Interpretation of the Silence of the Lambs from the Perspective of Horizon of Expectation

Abstract

The silence of the lambs is one of the most influential crime novels of its time. The author Thomas Harris vividly depicts the characters and their psychological activities. He created the atmosphere of tension and horror through unique methods, breaking through people’s horizon of expectation, and generating unprecedented experience to readers in the creation process of the novel. At the same time, he created characters that broke people’s prescribed interpretation of the protagonist of crime novels and exceeded readers’ expectations. The aim of this paper is to gain more insight into this great work from the perspective of Horizon of Expectation.