My favorite anti-hero, Dexter, displayed anger and fear. Would a sociopath really become angry?

Favorite Answer

Dex is NOT your run of the mill sociopath...don't forget he has a "code" to live up to and that has always kept him in check. People don't always fit into the stereotypical 'types' we like to fit them into.
(Especially when they are created characters)...Show more

Being a diagnosed sociopath myself, I really enjoy this show :]
However, I am not a violent murderer, like an above poster seems to think all sociopaths are.

A misconception that a lot of people have is that a sociopath does not have emotions. That isn't accurate. A sociopath has emotions, but they are felt to a far lesser degree than other people, and they wont ever feel any emotional connection to other people.

Fear is about self-preservation, which is one of the sociopath's primary concerns. First and foremost, outcomes are viewed as in how it affects *them*. There is no thought given to how the outcome affects other people, unless those other people are instrumental to the sociopath's well-being.

That's not to say they experience fear the same way... but it is there. It's more of a motivator than a paralyzer though.

Anger is also something that can be felt by sociopaths, though they usually get disproportionately angry for the situation. If it's something that the average person would get riled up for, a lot of the time it doesn't even bother the sociopath. But then there are cases that are seemingly insignificant that really set them off. It's because situations are viewed as in how they affect them, and the smallest indiscretion that negatively affects them will receive a much larger response than a large problem that will affect somebody else.

As for the conscience bit? That's trickier. A sociopath doesn't really have a conscience. They wont regret their actions or display remorse, but they will be bothered by having to taken unwanted actions. A true sociopath would have killed Doakes, without agonizing over it, but they would be bothered by the events leading up to having to do so. It would represent a failure on their part to predict the actions of somebody else, and they would be annoyed at being forced to act.

As you can tell, that wouldn't stem from any conscience. What they did wouldn't bother them. What would bother them is failing to play the situation better....Show more

Sociopaths generally will not display anger or fear, though I'm uncertain as to whether or not they actually feel these emotions. Sociopaths will kill someone without a second thought, and will display no emotion in regard to the crime. They have no morals whatsoever. Dexter is a television character, and giving him an ethical code, and creating drama about him agonizing over a murder he committed makes for more entertaining television, and makes the character that much more interesting, as he becomes more complex....Show more

I don't think the show is going for stark, clinical realism.

One of the themes of the show seems to be that Dexter wants to believe that he feels no emotions, but in fact, he does. That has been demonstrated on several occasions, such as his giving up his biological brother in favor of his adopted sister, his refusal to kill the man in the hospital, and his obvious agony over having to kill his brother.

All of this is probably intended (by the show's writers) to make Dexter appear to be a better, more sympathetic character (relative to what he believes himself to be).

It's a hard task, getting an audience to sympathize with a serial killer.. By setting initial expectations low (e.g. an emotionless monster) and then revealing at least some trace of a heart inside the "monster", the writers probably want to give viewers some hope of redemption for the character (even if there would be no such hope in real life)....Show more

Dexter's a complex chracter, on one hand he is this violent serial-killer, but on the other, he holds the code from his step-father so close to his heart that he couldn't go through with something like that....Show more