59 pages • 1 hour read
Thomas HarrisRed Dragon
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1981A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 31-40Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 31 Summary
Dolarhyde talks about the infrared film with Reba. When Reba needs a ride home, Dolarhyde offers. She refuses and, when she is standing outside in the rain, Dolarhyde watches her. He pulls up in his van, asking her to ride with him “for [his] pleasure” (294). She appreciates how differently he approaches her in comparison to most people, so she accepts. At her house, she invites him inside for a drink. This excites him. They talk about his film project at the zoo, and they make “small talk” (299). She notices Dolarhyde’s sudden silence when she mentions speech therapy. She praises his speech and, to his surprise, asks to touch his face. His thoughts are filled with sudden violence, but he allows her to feel his face. He feels a sudden urge to leave and, after he does so, Reba notices the “traces of him” (300) that linger behind. She appreciates that she “had not felt one ion of sympathy from him” (301). After years of navigating the world as a blind woman, she has developed a healthy mistrust of men.
Chapter 32 Summary
The police work harder to catch the serial killer as the next full moon approaches. Crawford speaks to Graham about the profile they have built, including his possible locations. Graham begins to open the package sent to him by Zeller, which has been cleared by the “FBI’s explosive section” (309). Inside are records from the Jacobi estate which will allow Graham to better understand what connects the Jacobi and the Leeds families. As he leaves, Crawford feels concerned about Graham’s obvious “desperation” (311).
Chapter 33 Summary
After his interaction with Reba, Dolarhyde feels “restless” (312). He fantasizes about hurting Graham. He watches a news report from the same zoo to which he offered the infrared film. The report concerns a tiger undergoing a dental procedure. The tiger fascinates him. Feeling “betrayed” (314) by Lecter, he wishes he could share his Becoming with Reba in a way she would be able to survive.
Chapter 34 Summary
With ten days until the next full moon, Crawford pesters Graham to write up a profile of the suspect to give to local law enforcement. Both know that the profile is just political theater.
Chapter 35 Summary
Dolarhyde arranges a surprise for Reba. He has arranged for Reba to be able to “touch the tiger” (317) while it is under anesthetic. Dr. Warfield welcomes them into the medical facility. He thanks Dolarhyde for the infrared film. As they wait for the anesthetic to take hold, Warfield describes the tiger to Reba. When ready, Reba runs her hand across the tiger’s fur and can “forget herself” (321). Dolarhyde watches her closely. After, they return to Dolarhyde’s house. He feels “danger” (323) but leads her into the house. She asks him about the “old” (324) feeling in the house, while they listen to music and drink together. Reba mentions that people at the laboratory talk about him, finding him “very mysterious and interesting” (325). She decides to tell them how other people say he looks, saying that he is “not a bad-looking guy” (326) who is very sensitive about his face even though he should not be. Reba kisses Dolarhyde. After she returns from the bathroom, she finds Dolarhyde watching a film. She sips a martini while he watches the silent film of the Sherman family. As he becomes sexually aroused, Reba notices. They have sex in his grandmother’s bed. The next morning, Reba gathers her belongings and walks outside. Dolarhyde wakes and panics, worried that she might be wandering around the house. He hears the Dragon speaking to him, telling him to “COME HERE” (333). Outside, she thanks him for a “terrific time” (334) and he offers to drive her home. At a gas station, Dolarhyde notices the attendant “looking up [Reba’s] dress” (335). Dolarhyde physically assaults him and tells him to “keep [his] pig eyes to [himself]” (337).
Chapter 36 Summary
Graham receives the tape recording made by Dolarhyde. On the tape, Lounds reads from a script. He says that he has witnessed “the strength of the Great Red Dragon” (339). Via Lounds, the killer demands that the press capitalize his name and pronouns in articles, and he threatens Graham. Then, Graham hears Dolarhyde attack Lounds. As he listens again, a clerk arrives with a letter from Lecter. In the letter, Lecter congratulates Graham on “the job [he] did on Mr. Lounds” (341). Lecter notes Graham’s stay in a mental health facility and suggests that Graham worries too much. He speculates that Graham’s mental health was so affected by killing Hobbs because killing “felt so good” (341). Lecter describes the collapse of a church roof in Texas and a plane crash, suggesting that Hobbs’s murder is insignificant in comparison. Graham worries for a half-second that he agrees with Lecter’s accusation regarding Lounds. He tries to call Molly, but no one answers. While taking a walk outside, he buys her a gold bracelet and mails it to Oregon. His thoughts return to the Jacobi family. He notices that both families owned home movie cameras. The Jacobi family seems to be missing two small silver items and the movie projector. He suspects that Niles Jacobi might have taken both items. He reaches out to local police to possibly recover any home movies. Graham wonders about the “possible victims” (348).
Chapter 37 Summary
Dolarhyde exercises without a mask for the first time. He hears the Dragon’s voice in his head. Trying not to think about Reba, the Dragon grills him about his recent sexual experience and tells him to prepare to kill the Sherman family. When he struggles, the Dragon deems this “NOT ACCEPTABLE” (367). Dolarhyde’s speech falters as the Dragon’s speech resembles his grandmother’s abuse. On the Dragon’s order, he hurts himself with the dentures and promises to continue the process of Becoming by killing Reba and the Shermans. The Dragon shows Dolarhyde how to lift a heavier weight than ever before.
