Dexter Compare And Contrast Essay

Everybody has a favorite character on TV shows like Walter White from Breaking Bad, or Homer Simpson from The Simpson. Sometimes there are characters from TV that are very due to the fact that they neither abide with or against the law. Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy, and Dexter Morgan from Dexter are probably two of America’s favorite anti-heroes on television. They may seem very different since Jax is an outlaw biker, and Dexter is a serial killer, but they do have some surprising similarities based on their actions, tragedies, and emotions.
In some degree both these characters really try to justify their actions. Though the actions that Jax and Dexter commit maybe different, the end results are very similar. For example, Jax would commit illegal crimes that he would try clarify as

helpful to the club, to his family, and to Charming. Likewise, Dexter murders other serial killers to protect the citizens of Miami, and his own family. No matter the circumstance, both characters will do what is necessary to keep the survival of themselves, or their families. For Dexter, the way he kept his family safe from being hurt was very painful to see. He had to fake his death, and live in exile for the rest of his life. Similarly, Jax’s sacrifice was just as sad to watch. He gave his life to keep his sons from knowing about SAMCRO. He symbolically hit an oncoming truck, just like his father did when he died. In the end, both had to sacrifice something to keep their families safe from harm.
If there is anything that really defines both characters are tragic moments they have been part of. Tragic moments really shows the humanity of both character. For example, when Dexter failed to protect his sister from being murdered, the only reasonable action for him to do was get revenge for her death. The failure of not protecting his sister took a toll on Dexter. It was her death that gave him the option to take himself out of his son’s life to protect him from the same fate. Similarly, when Jax finds his wife, Tara, lying dead, his action was to find who committed the deed. In the end, Jax found out that his mother had killed Tara, and he then proceed in shooting his mother in honor of Tara’s death. Jax was realy reluctant to kill his own mother, but it was his love for Tara that urged him to kill Gemma. Beside these tragic events, there were other tragedies that happened to them when they were children that molded their lives. For Jax it was his father’s death. His father’s death left Jax with many questions that would be resolved throughout the series. Compared to Jax, Dexter himself had tragic loss of life that affected him at a young age also; his mother’s murder. At the ripe age of three Dexter witnessed his mother being butchered. That event molded him into being a psychopath, sociopath, and a serial killer. Overall, if neither character had a tragic event happen to them, we may have had a hard time relating to them.
Emotions are things that both character’s express in each of their own respective series.

For Jax, emotions help guide him with some of his decisions once he becomes president of the Sons of Anarchy. They either lead to smart, decisive moves, or lead to unnecessary violence. For example when is “told” that the Chinese murdered Tara, his emotions of retribution and love lead him into a bloody war to kill all of the Lin Triad members. Because of these notions of revenge and retribution, it had often lead him to lie and hurt those around him. Besides bad moves, Jax’s emotions lead him to get SAMCRO out of guns. Surprisingly, Dexter actually showed emotions in Dexter. These “feelings” came aboard when his wife Rita had been murdered. The feelings of guilt and depression lead Dexter to be very unstable. It was until he noticed how he had to care for his son that he recognized that he is beginning to be “human”. He finally became “human” when he had to bury his sister. It was the first time we as fans saw how painful it was for Dexter to be human. Dexter even said that he did not want to feel pain anymore. It was through his sadness that he decided to exile himself to protect his

son.