![\"dexter.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/files\/2010\/10\/dexter.thumbnail.jpg\")
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Dexter Morgan is a serial killer.\u00a0 He is a sociopath.\u00a0 He is also a hero.<\/p>\n
\tDexter (played by Michael C. Hall on Showtime) is an incredibly complex character best fitting the role of a vigilante.\u00a0 Dexter became who he is for two main reasons.\u00a0 First of all, he witnessed the murder of his mother at the age of three.\u00a0 Orphaned, he is adopted by one of the police officers to arrive on scene, Detective Harry Morgan.\u00a0 During Dexter's childhood Harry sees something in Dexter that disturbs him.\u00a0 Although Dexter cannot remember his mother's murder at this point, he is already displaying signs of sociopathy due to witnessing the murder.\u00a0 Harry takes it upon himself to try to teach Dexter how to "blend in" and knowing that Dexter will ultimately become a killer, Harry decides to leave Dexter with a code for killing.\u00a0 He instructs him how to avoid detection and the best ways to clean up and dispose of victims.\u00a0 He also teaches Dexter to only kill those that deserve to be killed and to make sure that Dexter has collected enough evidence to carry out his desires.\u00a0 Dexter is able to keep to this code with a couple of unfortunate exceptions and remain in the clear.<\/p>\n
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Dexter's character is a true vigilante.\u00a0 Although not completely sane, he is very methodical in his approach both to prevent being caught and ensure that he has his man.\u00a0 Dexter gets many of his leads from his work as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami police department, often looking into cold cases and doing subsequent research of his own to determine quilt. \u00a0Once proof has been found, Dexter kills his victim and disposes of the body without leaving a trace.\tObviously what Dexter is doing is illegal; there is no question about that.\u00a0 It is also certain that Dexter is an emotionally and mentally twisted individual.\u00a0 These do not make him a villain though.\u00a0 His ability to control his actions and be disciplined about whom he murders keeps him from drifting into this category.\u00a0 Antihero might be the more appropriate term according to some people because of his shortcomings and illegal activity.\u00a0 Dexter certainly possesses noble traits and his willingness to "take out the trash" benefits society even if they don't realize it.\u00a0 While this may prevent him from reaching the full status as a hero in most peoples' eyes, he certainly isn't a villain.\tWhile Dexter is a complex character, he definitely fits into the hero's mold better than the villain's.\u00a0 His actions are not moral, but they are heroic.\u00a0 He risks his life to kill those who escaped the system and deserve to be punished.\u00a0 What may be even more heroic is his ability to stay disciplined and follow Harry's code despite his sociopathic mind consuming him and dictating his actions.\tDexter is today's prime example of vigilante justice and as the show continues, we will be able to see his character develop hopefully into the hero we see inside of him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dexter Morgan is a serial killer.\u00a0 He is a sociopath.\u00a0 He is also a hero. Dexter (played by Michael C. Hall on Showtime) is an incredibly complex character best fitting the role of a vigilante.\u00a0 Dexter became who he is for two main reasons.\u00a0 First of all, he witnessed the murder of his mother at … Continue reading Dexter Morgan: A Killer Hero<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1347,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogroll"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1347"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}