To be clear, the series does talk about him using this technique as a “mental system.” But it never shows him using it – certainly not for any positive outcomes like language learning or passing med school exams. Rather, as Jessica Balanzategui has pointed out, memory serves throughout the stories as a symbol for repression and desire. It is ultimately repressing memories that turned Lecter into a killer, and there’s nothing I’ve seen in the series about using the techniques to remember information. We see this when Lecter hypnotically induces Clarice Starling into serving as a proxy for his murdered sister. Lecter’s self-induced forgetting later has a symmetrical relationship in the novel Hannibal. He’s also said to have repressed memories of his sister. Instead, the dramatic focus is always on the negative aspects of his relationship to memory.įor example, there’s a symmetry between him being an astute language learner only to spend quite a long time without speaking to anyone. But we never see him using the technique to learn anything. True, Hannibal refers to ancient memory improvement books like the Rhetorica ad Herennium. I feel that the series of books, movies and serial episodes aren’t so much about what Hannibal Lecter likes to remember, but what he has repressed. The Major Memory Themes Associated With Lecter The best part? Memory Palace examples are in abundance for anyone to take inspiration from. My friend Nelson Dellis, for example, has over 300! This quote proves that he’s not really using memory techniques.įew, if any memory masters would have only one Memory Palace. “My palace is vast, even by medieval standards.” In fact, the most famous Hannibal Lecter Memory quote is: Since he seems to know a lot about architecture, it’s little surprise he uses old churches. Instead, he primarily uses his “Memory Palaces” to mentally revisit the places being imprisoned prevents him from seeing. īy his own definition, Lecter’s Memory Palaces aren’t about storing information related to learning faster. The Norman Chapel in Palermo ( Cappela Palatina )Īs far as I can tell, few of these buildings would be like the Norman Chapel, which is a very different way of approaching the Memory Palace technique.The next thing we should focus on are the buildings Lecter might have used for his Memory Palaces. “Lecter” connects to words like “lecture” and “lector” which means reader in Latin.īut the name is also close to lēctūrus, which has meanings related to choosing, gathering and even stealing – the exact behaviors of serial killers. I also point it out because it’s part of Hannibal’s character as a well-studied individual, particularly one who murders many of his victims to teach lessons. I raise the point partly because it lets me make a scientifically valid pun: bilingualism is proven to be good for your brain, especially if you become a polyglot. For example, Lecter is said throughout the stories to be have studied: The first interesting thing about Hannibal Lecter is not so much memory, but language learning. Let’s have a look and think through some ways you could turn a bad relationship with your memory into a force for good. How exactly is memory and the Memory Palace technique presented in the vast number of stories that have sprung from the original Thomas Harris novels? Good thing then that it truly is the stuff of fiction. In fact, this fictional doctor has such a horrible memory problem, the ways he uses the technique almost puts it to shame. Normally when we think about the Memory Palace technique, it’s for virtuous outcomes.įor example, medical students use it to learn the skills that help them save lives. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | RSS
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