Dwight Schrute
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dwight Kurt Schrute III | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | Pilot |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | early 30s |
| Occupation | Sales Representative, Dunder-Mifflin |
| Title | Assistant to the Regional Manager, Sales Representative |
| Relatives | Mose (cousin) |
| Address | The Schrute Family Beet Farm, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania |
| Portrayed by | Rainn Wilson |
| Created by | Greg Daniels |
Dwight Kurt Schrute III is a fictional character on the NBC's The Office portrayed by Rainn Wilson. His counterpart in the original UK version of The Office is Gareth Keenan.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
At the beginning of the series, Dwight Schrute is a salesman and the arrogant Assistant to the Regional Manager of the Scranton branch of paper-goods distribution company Dunder-Mifflin, second in command beneath Michael Scott. He craves authority over his "inferiors" and relishes any minor task that Michael gives him, and is tormented by his desk-mate and fellow salesman Jim Halpert, whose laid-back nature contrasts with his own. Dwight is an excellent example of a jobsworth.
(For spoilers regarding changes to the character after the series begins, see below.)
[edit] Interests
Dwight is trained in the art of surveillance and is a former Lackawanna County volunteer sheriff's deputy; however, it was implied in a deleted scene from "Drug Testing" that he was never an official sheriff's deputy. He maintains a volunteer position as a security official at Dunder-Mifflin. He is also a purple belt in Goju-Ryu karate, and calls himself a senpai, which means "senior student" in Japanese (but should not be used when referring to oneself). Dwight fancies himself a survivalist, based on his dog-eat-dog views on health care and his belief that a hero is "someone who kills people that wish him harm."
Dwight leaps at every opportunity to gain power and authority, often using it to punish his co-workers, especially Jim Halpert. For example, he once told the women of the office that they no longer could use the restroom after vulgar graffiti written about Michael Scott appeared on the wall.
Dwight seems to have an admiration for TV and movie villains, such as Lex Luthor and Anakin Skywalker.
Dwight is a pop culture and sci-fi buff who has expressed fanship of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Smallville, The Apprentice, and Lost, as well as an apparent obsession with Battlestar Galactica. His all-time favorite film, out of the "over 240" he has seen, is The Crow. Dwight also hints at being afraid of androids taking over the world.
In the episode "Basketball", Dwight wears a World Anime Expo 2002 t-shirt, suggesting that he attended this (fictitious) anime convention. The image on the shirt is identified in a deleted scene from "Hot Girl" as (the fictitious) Konikotaka, whom Dwight describes as his ideal woman.
In the episode "Health Care", Dwight claims to have a perfect immune system, though he has suffered some ailments and maladies in subsequent episodes. He claims to be able to raise and lower his cholesterol at will. When asked why he would want to raise his cholesterol, he responds, "So I can lower it."
Dwight, as shown in the episode "Diwali," has a great understanding of the Hindu religion, including the origin of the Diwali (The Festival of Lights). His love and knowledge of Indian culture includes owning a kurta.
He listens to Froggy 101, a Scranton country-western station, and participated in a Rock 107 call-in contest to try to win a Jethro Tull box set. Dwight served as DJ for the eighth annual Dundie awards and his music tastes include Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts", and Life of Agony's "River Runs Red." He uses Mötley Crüe to pump himself up, using "Wild Side" to prepare for a performance review ("Performance Review") and "Kickstart My Heart" to prepare for a sales call ("Traveling Salesmen").
Dwight loves Count Chocula cereal. He is also a fan of Birkenstock sandals. In the episode "E-mail Surveillance", he states that he always keeps an extra pair in his car "for special occasions." Dwight's sporting streak tends toward paint ball, karate, and laser tag (he is part of a laser tag team called "The Gandalfs"). He also has a "crossbow range" in his house. Dwight also mentions that he has a bo staff, and hints that he will bring it in after he is awarded the position of official security supervisor of the Scranton branch. Dwight is interested in muscle cars and drives a maroon 1987 Pontiac Trans Am he restored, and prior to that, he owned a 1978 Nissan 280Z. He also has interest in the quality of auto parts- particularly shock absorbers. He knows how to make traditional corn husk dolls and cut his own hair.
Dwight is musically talented as well. He has been known to jam on the guitar, and he is seen regularly playing the recorder. His repertoire includes "Greensleeves," "Mambo No. 5," "On the Wings of Love," and "The Longest Time" by Billy Joel. He plays guitar for Michael Scott on two occasions: "Teach Your Children," for the children in “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” in which he actually plays Michael’s guitar that temp Ryan Howard retrieved along with the copy of Michael’s childhood television appearance; and in the episode “Diwali”, as Dwight plays guitar while Michael sings his Adam Sandler inspired tune--“The Diwaili Song.”
Dwight has a collection of bobblehead dolls at his desk including a personalized one that Angela gave him for Valentine's Day. He also has former Philadelphia Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal and former Phillies firstbaseman and current Baseball Tonight co-host John Kruk.
Dwight has repeatedly expressed his love for laser tag. On his blog, he tells fans that his team is named 'the Gandalfs'. He also says beginning in '02, his team went on a four-year championship run. When fooled into believing that he missed an episode of "The Apprentice", Dwight explains that he was out drinking with his laser tag team.
