In the world of Fringe, violence is most often seen as the natural progression of past mistakes, and thus not random acts. It is not the case, however, that the person responsible for the mistakes is at the center of or the target of the violence, but rather that it is the responsibility of perpetrator of the mistake to repair the damage done. Violence of this origin is most often portrayed as the unfortunate side effect of a struggle to survive. Another form the violence takes is as retribution for a perceived wrong done to someone. In this case, the motivation is much more vindictive and less defensive.
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| Dr. Walter Bishop shown working in his lab in a flashback used to explain the present situation. ©2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. |
Going with the theme of violence being a natural progression, the source identified in the series is
Dr. Walter Bishop, and specifically his past. Walter committed many atrocities in his past, and delved into things no one should. The result are the cases handled by Fringe Division. In some circumstances, the crimes are committed by victims of Walter's past simply trying to survive, while in others the crimes result from people taking advantage of abilities gained through Walter's research, though usually they were and unwilling participant in the research. It is therefore hard to determine who is ultimately responsible, due to the moral ambiguity.
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| Walter speaking with an unrelated character that invented a form of time travel with the unfortunate side effect of killing everything at his destination. In the end, he solves his problems and undoes the deaths of the innocent people, but dies himself. ©2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. |
The third and final type of violence serves as a way to move the plot along and develop the characters. It is of the same nature as the other two forms, but with an unrelated past. Such violence is usually rather morally neutral and fully resolved with few consequences, furthering the idea that violence is a product of past wrongdoing.
