Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, blood, domestic violence, and child abuse.

The impact of childhood trauma on adult behavior is one of this novel’s key themes. Through the author’s depiction of Harry’s mentorship and guidance, the contrast between Dexter and Brian, and Dexter’s influence on Astor and Cody, the author explores the cycle of violence, noting some instances in which it becomes self-perpetuating and others when it is interrupted or broken.

Lindsay does not reveal the exact nature of Dexter’s childhood trauma until late in the narrative, but even Dexter acknowledges that something horrific must have happened to him to leave him with such a strong orientation toward violence: “Whatever made me the way I am,” he explains, “left me hollow, empty inside, unable to feel” (15). As a young man, Dexter felt strong urges to kill, and it is only Harry’s intervention that saves him from becoming a cold-blooded murderer without honor or morals. Dexter’s lack of empathy, interest in violence, and struggle to form meaningful attachments are all rooted in the terrible event he witnessed as a child: Dexter watched helplessly as his mother was brutally killed by cartel operatives and then sat in a pool of her blood for days before being discovered by Harry and the Miami police.