The Silence of the Lambs : Who gave the pen to Lecter?

Who gave the pen to Lecter?

How did Lecter get the pen? is it Barney?

Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

It was Chilton, by accident.

It looked like it fell out of his shirt pocket at some point, while Chilton was scolding Lecter about giving up the name of the killer.



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Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

I always thought it was Barney.

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Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

Barney respected Hannibal and even sympathized with him regarding Chilton's behavior, but he'd never help him escape. He values life too much to let someone of Hannibal's nature and tastes back into it.

Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

I always found this to be a weak plot point. The amount of scrutiny and invasive security searches Lecter underwent would surely have revealed he has concealing a pen on him. It would have worked better if he managed to get a pen (or something of equal importance to picking his handcuff lock) at a later stage.

Also, now that the topic has been raised, how was Lecter able to pick the lock anyway? Sure he's a genius, but that doesn't mean he can just figure that out on the spot. His background is in psychology/psychiatry. Hardly an area where he could have picked up the practical knowledge and I seriously doubt they'd give him access to books that contained this information.

Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

We see a pen on a towel on his bed, next to the papers. It is definitely Chilton's pen because he can't find it in his pocket at the airport hangar. Whether Chilton forgot it or dropped it, I don't know. It looks the papers are Chilton's, because he is holding his pen in his hand. So I would expect him to take the papers with him while exiting the cell, which would make forgetting the pen, which is very close to the papers difficult. Or, with the joy of hearing Lecter will cooperate (so, he will maybe get a career boost for helping the Senator), he might have forgotten to take the papers and the pen and maybe Barney kind of didn't "see" the pen while preparing Lecter, per Lecter's whispering of his name and his reply as "hmm hmm".

Anyway, somehow he grabbed the pen and break it to pieces and took only its pin. To do that would require a period of personal privacy in his cell, during something like a shower or other biological need; he was going to be prepared for meeting the Senator. Taking the pin, he got rid of the rest of the pen, possibly threw it into the toilet.

He put the pin inside his mouth in a way it wouldn't drop or hinder his speech, before leaving his cell. Remember, he knows a lot about human anatomy, especially about the mouth I would say. Another reason for keeping the pin inside his mouth is that he probably knows they put a mask on his face with metal bars around his mouth while transferring him, so the pin wouldn't alert security check devices.

When the time comes, he takes the pin out off his mouth. I would also think that he is not only a psychology expert; he is a highly intelligent and knowledgeable person, who traveled the world (Florence drawing from his memory) and perhaps learned a lot. I would assume being such a serial killer would require some study and knowledge of "how to escape", in this case getting rid of cuffs. He is not an amateur who was busted on his first or second crime. He probably ate/killed a lot more who haven't been found yet.

Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

After reading your comment, I checked that scene again and noticed how Lecter says "Barney" and Barney responds something like "hmm hmm". Never noticed it before, interesting detail.

Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

It's a weak plot point. There's absolutely no way Lecter could get a pen that's 5 feet away when his arms are restricted to his side.

Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

Chilton ordered Barney to clean him up as he was going to meet a senator, especially a woman senator. I believe, during that time, they may have loosened him which created an opportunity for him to grab the pen without anyone noticing it. He may have even directed the officials not to see him as he grabbed it. Like he manipulated Boyle to "mind the drawings". Remember, this is a professional psychopath with many talents.

Having said that, what the film shows is perfectly enough. What is not shown, what might have happened is left to our imagination. And I don't consider that kind of things as weak plot points, unless there is absolutely no possible logical explanation.

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Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

The book gives a more plausible explanation: on 2 occasions prior to the events of the movie, people interviewing him accidently left an item (a paperclip and pen) in papers that they gave Lector. He fashioned a handcuff key from them (these are actually very simple), and hid it while he waited for an opportunity to use it.

Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

I wouldn't be too surprised if it was Barney.

Barney was in charge of cleaning and searching Lecter's cell. Also at the end, though in the book, Barney is given a generous tip and a thank you note from Lecter for the kindness shown to him.

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Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

Pretty sure it was Chilton. He mentions in the movie later that he has misplaced his pen. But I'm not sure if he dropped it or just forgot it when he was in Hannibal's cell.

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Re: Who gave the pen to Lecter?

Also, earlier in the film, when Chilton is listening to the tape of Starling/Lecter, the shot goes out of his way to show his pen.

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