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Sojida Samandarova, Uzbekistan State World Languages University, UzbekistanAbstract
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 (Harris, 1988) and Theo Faber in The Silent Patient (Michaelides, 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 (Kalaga, 2015; Szondi & Bahti, 1978), linguistic and stylistic strategies in thriller writing (Dutta-Flanders, 2017; Patterson, 2006), 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.
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Conference: ACCS2025Stream: Literary Studies / All genres/ Theory
This paper is part of the ACCS2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Samandarova S. (2025) Archetypal Duality of the Psychiatrist-Destroyer in Psychological Thrillers: Hermeneutic Inquiry Into the Silent Patient and the Silence of the Lambs ISSN: 2187-4751 – The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 269-274) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4751.2025.22
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4751.2025.22
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