#hannibal analysis

[scarletdreamers]

If there's one thing that gives me the ick it's when people paint Will as being much less educated/knowledgeable than Hannibal and give him a distaste for all Hannibal's interest. Some of you act like this man never opened a book. He WROTE and published one?? He has bookshelves full of classical titles in his house (he has a big house. We only ever get to see his living room and kitchen, who knows what kind of study he has that’s filled with books). Including poetry (he has Shakespeare and Wilde on his shelves, who knows what else with less big spine titles). That man has a big house! He doesn't put his bed on the ground floor for no reason. And no, Will wouldn't dislike classical music and neither would he be new to it. He has a piano with sheet music (so actively playing) at home. I wouldn't be surprised if he plays more instruments. Maybe not as obscure as Hannibal's harpsichord and theremin, but more nonetheless. Will loves art, too!!! He knows a couple of things about S. Botticelli, better assume he knows other things. I mean, he can consider Hannibal's tableaus art, calls killing beautiful, that of itself is an art form and artistic vision of the world he shares with Hannibal. He can also cook. Yes, not like Hannibal, but that man wouldn't let Will sous-chef if he was a bad cook no matter how in love he may be with him. There's gotta be some skill to get permission to use Hannibal's kitchen, no matter how pretty someone may be. Hannibal can discuss any subject he wants with Will because he'll catch onto it. I'm not even going to start on the fact that some people act like Will isn't able to keep up with Hannibal's conversations and metaphors. That man bounces them back at him twice as hard. Will Graham. Isn't. Stupid. !!!.

He's not clueless, he's not uncultured. The thing about Will is that he's adaptable. Hannibal doesn't coax his darkness out of him, he brings Will's true self to the light, which is a highly intelligent, cultured, dangerous and fearless man. The fact that he prefers a minimal life, masking his knowledge and also his wealth (because he is wealthy, but that's a different story), over Hannibal's eye-catching dramatics doesn't mean that he doesn't have it. Yes, not as much as Hannibal, but they do have similar interests. If anyone would be clueless it's Hannibal, because I can guarantee that man DOESN'T know how to fix a boat motor with his Aristocratic French boarding school past. (Although he would learn really fast if Will taught him.) They are way more alike than some make them out to be, Hannibal just has a huge amount of theatrics that Will doesn't care for. Hannibal flaunts his personality, Will owns it. That's the difference. 

[patchouii]

“You and I have begun to blur… We’re conjoined. I’m curious whether either of us can survive separation.”

[a-little-cretur]

im sorry but will graham sitting on hannibal's kitchen floor where he was stabbed after getting out of the hospital while hallucinating their daughter who hannibal killed as the closest form of comfort he could get because he missed him is grade zero yearning like nobody has ever yearned the way will graham has

[swallowthekn1fe]

This line. Mads, I'm gonna need you to be a worse actor for a second, ok bud? Because what. The look of betrayal on his face. The way his lip curls like a dog ready to bare its teeth. Lump in his throat. Swallowing back tears that were never supposed to see the light of someone elses eyes. Almost disgusted at himself for not only entertaining the idea of letting Will see inside of him, but actively giving him the looking glass and saying, "Here. This is me in all of my depravity."

He specifically says "I let you know me." He gave permission. Encouraged it. He wanted it. It's the human in him getting sedated. Put down. Bad dog or whatever.

This guy drives me insane because he knows what he is. Knows that what he does is "the most disgusting thing in the world" to others. But then some twitchy man is placed in his field of vision, and being the hawk he is, zeros in on him. For as smart as he is, as strategic and deadly, he still feels deeply. Maybe not in the same way Will does (obviously) but he still hopes. Still yearns. If he was devoted to a god he would've probably prayed about it too. But he didn't need a god. Didn't want one to confide in. He was fine on his own. Until Will.

I'm sure that he sees Will as some form of otherworldly light. Dark. Grey area. Whatever the vapid space between stars is called, he sees that in Will. That is Will.

Giving into human desires is beneath him. And yet he let his perfectly curated human suit be unraveled because he finally met the one person who could understand him. Finally met the person who he could hold a mirror to and see bits of himself in the reflection. And that mirror got shattered like a teacup. Seven years of bad luck or something.