Dwight is also a fan of paintball. He offered Phyllis lessons as his Secret Santa gift in "Christmas Party", and he used his paintball mask as protection against a bat in the episode "Business School".
Dwight's office attire exhibits his nerdiness in subtle ways. He wears a short-sleeved shirt to work regardless of the weather (special occasions excepted), and he wears a Casio calculator watch.
Dwight often refers to women as animals. In the episode "Valentine's Day", he said, "Women are like wolves. If you want a wolf, you have to trap it. You have to snare it and then you have to tame it. Keep it happy, care for it, feed it. Lovingly. The way that an animal deserves to be loved. And my animal deserves a lot of loving."
[edit] Coworker relations
- For a list of pranks played by Jim on Dwight, see Jim's pranks.
Inexplicably, Dwight hero worships his boss, viewing him as a model for success, and often jumps in on Michael's ill-conceived schemes, including an old-fashioned raid of Accounting by Sales. He even went so far as to give Michael his own urine to ensure he would pass a mandatory drug test (although he did it with extreme reluctance). He craves authority, and is thrilled when asked to handle any task, such as choosing a health plan and being appointed as an honorary security guard for the office building. He has also been known to assume authority even when it is not handed to him. He lists Michael as his emergency contact and injured himself with a concussion when crashing his car in trying to rescue Michael.
Dwight states that his favorite moment in Dunder-Mifflin history would be his first day when Michael hazed him with the fire extinguisher.
Despite Dwight's apparent devotion to Michael, when given rare moments of power over his boss, Dwight's eager attitude vanished in exchange for sheer obnoxiousness.
Dwight sometimes feels threatened by Ryan, to whom Michael often assigns tasks, and he continues his resentment towards Ryan throughout the second season. In "Initiation", Dwight attempts to take Ryan under his wing, since he does not want to constantly be at odds with him as he was with Jim. After a failed initiation attempt, Dwight takes Ryan on his first sales call with negative results. Ryan however, retaliates at the company he failed to win by throwing eggs at the company building, with Dwight quick to follow. The two end up going out for beers afterwards.
Though not nearly as sexist and bigoted as Michael, Dwight is in no denial about his views. Dwight has also expressed homophobic views, but is unable to recognize homosexuality in others. He is also not above backstabbing, such as stealing a valuable sales commission from Jim or trying to undermine Michael by meeting with Jan Levinson to usurp control of the branch. However, Dwight is revealed to be the culprit behind both incidents to the victims. As a result of trying to steal Michael's job, Dwight is forced to do his boss's laundry for one year, even after he is forgiven. As far as his personal interactions with people in or outside of work, Dwight is leery of new people and never shakes hands with people unless told otherwise, even if they take the initiative.
In the first season and part of the second, Dwight appears to have a mild crush on Kelly. In a Diversity Day exercise, he lists Caucasian and Indian as two races he finds sexually attractive. In "The Dundies", he offers Kelly leniency if she tells him what is written on the bathroom wall. In "The Fire", he drags Kelly out of the kitchen during a fire alarm, and in "The Fight" he gives Kelly an impromptu martial arts lesson (including an unintentional double entendre when he offers to "take her from behind").
Towards the middle of the second season, Dwight develops a secret relationship with Angela. The couple are caught by the documentary camera snuggling in the backyard during Jim's party. The pair discuss the rearing of children during the episode "Take Your Daughter to Work Day." Dwight also tries to attack Oscar when he pushes Angela out of his way after she makes a snide remark about his homosexuality.
Pam begins to suspect a relationship between Dwight and Angela in the episode "E-mail Surveillance" by observing their interactions, suspicions which are strengthened in "Conflict Resolution" and pretty much confirmed by "Traveling Salesmen". Ryan discovers the relationship between the two when he overhears a coded conversation between the two in the kitchen.
Dwight firmly believes that the only thing that separates humans from animals is rules. Dwight's rigid adherence to rules irritates others at times, such as his immediate need to noisily shred documents and credit cards. He is frequently the victim of practical jokes by coworkers Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly (see Jim's pranks). As a result of this, Dwight and Jim have an ongoing feud that reaches a head in "Conflict Resolution", when Dwight threatens to quit unless Jim is transferred. Professionally, Dwight wins the 2005 Salesman of the Year Award, though this is likely due, at least in part, to his stealing Jim's largest client.
As a result of the Scranton-Stamford merger, Dwight loses his number two position to Jim and is in an ongoing battle with new salesman Andy Bernard in trying to gain Michael's respect as his right-hand man. The two have begun bickering over the meanings of their job titles which has caused them to insult one another frequently. Andy even proceeds to become friendly with Angela when he shows her a picture of a cat on his computer desktop, although it is unknown if Andy is aware of Angela's relationship with Dwight.
The struggle between Andy and Dwight comes to a head in the episode "Traveling Salesmen". Andy capitalizes on the events of the episode "The Coup" and convinces Michael to fire Dwight for being disloyal once again. In the following episode ("The Return"), Michael realizes his mistake and hires Dwight back.
