preview

Darkly Dreaming Dexter Essay

Decent Essays

Darkly Dreaming Dexter, written by Jeff Lindsay, is about a serial killer who seeks justice by killing people who have done bad things. The main character, Dexter Morgan, is a charming and handsome man, but something in his past made him be the serial killer he is. Dexter is a blood spatter expert for the Miami Police Department, where his sister Deborah works there in vice. Dexter tries to help Deborah climb the ladder by finding hunches for the murders of prostitutes, while obeying the Code of Harry. Dexter isn’t a normal superhero like Batman, Superman, or other detectives like Dupin and Holmes. Some may not even consider him a superhero because he is a serial killer. However, Dexter can be thought of as a superhero because of his vigilante …show more content…

He was an outsider, partially because of his traumatic childhood transforming him into an emotionless human, but also, by living by the Code of Harry to control his urges. Another of Harry’s lessons was stay neat, dress nicely, avoid attention (Lindsay, 97). Avoiding attention and being an outsider helped Dexter to hide his identity of being a superhero and not allowing other people to think something was up with him. He was able to kill and protect Miami without the police knowing he was actually a serial killer while showing no emotions and faking human interactions. Showing no emotions and faking human interactions in society “represents his “burden,” explicitly, but at the same time his gift, the thing that enables him to catch criminals (Muir, 8). In other words, Dexter is able to fake acting like an emotional human but still be able to use “his gift,” to kill. So without this characteristic of being an outsider, Dexter would not be able to perform his gift of being a secret serial killer. Being an outsider keeps the attention away from Dexter, thus allowing him to fight evil and be a superhero. Readers and viewers could argue that Dexter is not a superhero whatsoever. They could say Dexter is a monster because of his lack of empathy and for being a serial killer. Ultimately, he kills to seek justice and makes his city safer for the people, just like other

Get Access