Morally Ambiguous Characterization in HBO's "The Wire"

When author and former police reporter David Simon set out to create a realistic depiction of the problems facing inner-city Baltimore, he had a plethora of things to consider. How best to represent the trials and tribulations of all those involved in the drug trade and all those involved in impeding it? How do you label characters as purely good or evil, protagonist or antagonist, when the real people they represent are all somewhat caring, flawed, and most of all, human. And how do you make it all realistic? It seems Simon found a good answer to these questions, as his creation, The Wire, has been praised as one of the best shows on television by many critics, and has won numerous awards.

By giving many characters' perspectives throughout the course of the show, The Wire prevents viewers from identifying a single person or institution as being "right." In fact, The Wire includes major flaws and human qualities in every character, no matter how benevolent or crooked he/she should be. This characterization creates realistic characters, true to their real life counterparts who are neither good nor evil, but somewhere in between. Most of the police officers have negative traits that prevent them from being the hero. In speaking to the Lieutenant, McNulty sums this up: "you ask for men, they give you drunks and fuckups" (1.2). One example of this is when cops Pryzbylewski, Herc, and Carver harass the residents of the Tower and blind a 14-year-old in his left eye (1.2). In addition, Kima and various police officers brutalize a teenage drug dealer for hitting a cop (1.3). Kima also gives money to Bubbles for inside information, which Bubbles then uses to buy heroin (1.2). Then there's the Lieutenant, who takes a bribe to not fire Pryzbylewski, has thousands of dollars of undeclared assets, and tells McNulty to "lie so [the Lieutenant] can save face" (1.3). Even Jimmy McNulty, a seemingly benevolent police officer, is unfaithful to his wife (1.3), lies to a suspect to get information (1.2), and gets incredibly drunk (1.2).

On the other hand, many of the drug dealers in the Projects have human qualities that elevate them above the status of villain. The strongest example of this is D'Angelo Barksdale, who feels guilt and sadness over the death of a witness who testified against him. D'Angelo also challenges his subordinates to question whether the drug trade must be done through anger and ruthlessness. He points out that "everything else in the world gets sold without people taking advantage, scammin', lyin', doin' each other dirty" (1.3). He continues, explaining that the cops only watch them because people die, otherwise the cops wouldn't care (1.3). By thinking in both a compassionate and economic sense, the viewer sees that D'Angelo is a multidimensional character, not your stereotypical drug dealer. D'Angelo also teaches his underlings to play chess, which then shows us another side of Bodie -- he has higher aspirations than drug dealer. Finally, many of the drug dealers in the show are younger than 20, and are portrayed as trapped in a system they were born into, rather than chose. One scene even depicts what looks like a 10-year-old child giving Sydnor heroin while he is undercover (1.3).

By giving each and every individual in The Wire their own vices and virtues, Simon serves to create a realistic assortment of characters who are neither fully right nor fully wrong in their actions. These morally ambiguous characters accurately reflect their real life counterparts, who struggle with battles against their adversaries, as well as against themselves, in trying to do their job. By being true to the paradoxical personalities of real life cops and robbers in inner-city Baltimore, Simon's creation perfectly mimics Baltimore's reality, and for that matter, the human condition, itself.