To kill or not to kill — I think about why does Hannibal kill? His motives are shallow and his excuses free-range. Isn’t rudeness subjective?
I suppose for him, it’s better to give in to the urge to kill someone rather than letting it fester and rot within him. He knows he doesn’t have to kill and that his murderous urges are not compulsive. To him, it’s thinking about getting eggs from the supermarket on the way home from work and then actually doing it. It’s just something he thinks he has to do, plans it and then does it.
Maybe there is remorse there, he does regret his actions as he goes with whatever he wants to do (“I was curious what would happen”), this childish glee and inquisitiveness doesn’t come without consequences — yet if he were to choose, doing anything and then coming to regret it is better than not doing it at all. If he doesn’t cook, murder, doesn’t call Garrett Jacob Hobbs to tell him Will’s coming, doesn’t kill Abigail, doesn’t try to cut open Will’s brain; he isn’t being true to himself. And the compromise — regardless of how the values of this “self” change under Will’s influence, as long as he is truthful to them, he is a happy soul.