The Silence of the Lambs Identity Quotes

We learn Clarice Starling's job before we learn her name. She's wearing a sweatshirt that has "FBI Academy" embroidered on it. That is the critical part of her identity that matters. Her goal is to become a full-fledged FBI agent.

Here is something else we learn from text on the screen. When Starling enters Crawford's office, he has newspaper articles all over the wall. This shows us the identity of the antagonist, and what his motivations are: skinning people.

This is one more bit of exposition telling us the identity of our third major player: Hannibal Lecter. Clarice knows him as "Hannibal the Cannibal." His reputation precedes him.