Character Analysis RESEARCH FINDING
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Actually, Dexter was adopted by Harry Morgan at the age of three due to the murdered of his mother. He is different from any other normal person, he
describes himself as empty on the inside, he does not understand human emotions, he always reaching a way to feel something. Although his foster parents loved
him. He did not love himself or everybody around him. He feels unlovable. He said he has pet once, but it doesn‘t work because he cannot get along with
animals. Something in him is broken or missing. It can be seen from following quotation.
― I can‘t even keep pets. Animal hates me. I bought dog once; it barked and howled
– at me – in a nonstop no-mind fury for two days before I had to get rid of it. I tried a turtle. I touched it once and it wouldn‘t come out of
its shell again, and after few days of that it died. Rather than see me or have me touch it again, it died. Nothing else loves me, or even will. Not
even
– especially – me. Lindsay 2004, 47 The darkness of his life begins when he was three years old. He and his
brother Brian witnessed their mother murdered in front of them. They sit locked in the dark amongst puddles of their mother‘s blood for two and a half days. The
story told that his mother is a drug dealer, she and her friends try a little independent project with the drugs that not actually belong to them, and their
business partner are unhappy and decided to discourage her. It shows by the following quotation.
― Brian waved a hand around at the interior of the little box. ‗ this happened, little brother. The chain saw, the flying body parts, the . . .
blood--- ‗ With that same fearful emphasis again. ‗ Two and a half days of
sitting in the stuff. A wonder we survived at all, isn‘t it? Almost enough to make you believe in God.‘ Lindsay 2004, 263
Basically, he does not remember anything about his past. This insident was so traumatic that Dexter blocked it from his memory for years. Dexter did not
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even know he had a brother until Brian brought the memories back by re-creating them.
Dexter‘s childhood does not lead serious effect in his life up to the appearance of the disorder in his personality. The disorder begins to be identified
when he was a teenager, in the age of fourteen. Unconsciously he has an urge to kill. Killing makes him feel good and makes the voice in his head calm, he named
his inner voice as The Dark Passenger. If he did not kill for a duration of time, his life became unstable.
― You‘re different, Dexter,‘ he says. I look away from the brightness of the stars. Around the small and sandy clearing the last glow of the fire is
making shadows. Some of them trickle across Harry‘s face. He looks strange to me, like I‘ve never seen him before. Determined, unhappy, a
little dazed. ‗What do you mean, Dad?‘ He won‘t look at me. ‗The Billups say Buddy has disappeared,‘ he says. ‗Noisy little creep. He was barking
all night. Mom couldn‘t sleep.‘ Mom needed her sleep, of course. Dying of cancer requires plenty of rest, and she wasn‘t getting it with that awful
little dog across the street yapping at every leaf the blew down the sidewalk.‗ I found the grave.‘ Harry says. ‗ There were a lot of bones in
there, Dexter. Not just Buddy‘s.‘ Lindsay 2004, 37 The quotation above explains about when Dexter was teenager he enjoyed
killing in his free time and his foster father reveals the truth about his mental state. After Harry finds out who Dexter is, Harry decided to protect Dexter by teaching
him a set of rules to live by. To channel his urge to only kill people who deserves to die, choose carefully among those who deserves it, tidy up, leave no traces.
Harry also told Dexter to be careful, being careful meant building a careful life, imitate life, sosialize, blend in with normal society. Dexter called these rules as
Codes of Harry. Even after Harry has long gone, his lessons had lived on. ― It has to be done the right way, at the right time, with the right partner –
very complicated, but very necessary. And always somewhat draining. So
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I was tired, but the tension of the last week was gone, the cold voice of The Dark Passenger was quiet, and I could be me again. Quirky, funny,
happy-go-lucky, dead-inside Dexter. No longer Dexter with the knife, Dexter the Avenger. Not until next time. Lindsay 2004, 13
The quotation above explains about the situation after he kills his victim. Before killing his target, he usually prepares everything. His victim must be the
right person, he only kills murderers that he believes have escaped justice. He does not feel a guilt after a kill, in the reverse, it makes him feel better. Then he
lives his normal life as blood spatter in Miami Metro Police. Dexter manages his double life well for years and has never been caught.
Good during the days, and bad at nights. He maintains emotionless relationships in order to hide his real personality. It can be seen from the following quotation.
― All of which I had done, so very carefully. I was a near perfect hologram. Above suspicion, beyond reproach, and beneath contempt. A neat and
polite monster, the boy next door. Even Deborah was at least half fooled, half the time. Lindsay 2004, 42
The quotation below shows that Dexter is good at imitate his social life. He is known as friendly and cheerful. It happens when he took the boat out after
works, he passes the houses of his neighbors and greet them. ― I threw an automatic big wave and bright smile to all the neighbors out in
their yards that grew neatly up to the canal‘s seawall. I waved to everybody. Some of them even waved back. They knew me, had seen me
go by before, always cheerful, a big hello for everybody. Lindsay 2004, 33
He is also known as charming and attractive. He is good at being charming. Generally, every woman is happy to get the flattery from men. As a
charming person, Dexter knew how to treat every woman as well. He has studied hard and practiced long, and when he applied it, no one could tell that he was
faking it. It can be seen from the quotation below.
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―Hello Dexter,‘ she said in her too-quiet way. For her, two words were a long conversation. ‗Good evening, beautiful young lady,‘ I said in my best
Lord Mountbatten voice. ‗May I observe that you are looking very lovely this evening. Lindsay 2004, 55
Based on explanation above the writer concludes that Dexter Morgan is
different from any other normal person, he has witnessed his mother get murdered in front of his eyes, although he does not remember the event, but since that his
life changed. Therefore, in the next discussion, the writer would like to discuss about Dexter and his psychological problem.