Chapter 38 Summary
Dolarhyde does not go to work on Monday morning. Spotting “flashing blue lights” (355), he changes his plans. He knows that he will kill Reba in six days if he does not do something, as she is “guilty of liking Francis Dolarhyde” (356). He knows the Dragon will not accept the Shermans in her place. He checks into a motel and calls in sick to work. In the motel room, he contemplates suicide. However, he fears that she will go to the house and discover the Dragon. He does not like the “sorry end” (358) that comes with dying in a motel bathroom, so he places a call to Brooklyn. He drives back to his grandmother’s house and searches through a locked trunk in the basement as the Dragon abuses him. His struggle is interrupted by a telephone call from Reba. He tells her that he has the flu and then hangs up the phone, running to the trunk in the basement. Inside, he has stashed dynamite, cash, weapons, and “driver’s licenses in various names” (361). He runs outside, driving the van fast down the highway to the airport.
Chapter 39 Summary
Dolarhyde flies to New York and visits the Brooklyn Museum. He studies the checkrooms and the floor layout. The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun is owned by the museum, but it is not on display as the watercolor painting is considered too delicate. Dolarhyde knows that the Dragon is inside the storage department of the museum. He has made an appointment for a private viewing of the painting. He leaves the museum at closing time and visits a store.
Chapter 40 Summary
On Monday evening, Graham returns to Chicago from a day spent in Detroit. Crawford was right to think that this trip would be a “waste of time” (365). He misses a telephone call so rings Molly’s in-laws, hoping that she was the person who tried to call him. He arranges for her to call him back but, when the phone rings, Brian Metcalf from Alabama is on the line with “good news and bad news” (366). Niles Jacobi stole the film equipment, he reveals, but he may be able to recover the home movies. Molly calls soon after and they have a short conversation. Willy reveals something Molly did not say: his grandfather has bought him a pony.
Chapters 31-40 Analysis
The introduction of Reba is a significant moment in Dolarhyde’s life. For the first time, he can be intimate with a person without feeling as though they are judging his appearance—it is her inability to bear witness to him visually but instead to only commune with him through her other senses that makes their connection possible. At the same time, however, her affection for Dolarhyde is the biggest threat that she faces. Dolarhyde has spent most of his life being abused, ostracized, and alienated. He has been traumatized by his abusive grandmother and mother, so much so that he has internalized their abuse and come to believe everything they told him. As such, he believes that he is the ugly, worthless child that was bullied for so many years and who deserved the abuse he received. This internalization of abuse has prompted his transformation into the Dragon, making him want to become anyone other than Dolarhyde and perpetuating the Cycle of Violence. As such, Reba’s affection for him makes her instantly untrustworthy. Dolarhyde cannot understand how anyone could ever possibly like him. Reba’s affection means that she is either mocking him or plotting against him. At the same time, however, he feels affection for her. He is torn between his sincere physical desire for Reba and his belief that he is not worthy of affection. The internal tension manifests in his debate with the Dragon, who urges him to kill Reba and continue the transformation. In a tragic sense, Reba’s ability to empathize with Dolarhyde and her genuine affection for him puts her in danger. She is the first person to be kind to Dolarhyde and, as a result, part of him believes that she cannot be allowed to live.
Graham’s interactions with Molly become increasingly infrequent. He telephones her and she misses the call. When he calls, someone else picks up the phone instead. When they do have a conversation, the dialogue is littered with awkward pauses and unexpectedly aggressive comments. These subtle signals gradually increase as the investigation goes on, suggesting that the marriage is doomed, and that Graham has given up his personal wellness for The Greater Good. The communications between Graham and Molly have been severed; they can no longer communicate because they live in different worlds. Molly remains in the civilian sphere while Graham has been inevitably drawn back into the dark, shadowy world of serial killers. They struggle to communicate between these different worlds. When Graham speaks to Willy, he realizes that the marriage is under severe stress. Willy has been given a pony he excitedly reveals. Graham notes that Molly did not mention the pony, indicating that they are both aware of the significance of the gift. The pony is something that Graham cannot offer Willy. It is a symbol of settled happiness, far away from the world that Graham occupies. The horse is firmly in Oregon and Graham is most certainly not. Their locations are drifting even further back and the longer the spend apart, the more difficult any reconciliation will become. Graham notes that Molly did not mention the pony and both of them know what that means: The marriage is in severe jeopardy.
Throughout the novel, the full moon has been used as a narrative device. Dolarhyde has killed two family members during the phase of the full moon and Crawford explains this to Graham in the belief that they have a month to track down the killer before he strikes again. The moon signifies impending tragedy. As each day passes without progress, the threat of another family being murdered becomes increasingly real. As the moon grows fuller, the Dragon becomes more powerful. The moon also illustrates the gargantuan task that lays ahead for the FBI. With so little evidence, their suspect is as distant and as unknowable as the moon. He is almost alien to them, a feature of their lives which is nevertheless desolate and unfamiliar. With each passing night, the growing fullness of the moon reminds the protagonists of the scale of their task and the seemingly impossible nature of what they must do.
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