If Dexter Morgan is a vigilante, does that make him an acceptable serial killer? A heroic one? Is he completing a community service for the public? Use specific examples from the novel to highlight the way that Jeff Lindsay writes his novel as a way of exposing the flaws in our communities or justice system.

Classmates response:

His is a slightly difficult question to answer simply because we live in a society where vigilante justice is still a crime and therefore it is illegal. To put this in simpler terms you cannot take justice into your own hands because murder is murder. However, when you examine Dexter he is making the world a better place and satisfying his urges at the same time. I'm actually torn because I partially feel that he is noble and somewhat doing community service by taking these people off the street . However as I said murder is murder and although Dexter is making Miami a better place he is still a serial killer so I do not view Dexter as heroic. An example of Jeff Lindsay exposing the community would be in chapter one when Dexter kidnapped the priest. Here you have someone that it should be perfectly safe to leave children around and he harms them. These things actually happen in the real world so I feel Jeff did a great job with highlighting a real issue within the book.