Betrayal is an ache deep in your gut. Feels like your organs are being ripped out of you just like the rug beneath your feet. And you can only think about how foolish you were for wanting anything in the first place. Disappointment requires expectation and good lord was that man close to his own heaven on earth. An alter he would worship without prying eyes. A love that would shelter him. Cut him and hold pressure to the wound.

Jesus christ love is so fucking humiliating sometimes

[asadstatue]

This version of Hannibal breaks my fucking heart. He's so carefree and...ready to die? Almost as if he's...relieved that he's going to die next to Will and for him. He flirts with Will, and he enjoys it to the fullest, he's even fucking smiling to himself before getting shot. Liberated by love or something like that if you may.

[bluemoonscape]

Hunger is obviously a major theme in Hannibal—it’s literally the cannibal show—but the difference in how that’s portrayed with Hannigram is intriguing.

Hannibal was starving for connection before he had Will, and then everything changed for him. As Bedelia tells Will, “Did he daily feel a stab of hunger, and find nourishment at the very sight of you? Yes.” Hannibal’s hunger is sated by so much as the sight of Will. A mere look at him is enough to satisfy him.

But Will is different. Rather than being sated by his connection with Hannibal, it is the very thing that makes him hungry. There’s a frame in the Italy chapter that makes it look like he’s trapped in a starvation cage. In the script for his sailing scene, he’s literally described to look hungry:

Both Hannibal and Will have a possessive, obsessive, all-consuming love for one another, but it affects them quite differently. Hannibal is nourished by the very sight of Will, but for Will, no amount of the profound attention he experiences from Hannibal can fully sate his hunger—it’s a high he can’t help but chase. It fuels his pathological need to return to Hannibal again and again, no matter how self-destructive it is. I think this is why Will is more outwardly possessive of Hannibal than Hannibal is of Will. Hannibal wants Will to be his; Will wants Hannibal to be no one else’s. Both forms of possession, but Will’s is more jealous because of the way he experiences Hannibal’s attention. It’s a high, it’s a hunger—it’s a need, not a want.

[iambedrock]

I noticed this during my current rewatch of Hannibal:

During season one, Will does not wear his glasses at any point during his therapy sessions with Hannibal.

In fact, he never wears his glasses when he's alone with Hannibal at all. The only time we see him wearing them is during their first meeting in Jack's office.

This is in stark contrast to how Will almost always wears his glasses around Jack. He very frequently wears them around his colleagues, Alana, and others.

I'd argue that Will's glasses are part of his own "person suit" in a few different ways, but that's a post for another day.

Overall, they are a literal and metaphorical barrier between Will and others he interacts with.

With Hannibal, Will removes this barrier completely. He's completely willing to show Hannibal who he really is. From their breakfast together through the end of the first season, Will lets Hannibal see him for who he really is.

[singingrottenbones]

Kind of going insane about the different choices of bite masks for Will and Hannibal.

Transparent for Will vs. white for Hannibal.

At this point of the show, Will is in prison, but he is also needed at a crime scene because of his special autism powers.

His transparent mask is an interesting choice for that. People think that they have discovered his true nature. That he's a killer, a cannibal. That all along, he has been lying to everyone about who he truly is.

However, a transparent mask allows people to still see him and his facial expressions. Yes, he is being held back, but at the same time, he isn't hidden. It's all out there for anyone who has eyes and doesn't jump to a conclusion because it's the most convenient and easy option.

Those who choose to look, to really see him, can still do so, even when he's muzzled. In fact, Jack Crawford's first order of business at the crime scene is to take Will's mask off.

For Will, his mask doesn't take away from his essence, his character.

Now Hannibal gets a white mask.

Let's ignore the obvious associations of "clean", "sterile", "medical", and "Doctor". Instead, let's focus more on what the mask literally does.

Hannibal is at BSHCI on an insanity plea. At this point, people know who, or rather what he is. A killer. A murderer. A man who quite literally eats people. The metaphorical mask is off.

But at the same time, that is also what he is being reduced to. Hannibal the Cannibal.

This is where the mask comes into play. It hides his face. You can't see his facial expression. It's a shield, but it's a shield in both ways. It protects the world from Hannibal, but it also protects Hannibal from the world.

Even if you wanted to look, you can't. Everyone is locked out.

Everyone except for one person.

The one person in front of whom Hannibal chooses to take off his mask.

Will Graham.