Red Dragon is a 1986 crime novel by Thomas Harris. The story follows the psychological profiler Will Graham, who comes out of retirement to track down a serial killer. The novel is famous for introducing the character of Hannibal Lecter, who would play an expanded role in the novel’s sequels. Red Dragon has been adapted for film and television.

This guide is written using the eBook version of the 2000 Penguin edition of the novel.

Content Warning: This guide contains references to sexual abuse, child abuse, physical violence, and anti-gay slurs.

Plot Summary

In 1975, an FBI profiler named Will Graham caught a serial killer named Hannibal Lecter. Graham suffered serious injuries from this encounter, and he retired soon after. Three years later, Graham’s former boss Jack Crawford tries to recruit the retired Graham to profile another serial killer. The so-called Tooth Fairy has killed two families and is expected to strike again at the next full moon. The Jacobi family in Birmingham, Alabama, is the first family killed; the second is the Leeds family in Atlanta, Georgia. Graham reluctantly agrees, though he is concerned about his wife Molly and stepson Willy.

Graham visits the houses of the dead. He goes through their possessions to empathize and understand the killer. Struggling, he decides to turn to Lecter for help. The meeting with Lecter does not go well and Graham is photographed outside the hospital by Freddy Lounds, a reporter for the tabloid The National Tattler.

The Tooth Fairy’s identity is revealed only to the readers. Francis Dolarhyde is a production chief at a film processing laboratory. He believes himself to contain an alternate personality called the Red Dragon, prompted by his obsession with a William Blake painting. He cannot control his violent, sexual urges and believes murdering people can help him fully become the Dragon. The reader is told of the many abuses Dolarhyde suffered as a child—some due to his physical appearance and cleft palate—which may be the cause of his pathology.

Graham continues to investigate and is followed vigilantly by Freddy Lounds. Frederick Chilton discovers a secret correspondence between Lecter and Dolarhyde, in which Lecter tells Dolarhyde Graham’s address. Graham’s wife and stepson are evacuated, as Graham tries to intercept the letter secretly. Lounds discovers the letter and tries to trick Graham into revealing information. He is caught. Graham tries to lure the Dragon into a trap, giving Lounds an interview, calling the Dragon an impotent homosexual. This angers Dolarhyde, who kidnaps Lounds and tortures him to death. Graham blames himself.

Dolarhyde falls in love with a co-worker, a blind woman named Reba McClane. After they have sex, he begins to question his transformation. Dolarhyde tries to resist the Dragon’s possession but fails. He assaults a museum worker and eats the Blake painting that originally inspired him.

Graham realizes that the killer knew the layout of the family homes through their home videos. He and Crawford visit the film processing lab. Dolarhyde spots them and runs, kidnapping Reba and murdering her former boyfriend. He plays an elaborate trick on her, leaving her in a burning house and pretending to kill himself. As Graham and Crawford rush to the house, Reba stumbles out. She tells them Dolarhyde is dead. The next day, they pick through the ruins and find human remains. Believing Dolarhyde to be dead, Graham returns home. By this time, his marriage to Molly is beyond repair. As he plans whether to speak to her and Willy, Dolarhyde attacks. Dolarhyde stabs Graham in the face but Molly shoots him. This time, he is confirmed to be dead.

Graham recovers in the hospital. Crawford reveals how Dolarhyde faked his death. Molly visits intermittently; both she and Graham know their marriage is over. Molly is told about a letter for Graham from Lecter. She refuses to read it. Crawford inspects the letter, in which Lecter facetiously hopes that Graham is not too scarred and compares their situations. Crawford burns the letter.

Lying in bed, Graham dreams. He thinks about a visit to a battlefield named Shiloh. The memory prompts him to speculate about the nature of humanity and the brutality of existence. Like the battlefield, he remains haunted by the memories of what he has seen.