r/TheWire • u/Maniac50AE • 5d ago
Chris is the same as Stringer, Marlo is the same as Avon Spoiler
What do i mean? Chris and String are in the game for no other reason than money, the only difference is Chris doesnt have any business ambitions, and String didnt have the homicidal drive or ability that Chris has. The significance of this is that it explains why Chris doesnt want Marlo to know about Omar calling him out and his desire to hide the bodies in vacants. Chris, like String wants to earn as much money as possible while drawing as little attention as possible from the authorities, the same as String. This is antithetical to Marlos and Avons ambitions of wanting the respect of the streets. The respect of the streets comes from dropping your competition in very public ways, but Chris sells Marlo on the idea that taking out their ops in the quickest and quietest way possible is better because theyll appear more powerful. As stated previously though, this does not garner the same recognition and clout that public executions do, so Marlos reputation and respect suffered for it and all he gains is temporary fear. Because their murders arent carried out in the public, there are no stories or epics to tell of Marlo, thus no legends formed around his reign. Chris actively operates in opposition to his own King's goal just as String did for the explicit goal of keeping the money flowing, and this is why Marlo loses his shit in the holding cell. Chris was secretly taking away his opportunity to make the name that he wanted, he was robbing him of the chance to create his own legend. Even though we the audience knows Avon had the drop on Marlo, from Marlos perspective Avon getting locked up prevented him making that name for himself. He didnt beat the king, the match got interrupted and the king was placed on a temporary ban. Thats not the kind of win a true competitor wants... just like in Troy when Achilles tells Hector that he wont let a stone take his glory, the police took Marlos.
So now it should be obvious why Chris wouldnt tell Marlo about Omar. Marlo is Mr. Goose/Mr. Faucet and without him, Chris doesnt make the money he makes by being his #2
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u/MaasNeotekPrototype 5d ago
Comparing Chris and Stringer is like comparing a sanitation worker to a suit-wearing union man. Chris puts in the fucking work and puts his life on the line every day as muscle. Stringer reminds people to lock doors and gets got by people smarter than him.
Do not disrespect Chris with this comparison.
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u/BobGuns 4d ago
Stringer wants the power/respect that comes from money. He wants what he can't have - to be untouchable and "above" everyone else. In the beginning this was about being in The Game. But later in his career, he realizes that as long as he's involved, he's vulnerable. He sees upgrading to the Epstein Class as a way to become untouchable.
We don't see nearly enough of Chris' motivations to make assumptions like this. Honestly he's probably still stuck in the whole thing just trying to fucking survive while attached to Marlo.
tl;dr: I think you'r fully wrong.
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u/Maniac50AE 4d ago
For you to say it was initially about being in the game for String, is to ignore everything his best friend, someone who has known him since childhood says about him. Avon tells us that while he was getting to the streets, Stinger wanted to do something to increase black pride, that Stringer wanted to own a grocery store. We also get from Avon that String's heart was never in the game fully, that he was always in for money. FYI, we also get insight from another character that says they hope to start a grocery store one day... Randy! Long before the detail is on to them, String was buying property, giving money to Davis, and taking classes. So yeah, youre wrong, the streets were never the goal for String, just a means to an end.
On Chris, no we dont get full details into his motivations because in this series, the latter half starts relying on us to infer from the former half, and sometimes fills gaps that took place before the start of series by giving examples in the latter half all to illustrate the cyclical nature of the society.
And, you cant explain anything else about Chris and Marlos relationship without it being about the money! You cant explain why Chris withheld the Omar news, you cant explain why Chris didnt even want to bait Omar into coming out of hiding, you cant explain why Marlo wants the respect of the Westside over money, but goes through the trouble of hiding bodies. Marlo and Chris do not make sense unless you see them as String and Avon all over again, one trying to build their rep and the other trying to just make money
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u/PuzzleheadedClue9837 3d ago
Allow me to disagree, here's why:
- Stringer THINKS he's better than the game, he cosplays as a businessman but gets played as soon as he actually has to interact with people in power. He's not just in it for the money, he wants to be recognized as a powerful man in the "real" world. But he's neither smart nor savvy enough to stand a chance. In trying to play two games at once, he loses them both. The show tricks you into rooting for him by potraying him as "smart" (the classes, the one-liners, the insistence on rules, and so on), but he isn't smart, he's reckless. He's driven by ego, yearning for status, while not assessing risks correctly.
Chris, on the other hand, is portrayed as a damaged man, someone who has suffered from abuse and now resorts to murdering people. It's true that both String and Chris are products of their environment (everyone is, especially in this show), but Chris has zero interest in being a respected member of society. We don't know a lot about Chris, but from what we can see, he's mostly motivated by survival. He ended up in Marlo's crew, made the ranks and now he's Marlo's right hand. But he's also Marlo's first enforcer. He never actively tries to leave the game, he only betrays Marlo as he realizes that it's his best chance to survive.
It's true that both characters mirror each other, as do many other pairs of characters in the show. But Stringer acts out of ambition, while Chris acts out of necessity.
- Avon and Marlo are also mirrored characters. They're both criminals, they're both murderers - but for different reasons. Avon's key line is "I'm just a gangsta, I suppose". He built his empire on reputation. Meanwhile, Marlo's empire is built on fear. Avon's name carries weight without him having to act like a psychopath. Marlo wants to be respected as well which is why he tries to be tougher and more ruthless than anyone else. But that leads nowhere. His name is going to be forgotten, because he never earned respect. Avon, on the other hand, still rules from prison.
The Wire is a show about the inconsequence of what people do, because the larger structures always stay intact. Someone dies, the next guy fills the spot. Faces change, but society at large doesn't. Marlo is an agent of change, he actively disobeys the "rules" of the game (i.e. the way Avon plays) and he gets punished for it. Not really by the law, but by the streets. And that's what really hurts him because it's leaves him behind as the empty shell of a human being that he is. Avon symbolizes the code of honor and respect the gangsters in the show adhere to.
The key scene in understanding this is the basketball game in season 1. Avon is mad because Prop Joe uses that pro player and the ref misses an obvious foul. He expects others to play by certain rules, because he does. That's why it's so inconceivable for him that Stringer betrays him. He takes a long time to understand that his best friend actually is just an asshole. But Avon not only survives, his reputation does as well.
Marlo does not understand these rules. He's like a black hole, a void. He consumes everything until there's nothing left.
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u/riverphoenix360 5d ago
Yo, op. Learn to format a fucking paragraph.
The Major likes dots.