Hannibal Lecter’s IQ is “not measurable by any means known to man”(Harris, 1988, p. 190)



The intelligent psychopath has been the cornerstone of the Hannibal universe since its inception. The idea that a person who is so intelligent that they cannot be scored by modern technology could do the things Hannibal Lecter did is intriguing to us. It confuses us. It challenges us. Hannibal wasn’t compelled by voices in his head, and he wasn’t mentally deficient in some way. He brutally murdered people and ate their bodies because he wanted to. He liked doing it. And he was very good at it.

Hannibal; Gourmand with an encyclopedic knowledge of fine wine and cuisine, exceptional musician who didn’t need sheet music(Harris, 1999, p. 134), a thorough understanding of both particle physics and astrophysics, and of course, a brilliant psychiatrist (not to even touch upon his medical knowledge).

These things seem at odds with Lecter’s crimes, but also at odds with the fact that Hannibal was deemed criminally insane by the courts and sent to The Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, in lieu of prison or the electric chair. The reader is presented with a conundrum. Why would such a brilliant man choose to savagely kill and eat innocent victims? To understand why Hannibal Lecter isn’t a true psychopath or even criminally insane we need to look at the historical context of these terms.

Perhaps men of genius are the only true men. In all the history of the race there have been only a few thousand real men. And the rest of us-what are we? Teachable animals. Without the help of real men, we should have found out almost nothing at all. Almost all the ideas with which we are familiar could never have occurred to minds like ours. Plant the seeds there and they will grow; but our minds could never spontaneously have generated them. (Huxley, 1956,p.2242)

Insanity. It sounds unstable because it is, undoubtedly so. If Will Graham had actually committed the crimes he is accused of due to disassociation and encephalitis induced psychosis, then criminally insane is exactly what he would be. He would have no memory of the events because he wasn’t aware of the world around him. He had no concept of right or wrong because as Will Graham, he wouldn’t have control. This is the foundation of insanity as a defense in a criminal proceeding. The standards for claiming insanity as a defense differ from state to state. Let’s look at Maryland’s standards for defendants using the insanity defense.

Maryland uses the Model Penal Code rule for establishing insanity in a criminal proceeding. The burden of proof would have been on Hannibal when establishing his insanity to the courts. The Model Penal Code rule states that a defendant must demonstrate that at the time the crimes were committed, he was either: (a) unable to distinguish right from wrong, or (b) unable to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. This means that someone who islegally insane must have been diagnosed with a mental disorder (usually by a court-appointed mental health professional during the time of trial) and either not know right from wrong or lack the ability to control an impulse that led to the crimes.

In Hannibal, Clarice Starling says that Hannibal Lecter didn’t actually make use of the insanity plea himself. It was the jury that found him insane, the reasoning of the courts being that Lecter was so respectable, successful and intelligent that the only explanation for committing such horrendous crimes would be insanity. (Harris, 1999)

Could it have been reasonably argued that Hannibal Lecter had Impulse Control Disorder? Absolutely not. Impulse control is marked by things like kleptomania, pyromania, sexual compulsion and compulsive gambling. It is marked by different stages; an impulse, a growing tension, pleasure from acting, relief from the urge and finally sometimes guilt at having committed the act. None of these things can be attributed to Hannibal. From our dealings with him it is abundantly obvious that he not only had full control of his behavior, but enjoyed acting, neither finding release with murder nor a guilty mind upon it’s completion. His action is far more elevated than that. A pure sadist. Delighting in the torment of others and committing murders not because of impulse or being unaware of the morality and implication of his actions, but because he enjoyed it.



Hannibal is described as a psychopath repeatedly. But being a psychopath by itself doesn’t make someone insane. Besides that, Hannibal doesn’t even fit the criteria to be considered one. Hannibal doesn’t qualify as insane under any legal or even medical umbrella.

Dr. Chilton suggested that Hannibal was driven by ego. A desire to not only be the smartest man in the room, but to also have fame.

Lecter’s only weakness is that he must appear to be smarter than anyone else. Paradoxically, Lecter has achieved the ultimate in name recognition in his culture by becoming a serial killer. Though his murders physically isolate him from society, he continues to thrive on the hyperreal effect he has on others. Someone will always continue to seek him out, he smugly knows, but only if he continues to play the game of the Professor Moriarty of serial killers to its furthest possible extreme (Simpson, 2000,p.95)

Indeed, the academic community at large have taken to calling Hannibal a “monster” as he is more than a man who can be measured in any kind of scholarly standard. His presence and enigma is just that. He isn’t a man in any real sense. Certainly not an insane man. He is much much more than that. Evolved beyond even our own comprehension.

Sources:



http://hannibalpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hannibal_Lecter



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Lecter



http://fictionencyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hannibal_Lecter



http://www.academia.edu/627024/Contemporary_Demonology_The_Criminological_Theories_of_Hannibal_Lecter_Part_Two



http://definitions.uslegal.com/c/criminally-insane/

http://hannibal.wikia.com/wiki/Hannibal_Lecter



http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Hannibal_Lecter



http://okayophelia.tumblr.com/post/52598242709/au-the-trial-of-hannibal-lecter-is-televised



http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InsanityDefense



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impulse_control_disorder#Classification



