The famous psychotherapist Alfred Adler once said: "Man knows much more than he understands." This means that even though we are rich in education, we do not understand much of what we know. The Silence of the Lambs brings this quote to a much deeper level. In the novel, an FBI trainee named Clarice Starling gets the opportunity to work on the high-profile case of a serial killer named Buffalo Bill. During her journey she befriends the cannibal and serial killer Hannibal Lecter, who provides her with clues that lead to the capture of Buffalo Bill. Lecter leaves Clarice with a lot of information, but it's up to her to figure out what that knowledge really means. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Between interviewing Hannibal Lecter and examining the bodies, Clarice Starling experiments with many of Alfred Adler's theories. In The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, the female protagonist Clarice Starling embodies Adler's theories on social interest and compensation, as well as the use of defense mechanisms, created by Alfred Adler. Clarice Starling demonstrates social interest theory by cooperating with others and valuing the common good over one's own interests. While examining the body of one of Buffalo Bill's victims, Jack Crawford, the agent in charge of Quantico's behavioral science unit, makes the following observation about Clarice Starling: "Wherever this victim came from, whoever he was, the river l 'had brought to the country, Clarice Starling had a special relationship with her' (Harris 75). Crawford can sense that Clarice has a social interest through her automatic bond with the victim. He sees that Clarice is able to relate to her even though is dead, and through this "special relationship" Clarice can learn new things about the victim that will help the case. Through her ability to relate to victims in ways that her colleagues cannot, Clarice demonstrates social interest because she uses these bonds and relationships to contribute to the greater good of his work. This concept is demonstrated even more when Clarice convinces Crawford to let her search with the others for Buffalo Bill. Clarice explains to Jack, “The victims are all women and there are no women working on this case. I can walk into a woman's room and know three times more about her than a man would know, and you know that's a fact" (Harris 274). Clarice is explaining to Crawford how being a woman who works at case puts their team at an advantage because she is able to gain more information than a man can. Since she would be the only woman working on the case, Clarice would have felt some sense of discomfort in always being surrounded by men. .However, her social interest allows her to put this discomfort aside to use her feminine brain to help save Catherine from Buffalo Bill. Starling's social interest allows her to use every skill she has to work with others in order to achieve the goal of the greater good. Starling demonstrates Alfred's compensation theory by attempting to overcome an inferiority complex resulting from his upbringing. While visiting the home of the wealthy Catherina Martin, the narrator explains: “Starling had spent the his time in boarding schools, living on scholarships, his grades were much better than his clothes" (Harris 191). The author describes how Starling had to compensate for her poor education through her grades and school. Since Clarice grew up with "grades much better than her clothes", she has always had to compensate for her family's financial circumstances. Through his.