Meticulously arranging tools, plastering an isolated room with paper wrap and taunting victims with images of their past, Dexter Morgan is in every aspect of the word a serial killer. Does being a serial killer make Dexter a criminal, even if his victims are all other serial killers? Does murdering dangerous people, and thus preventing them from further inflicting harm onto others, make Dexter a vigilante, or merely a criminal with a strict code? This is the trivial question that is at the core of the television show “Dexter.”
Dexter Morgan, a forensic technician who specializes in blood spatter, appears to lead a conservative and normal life to the outside eye. The truth of Dexter’s character, lifestyle and drive lie in his secret parallel life as he hunts down murderers that have slipped through the justice system. Dexter excels in his work and succeeds in forming sufficient relationships with his co-workers, sister, and even the occasional girlfriend. Although the establishment of relationships is a normal aspect of being a human, Dexter struggles with feeling emotions towards others, something that comes naturally to most people, and thus has to force reactions and interactions in an attempt to appear “normal.” Struggling with maintaining relationships is a common characteristic for serial killers, which, in turn, tends to dehumanize Dexter.
Throughout the show, it proves difficult to break through his hard exterior. The inner mechanisms of his mind, which the audience gains access to through Dexter’s narration of the show, is very complex, but his exterior demeanor fails to show depth. It is almost as if Dexter does not identify as a human, instead viewing himself as an actor playing a human or as a living disguise of his true self. He kills to feel alive, but his inability to relate and to feel restrict him solidifying this feeling of being alive. It is something that is short lived.
The contrast between Dexter’s inability to relate to others and the complex thoughts and emotions he does reflect on leads the audience to ponder an interesting question: Does Dexter feel any remorse for taking the lives of many people, despite their criminal record? Is Dexter still bringing justice and safety to society if he takes joy in murder? It is evident while he is in an unconventional way making society safer, that Dexter kills to fulfill his own needs and homicidal urges, more so than for the well-being of others.
When deliberating the question of whether Dexter should be labeled as a vigilante or a criminal, it is important to consider his childhood. A large part of why Dexter is the way that he is stems from his early life experiences and the prolonged effect they had on him. Dexter’s mother was a drug addict, which put her at risk when she became an informant on the Estrada cartel for Dexter’s adoptive father, detective Harry Morgan. Angered by the information that Dexter’s mother was giving the detective, three Estrada henchmen brutally murdered Dexter’s mother right before his eyes. Dexter was only three years old and was left in a sea of his mother’s blood, scared and alone.
This violent and brutal memory implanted itself in Dexter’s brain, leaving him psychologically unstable and triggering the birth of his relentless “dark passenger.” He never knew much truth about his childhood, as Harry concealed much of it from him. Harry, aware of Dexter’s dangerous urges, encouraged him to control his urges under “the code.” The code is the reasoning behind Dexter’s decision to only murder serial killers, believing it a justifiable way to not only satisfy his urges but to remove monsters from society.
Taking into account the traumatic experiences and troubled adolescence, Dexter’s murders seem to make more sense, maybe even something we grow to sympathize with. It is no question that murder is a crime of the highest offense, especially when Dexter accidentally takes the life of an innocent person, but without Dexter vicious people would still be on the prowl in Miami, remaining hidden from the watchful eye of the police department.
Finding a concrete and universal answer to such a complex question remains difficult, but, with all things considered, I would identify Dexter as a vigilante with criminal tendencies. Clearly his system of morality is a little off, but his compassion, drive, and quick wit allow him to identify the real criminals in order to make society as a whole better off.
