The duality of human nature, a central theme in psychological thrillers, often revolves around the archetype of the psychiatrist-destroyer. This figure, embodying both healer and predator, presents a complex paradox in literary criticism. It blurs the lines between care and manipulation, trust and exploitation, challenging readers’ understanding of moral and psychological traits. In this article, we take a unique approach by applying Hirsch’s [1967] hermeneutic method to explore how this dual archetype is constructed through the characters of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs [1988] by Thomas Harris and Theo Faber in The Silent Patient [2019] by Alex Michaelides. Our aim is to investigate how psychiatrists with double consciousness manipulate their professions as healers to conceal their dark inner selves, destructive behavior, and deceptive relationships with patients and society. By closely interpreting the text within the theoretical frameworks of dualistic human nature and archetypal psychology [Durkheim, 1914; Frye, 1951; Jung, 1959], psychological aspects of literary interpretation [Szondi & Bahti, 1978; Kalaga, 2015], linguistic and stylistic strategies in thriller writing [Patterson, 2006; Dutta-Flanders, 2017], transgressor-centered narratives in thrillers [Horsley, 2005], and the narrative of conventional psychoanalysis [Halberstam, 1995], our research reveals how both Michaelides and Harris use narrative ambiguity, psychological manipulation, and ethical violation to create suspenseful, yet disturbing portrayals of characters with multiple personalities. Both writers' language and style disrupt traditional thriller writing's normative narrative conventions through their representations of psychological fluctuations between the identities of manipulative criminals and rational psychiatrists.

Authors:
Sojida Samandarova, Uzbekistan State World Languages University, Uzbekistan

About the Presenter(s)
Samandarova Sojida is a young Uzbek scholar currently doing a PhD research at Uzbekistan State World Languages University in Tashkent. She is interested in literary criticism and literary analysis of psychological thriller novels, especially, those written by contemporary writers such as Thomas Harris, Stieg Larsson, Alex Michaelides and James Patterson. She started working as an ESL, EFL teacher at the age of 20 and her passion towards the English language helped to connect her research with American Literature and Literary Criticism of the modern age crime fiction.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Friday Schedule

Bookmark