[edit] Family
Dwight was originally a twin, but he "resorbed" his twin while still in his mother's womb (this occurrence is called chimerism). He is glad for this, for he believes that he now has "the strength of a grown man and a little baby". In a deleted scene from "The Convict" he claims to have been born weighing 13lbs 5oz, rendering his mother incapable of walking for three months. Little is revealed about Dwight's parents except that his father — also named Dwight Schrute — battled high blood pressure and obesity all his life, but often went hunting with his son. In the season 2 DVD bloopers it is revealed that Dwight's father would take him and his brothers to a swimming hole on hot summer days as a child until 10:00 AM, then they would work the beet fields until well after midnight. Dwight lives on his family's 40-acre farm near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he grows beets with his cousin Mose, which they sell to local stores and restaurants. Mose and Dwight hold annual Halloween bonfires, and teenagers have been known to use the farm for sex. According to Dwight, the Schrute family "produces thirsty babies". Dwight's maternal grandfather, whose surname was Manheim (according to Dwight's blog on NBC.com), fought in World War II and ended up in an Allied prison camp, which indicates that his grandfather was a German soldier. In the episode "Take Your Daughter to Work Day", Michael refers to Dwight's grandmother as a "Nazi war criminal". His paternal great-grandfather, Dweide Schrude, was Amish. According to one of Dwight's blogs on NBC.com's "Schrute-Space," he had an uncle named Gunther, a goat farmer, who fled the Allied invasion of Germany and married a Finnish woman with whom he had 17 children. He also had an Uncle Grit who revealed that the Schrute family has an on-going hatred of Harry S Truman because they were staunch supporters of Thomas Dewey.
There is a subtle plot line developing around Dwight's grandfather. In the episode of the same name, Dwight arrived at Casino Night wearing the tuxedo in which his grandfather was buried. A coffin is seen in the barn on the Schrute family farm. In Grief Counseling, Dwight said that his grandfather was reburied in an old oil drum.
[edit] Trivia
- In WWII, Dwight's maternal grandfather, Manheim, killed 20 men, then spent the rest of the war in an Allied prison camp. ("The Fight")
- His paternal great grandfather's name is Dweide Schrude (Amish)
- Dwight is Roman Catholic. (Revealed in a deleted scene from "The Carpet".)
- Dwight lives in a 9 bedroom farmhouse with only one bathroom, which is under the porch. ("Office Olympics")
- Dwight keeps a wide variety of mêlée weapons at his desk (pepper spray, nunchakus, and ninja stars, among others). All of them are confiscated by Toby after Dwight attacks Andy returning from anger management. ("The Negotiation").
[edit] Behind the scenes
- Rainn Wilson based Dwight's hairstyle on his own style he had when he was sixteen.[1] In an interview, however, he said that he went to a barber to get "the worst haircut possible."[2]
- Wilson initially auditioned for the role of Michael Scott (he called his audition a "bad Ricky Gervais impression"), but producers were more impressed with his audition as Dwight and thus hired him for that role.[3]
- When the bobblehead doll introduced in the Valentine's Day episode was made available for purchase on the NBC web site, it sold out its initial run of 5000 units.[4]
- In "Halloween", Jim and Pam uploaded Dwight's resume to "Monster.com, Craigslist, and Google." A producer actually did create a Monster account for Dwight and uploaded his resume a month before the episode aired. It can be found by employers with resume database access who search for salesmen in Scranton, PA.
[edit] References
- ^ Wilson, Rainn (Actor). 2005. "Pilot" [Commentary track], The Office Season One (US/NBC Version) [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Universal.
- ^ Holloway, Diane. "The Dwight stuff", Cox News Service, 2006-01-20. Retrieved on January 28, 2007.
- ^ Rainn Wilson, Entertainment Weekly, June 30, 2006
- ^ Wilson, Rainn (Actor). 2006. "Casino Night" [Commentary track], The Office Season Two (US/NBC Version) [DVD], Los Angeles, CA: Universal.
[edit] External links
- Schrute-Space - Dwight Schrute's "blog" (NBC official website)
- Dwight Schrute Quotes - At Dunderball.com (Office fansite)
- More Dwight Schrute Quotes - at QuotesFromTheOffice.com
- Gareth Keenan vs. Dwight Schrute at www.theofficevstheoffice.com
- Dwight Schrute Bobblehead Petition - Petition to encourage NBC to create a Dwight Bobblehead
- Dwight Schrute Bobblehead - At NBCUniversalStore.com
| Characters of The Office (US version) |
|---|
|
Main characters |
|
Michael Scott | Jim Halpert | Pam Beesly | Dwight Schrute | Ryan Howard |
|
Minor characters |
|
Accounting: Angela Martin | Oscar Martinez | Kevin Malone |
|
Miscellaneous characters |
|
Katy | Devon | Carol Stills | Bob Vance | Josh Porter | Billy Merchant | Tony Gardner | Martin Nash | Hannah Smoterich-Barr | Stacy | Brenda Matlow | Hank Tate | Ed Truck | Mose Schrute |
|
Episodes: Season One • Season Two • Season Three • Webisodes |
