4.1.5 Lack of Remorse
After being alone in the orphanage since the death of his parents and his younger sister, Hannibal Lecter as the leading character is raised by his uncle and his
aunt in France. Robert Lecter, his paternal uncle tries to give him best education because he sees potency in Hannibal’s himself. Hannibal is sent to monitor classes in
the village but he quarrels with a student there. He breaks the spitter’s coccyx and the nose of that student without changing his expression because he does not feel guilty
of his action. It can be seen from the quotation below:
He was sent to monitor class in the village school, and was an object of curiosity because he could not recite. On the second day a lout from the
upper form spit in the hair of small first-grader and Hannibal broke the spitter’s coccyx and his nose. He was sent home, his expression never
changing throughout. Harris, 2006: 105
It shows that he is lack of remorse. He does not feel that he does something wrong. He thinks that he does not make mistake. Normal person may feel regret or
plead guilty and shows that with his expression but he shows the characteristic of psychopath which makes him does not change his expression although he have done
harmful behavior. He is able to do criminal things and just considers that as common things. Even when he is young he kills a butcher named Paul Momund who insults
his aunt, Lady Murasaki. At that time, he is investigated by one of the inspectors named inspector Popil, he says clearly that he has no guilty feeling about the murder.
It is just like a usual thing. Even he gives rhetorical question to that police about the reason why he should feel guilty of the murder if he has no relation to the murder.
“Did you have an altercation, that is a fight, with Paul Momund at the market on Thursday?”
“Yes” “Do you attend school?”
“Yes”
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“Does you school require uniforms?” “Yes”
“Do you have any guilty knowledge of the death of Paul Momund?” “Guilty knowledge?”
Harris, 2006: 141
Person with psychopathic personality tends to feel no regret or remorse to bad things he have done. He does not care if he does harmful thing to other. He can do
inhuman thing to others without feel bad about that. He looks like a scoundrel person with no morality because he can do dangerous behavior as he does such common
thing. Hervey Clekcley in his book The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify some
Issues about the So- Called Psychopathic Personality 1941: 343 said that psychopath apparently cannot accept substantial blame for the various misfortunes
which befall him and which he brings down upon others, usually he denies emphatically all responsibility and directly accuses others as responsible, but often
he will go through an idle ritual of saying that much of his trouble is his own fault. Although his behavior shows reactions of this sort to be perfunctory, this is seldom
apparent in his manner. Whether judged in the light of his conduct, of his attitude, or of material elicited in psychiatric examination, he shows almost no sense of shame.
According to Sigmund Freud 1979: 122-127, personality is composed of three elements: id, ego, and superego. Id includes instinctive and primitive behavior as the
source of all psychic energy. It is based on pleasure principle which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and need. Ego is based on the reality
principle and it understands that desires and needs are not always can be fulfilled. Ego controls Id to aware about the real world. While superego is the aspect of
personality that holds entire moral standards and ideals that people acquire from families and society. When ego and superego cannot control influence of a bad
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childhood memory and denied desire, id will take control of entire mental and behavior to be impulsive and cruel as happens to Hannibal Lecter who can not
control his id because of the influence of his bad childhood memory so he kills and eats the killers of his sister without feeling guilty and emphaty as a psychopath.
As a psychopath, Hannibal can not control his id. His id is his desire to take revenge, to kill, and to eat people who eat his younger sister Mischa. He strives for
his own pleasure by killing and eating the killer of his sister and does not feel remorseful about that. Ego as the rational governing agent of the psyche can not
control the primary source of all physic energy called id. The superego as the moral value in human personality serves to reverse the drives of the id but in Hannibal case,
his grudge has took control of his entire personality which changes him from affectionate brother into psychopath man. His id forces him to take revenge against
those killer although his aunt, Lady Murasaki asks him to give them to French police by he does not want to do that.
“These men are not dead. They are very much alive.” “Give them to French police?” Why?” He shook his head.
“Tommorow is Sunday–do I have that right?” “Yes, Sunday.” “Come with me tomorrow. I’ll pick you up. I want you
to look at a beast with me and tell me he should fear the French police.”
Harris, 2006: 287
From the explanation above, Hannibal Lecter has no remorse in doing inhuman thing as he is psychopath with that characteristic. He is a psychopath who
can not control his id and that makes him becomesremorseless person. He does not want to listen any suggestion from others and does what he wants because his ego
and superego is covered by his id to kill and to eat the killers of his sister.
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4.2 The Cause of Hannibal Lecter’s Psychopathic Personality
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