Imagine waking up one day with your entire reality transformed into a horrifying nightmare. Everything you knew, including most of the people in your life, are gone. You’re confused, scared, but at least you have your family and something to fight for. The will to fight gives way to hope and survival as you attempt to adapt to your new, altered existence. One with no laws or rules, where a percentage of humans prove over time to be worse than the undead cannibals roaming the country. The struggle to cling to hope becomes almost unbearable as old bonds break, new bonds form but are savagely ripped away, and you lose people you love. Imagine having the weight of the world on your shoulders as a group of people’s lives are in your hands. As a leader, your choices and actions will keep them safe, or ultimately get them killed. Among those people are your own blood family, namely, your children. Even though there are times hope ceases, you fight to retain it because you still have something to fight for. Imagine, on top of the emotional roller coaster of these changes, the losses, the impossible decisions, you are in a constant battle with your own morality as you have to weigh it against the survival of you, your family, and a group of people – your chosen family – who rely on you to keep them safe. All the while, you have to navigate the new world full of monsters, as well as the living dead.
Rick Grimes is not a perfect man, and that is what makes his character so dynamically important.
Rick is a flawed hero because at the end of the day, he is human. He is adapting to an altered, unrecognizable existence that has taken away people he loves and caused him an incredible amount of pain. His actions have been extremely selfless, and at other times selfish, all in the name of keeping those he loves alive. That is forever Rick’s goal; it’s not about survival of the fittest, but the survival of his children and the family that has built and unified around him. He is a man who will willingly bite out another man’s throat with his teeth to save his son, a man who would fight for those he cares about to the death. Rick has made mistakes and questionable decisions. He has plenty of blood on his hands. Through the changes he has gone through, the triumphs and traumas, his heart, however, has forever remained good.
When fans discuss Rick Grimes and his morality, the initial perspective comes from the rules of the real world, and I think it causes a distinct lack of understanding regarding the character’s journeys and motivations in the show. That’s not to say Rick hasn’t made some morally questionable choices, but to unfairly compare his actions with the way our world is, and not the context of the fictional setting the characters are living in, doesn’t allow for a proper view into “The Walking Dead’s” characterization. In this created environment, there are no laws, rules, structure, and no consequences – save for the ones selected by the humans still alive. They are forced to fight to survive – in every way – on a daily basis, without the help of resources we likely take for granted in real life. Morality simply is not measured the same in that zombie-ridden apocalyptic landscape in the same way it is in the viewer’s world. The only way to justifiably analyze the decisions made by each character in this fictional reality is by considering those actions within the realm and context of their fictional world and not the society we actually live in.
“The Walking Dead” does not shy away from what it is to be human. Our capacity to be good or bad is apparent in all of the characters. This is based on experience, environment, history and personality traits. Fans, including one of my favorite comedian’s and hosts, “Talking Dead’s” Chris Hardwick, often compare Rick to the character of Shane Walsh. Some analyze that Rick has essentially turned into a version of Shane, ruthless and deadly. While I understand the perspective, I disagree with the comparison because the motivations behind each man’s actions are polar opposites. Their personalities, for the most part, completely clash. A similarity is that Rick and Shane are (or were, in Shane’s case) definitely both capable of brutal violence – sometimes questionable. Another is that they each believe their actions are justifiable because their intentions are ultimately good in their eyes. The difference is Shane’s motivations were consistently tainted by jealousy, desire for control, and a slow descent into madness that made him more irrational and dangerous (and that he never bounced back from, unlike Rick who has gone off the deep end but found his way back before). Shane proved he was willing to sacrifice innocent people, even members of their own group, if it meant survival: he was focused on survival of the fittest and his only concern besides himself was Lori and Carl Grimes. On the other hand, Rick may place his children first, but he does what he can to keep the rest of the group alive and surviving together. Shane even put himself in a position where he was going to kill Rick, his best friend, his brother, to overthrow him as the leader, and have Lori Grimes for himself. Rick never would have harmed or killed Shane unless he was forced to in self-defense, which is exactly what happened.
Fans also gave Rick a hard time when he went through his “farmer Rick” stage, though the reasoning behind this sudden change in his ideology seemingly goes unnoticed or forgotten by many viewers. After his son shoots another boy without a second thought, the moral compass, Hershel Greene, convinced Rick he needed to take a step back as the leader in order to save his son from himself. Again, this was a father putting his son first and in doing so he did bring Carl back from an incredibly dark path. I get it, everyone wants Rick to be a badass. Sometimes, though, he has to be a father first.
It is intriguing that Rick gets criticized for when he does take charge, aka his “Ricktatorship,” and is then admonished even more for when he is not the ruthless leader. Robert Kirkman and Andrew Lincoln have created a character with rich, complex layers. Hero, antihero; violent, nurturing; father, warrior; killer, savior. He is raw, complicated, fascinating, unexpected, and one of the most unapologetically human characters to ever grace a television screen. Humans are flawed and beautiful; through the show we see how they are capable of overcoming insurmountable odds, or how they crumble. Through them, we follow a plot centered on family and fighting to survive together. At its core, the series is arguably about Rick Grimes’ journey as his character is consistently impacted by traumatic events, and how he has to respond accordingly. The psychological aspects of his character is the most fascinating component of Rick, and one I find to be incredibly relatable. He is not bullet proof, and he is not emotionless no matter how brutal he can be. Rick is an example of a natural born leader with a heart of gold being twisted in a violent world that has taken so much from him and his family. He desperately fights for them, his sanity and his conscience. Rick, as the most perfectly imperfect hero, has found a balance between being a good man and making those difficult choices (often violent) in his effort to save the lives of those he loves, and whom rely on him to do so.
Imagine you are living in the same reality as Rick Grimes, and have gone through every single moment of victory and anguish that he has. Imagine you have people looking at you to guide them through this new world, to protect them from the monsters both living and not. Imagine knowing your choices will lead to more devastation or triumph, with lives always hanging in the balance. Imagine putting yourself in his shoes, and then ask yourself: what would you do?