Psychoanalysis of Dexter

Modern Day Superheroes in Pop Culture I believe we as a society are intrigued with shows like Dexter because they allow us a temporary escape from reality. A reality in which we witness injustices occur in our court systems such as a legal loop hole allowing a guilty person to essentially walk free and justice not being served for the victim. I will attempt to explain why these characters are thriving as pop culture icons.

Cultural Criticism of Barn Burning by William Faulkner In William Faulkner's "Barn Burning", a young boy must face his father and face the reality of a racist society. He must also discover for himself that his father is wrong and learn to grow up the right way in a racial

Statistically, the average serial killer is a white male from a lower-to-middle-class background, usually in his twenties or thirties. Many were physically or emotionally abused by parents. Some were adopted. As children, fledgling serial killers often set fires, torture animals, and wet their beds (these red-flag behaviors are known as the “triad” of symptoms.) Brain injuries are common. Some are very intelligent and have shown great promise as successful professionals. They are also fascinated with the police and authority in general (Scott).

In conclusion the desire for love and the desire for wealth is not always the key to happiness. In Dexter's case his desire or dream of love caused his nothing but misery and a broken heart.

Dexter idolizes those wealthy men and does everything possible to resemble rich men. For example, he asks the best tailor in America to make a suit for him. In sum, he becomes addicted to social prestige since he believes that happiness lies in it.

situation to be stricter than what he previously encountered with his parents and found himself

Have you ever have felt like two completely different people? Dexter Morgan has been all of these throughout his entire life since he was little. His mother was killed in front of him when he was at a very young age. A cop named Harry Morgan had founded Dexter when he was in a pool of blood beside his mother. He taught Dexter all of these ways to not get caught. To keep his hands clean without being under someone’s radar. Dexter’s character arch is symbolic of the human struggle to move from the primitive monster to the noble and compassionate messiah.

Intimacy versus isolation is stage six in Erik Ericksons eight stages of human development. This stage takes place from approximately 19-40 years of age (Orlofsky, Marcia, & Lesser, 1973). The big question that people face in this stage is will I be loved or will I be alone. During this stage people start to develop more long term relationships. Friendship, dating, marriage and family play a big role in the happiness of this stage. This is when we leave the people that we grew up with and start our own lives. By establishing

First it is necessary to understand the psychology of serial killer. Serial killers are either labeled as a psychopath or labeled as having anti-social personality disorder. A quality anti-personality disorder which Dexter has is “Being able to act witty and charming. (NIH.com)” Dexter is witty in the sense that he knows how to not get caught and he has found a way to fit into society without anyone suspecting him has a killer, Dexter is also charming and this is portrayed in the series since his boss at the Miami Police Department clearly has a crush on him. “Break the law repeatedly. (NIH.com)” is yet another characteristic, this is also shown in Dexter. When stalking his potential victims Dexter constantly breaks

“I can kill a man, dismember his body, and be home in time for Letterman. But knowing what to say when my girlfriend's feeling insecure... I'm totally lost”-Dexter Morgan (Hall, 2007). Dexter Morgan is a fictional serial killer from Showtime’s series “Dexter”, but the writers and actors have portrayed a real life serial killer. Manuel Prado is the real Dexter Morgan. Prado was a Miami cop who started with smaller crime and worked his way up to becoming a serial killer. ”Prosecutor David Waksman told the Miami Herald: "He was very cold. He was doing robberies and went home and slept like a baby. He was proud of what he did."” (International, 2012) Real life serial killers do not have any empathy. They kill their victims and then return to

Profiling: Who and How Though serial killer may have a fairly specific definition, there is no single precise profile for the serial killer. Each has a unique identity, set of motives and methods, and a unique psychopathology that would attempt to explain the mens rea, that is, the purpose or intent of the murder. “Psychological profiling is an investigative tool used strictly to answer the how of the crime, not the why” (Severence et al, 1992; Lanier and Henry, 1998). By examining the psychological make-up of the serial killer, it is often possible to explain the behavior, which might make it a useful tool in solving crimes.

He always thought his father was going to save him and take him away. As time passed by, he saw that things were just getting worse between his mother and him and his father wouldn’t do nothing about it. He lost hope and didn’t care about anything. But he started to dream at night that one day he would get out of the hell hole he was living in. He realized that if he wanted to survive he would have to be strong and beat his mother at her torturing games. He just kept thinking to himself one day I will get out of here. He started building a self-esteem. He started realizing what was happening wasn’t his fault and one day decided to tell someone at school.

As one studies other viewing and readings such as Silence of the Lambs, Dexter, Perfume, Natural Born Killers, True Blood, Dead until Dark, and The Walking Dead it can be found that both nature and nurture take a part in creating a serial killer. Dexter Morgan is a serial killer that developed a want to kill as a child. Growing up with a foster family he had all the love, nurture, and support of a normal child, but he had a missing part of him with the mystery of his dead mother. Harry, his foster father had recognized Dexter’s need to kill early in life and was able to teach him how to kill properly. Harry was smart in understanding there was no way to contain or stop Dexter’s desire to kill, but he

     Dexter in the story started off as a very young boy who worked as a caddy at a golf course. There he met Miss Jones for the very first time. Judy Jones was a beautiful, young woman who came from a glittery family, but was also very cunning with her “preposterous smile” . Dexter was very

Codes are another important aspect of this semiotic analysis. The main set of codes this episode deals with is between good and evil. These codes can also be viewed at times as paradigms because of the way the codes are setup. The idea of good versus evil is apparent in the battle Dexter wages against serial killers. Dexter sets out to kill those, such as the therapist, who are taking advantage of others, or who have actually murdered others as in previous episodes. This raises the question, might Dexter actually be a good person? Although he may only be murdering those who "deserve it," he is still committing one of the most gruesome crimes possible with no remorse. Dexter even describes