, tray on the do by the Jame Gumb because his the workbench was "Klaus," the head learn from pupa, all of the changes she had found in the Split City in his life because his learn from MiniStorage. "Klaus had the bug in pupa, first. Billy thinks he wants his throat," Crawford said. ." (The to change. He's making himself a Silence of the Lambs, 1988:65) girl suit out of real girls. Hence The explanation above FBI the large victims, he has to have Clarice Starling found a victim had things that fit. He's doing this in flayed in thighs, and the six a two floors, he did because he victims are a Klaus, Klaus flayed hanged victims on the stairs. He in head and his throat inserted a thinks if he is a transsexual, be- pupa. cause that he need a female suit, “He had done it five times and he think for a make used a fe- that they knew of, had Bill. At male skin, he killed then flayed least five times, and probably for sewing a suit used a female more, over the past ten months he skins. had abducted a woman, killed her c. Jame Gumb flays his victims and skinned her. (Starling's eye using four knives that he has raced down the autopsy protocols to prepared. the free histamine tests to confirm that he killed them before he did “In the workroom, he laid out the rest). He dumped each body in his knives on a clean towel beside running water when he was through the long sinks. The knives were with it. Each was found in a four: a sway-backed skinning knife, different river, downstream from an a delicate drop-point caper that interstate highway crossing, each perfectly followed the curve of the in a different state.”(The Silence indent finger in close places, a of the Lambs, 1988:35) scalpel for the closest work, and a The explanation above Jame World War I-era bayonet. The rolled Gumb had killed 5 or more times edge of the bayonet is the finest woman and all of the woman skins, tool for fleshing a hide without and the victims dumped in running tearing it.” (The Silence of the water. He also had at least one gun Lambs, 1988:152). possibly a Colt revolver or a Colt The explanation above Jame clone. Gumb had four knives for skinning his victims, each knife has its own 5. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE function. The first no sway-backed RESEARCH knife to remove the skin, second there are a pointed knife both to After analyzing the data, follow every curve of her index writer can conclude that Jame Gumb finger, third a scalpel for the has a personality disorder, he is a most delicate work, the last as sadistic person, at least he had well as bayonet of the First World killed 11 people, one of them is War. Bayonet curved side is the Klaus, Klaus is the first victim best tool to clean the skin without who scalped and inserted pupa in tearing it. his throat.

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This novel very interesting Forensic Study, New York: one to be studied, because this Physicians and Surgeons fiction contains mystery and riddle Book.Co. that makes reader curiosity to read M. Atar Semi. (1993). Metode it and they will try to know what Penelitian Sastra, Bandung: really happens in this story. The Angkasa. writer suggests the reader to use Marlin, Birch and Wadeley. (1992). this fiction for the next re- Perspective in Psychology, searchers as an object of study London: Macmilan Press. especially for psychology student, Millon, T. (1996).Disorder of this novel is read material for Personality DSM-IV and Beyond, psychology student because many New York: Wiley-Inter Science factor psychology that contained in Publication. this novel. Paisal, Muhammad.( 2013). The Sadism of Jean Buptiste 6. REFERENCES Grenouile in Patcrick Suskind’s Novel “Das Perfume”, Hasanudin University. Barlow, H. David, Durand. V. Mark. Rahmat, Dea Anissa. (2014). Sexual (2009). Abnormal Psychology 5th Sadism as Experienced by Edition, USA: Wadsworth Cengage Lisbeth Salander in Stiegh Learning. Larsson’s the Girl with Cuddon, J. A. (1986). A Dictionary Dragon Tatto, Surabaya State of Literary Terms, New York: University Faculty of Language Doubleday and company and Arts. Diana, Eli. (2014) Sadistic in Reidy, D.E., Zeichner, A., & Eragon Novel by Christoper Seibert, L.A. (2011). Paolini. University of Dehasen Unprovoked Aggression: Effect Bengkulu. of Psychopathic Traits and Freud, S. (1955) Inhibitions, Sadism. Journal of Personality. Symptoms and Anxiety XX (2nd), Robert, V.E. (1993). An Hogart Press. Introduction to Reading and Gregory, Richard L.( 1990) The Writing, New York. Oxford Companion to the Mind. Webster, Merriam. (1995). Merriam Oxford: Oxford University Webster’s Encyclopedia of Press. Literature. USA: Merriam Harris, Thomas.( 1988). The Silence Webster, Inc. of the Lambs. United States of Worchel, Stephen and Shebilske America: Yazoo Inc. Wayne. (1995). Psychology: Kennedy, X.J. (1991). Literature: Principles and Application An Introduction to Fiction, (Fifth Edition), New Jersey: Poetry And Prentice Hall Inc. Drama. New York. Harper Collins http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926 Publisher Inc. /synopsis Kraft-Ebing, Richard Von. (1993). http://www.hxbenefit.com/sadistic- Psychopathia Sexualis: With personality-disorder.html Reference to the Antipathic Sexual Instinct: A Medico-

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