Welcome back to your philosophical deep dive into the Saw universe. If you’ve been following this series, you’re already familiar with the chilling world of Jigsaw and his intricate games. Before we delve deeper into the philosophy underpinning John Kramer’s actions, it’s important to understand that the interpretation of John Kramer’s motivations as rooted in Nietzschean nihilism isn’t unique. Thinkers like Steve Jones have also explored this concept, offering detailed analyses in works such as “To See the Saw Films.” However, our aim here is to break down these complex ideas, making them accessible even without a background in formal philosophy.
Let’s explore how John Kramer Saw the world through the lens of passive nihilism.
Nietzsche’s concept of the passive nihilist describes someone deeply disillusioned by the world’s disregard for “fundamental values,” particularly its indifference towards the very essence of existence. In John Kramer’s stark terms, these are individuals who “don’t appreciate their life.”
Throughout the Saw films, Kramer’s anger stems from his conviction that most people fail to value their existence. He believes that appreciating life is the cornerstone of meaning and purpose. Therefore, in Kramer’s eyes, those who take life for granted are living without direction. His elaborate games and terrifying traps are not merely acts of violence, but a twisted form of intervention—a brutal therapy designed to force his victims to confront the primal goal of survival. Enduring and surviving the game, therefore, becomes their immediate, undeniable purpose.
This chilling brilliance, from Jigsaw’s perspective, lies in his ability to manufacture purpose. By compelling people to play his games, he thrusts them into a reality where endurance and survival are paramount. He addresses his own nihilistic crisis—living in a world he perceives as purposeless—by creating situations where purpose is unavoidable for his subjects.
The Apathy John Kramer Saw in His Subjects
The apathy that Jigsaw perceives in his test subjects is a recurring theme throughout the Saw saga. Consider Saw (2004) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon, a central figure in the first film. We learn early on that his wife, Allison, sees through his façade of happiness, recognizing a deep-seated misery within him. Dr. Lawrence, in Kramer’s view, is simply going through the motions of life, devoid of genuine passion or purpose—spiritually “dead inside.” As Lawrence’s game unfolds, parallels emerge with Amanda Young and Paul Leahy. Amanda seeks escape through drug addiction, while Paul attempted suicide to escape life itself. To Kramer, Dr. Lawrence’s passive acceptance of a joyless existence is no different from Amanda and Paul’s active escapism.
Another striking example from the original Saw is Adam Stanheight. Did you notice the stark irony concerning Adam and John Kramer’s shared experience with cancer? While chained in the bathroom, Adam, desperate for a nicotine fix, contemplates smoking a potentially poisoned cigarette, declaring he wants “that sweet cancer,” showing a blatant disregard for the very disease consuming Kramer.
This ironic passivity towards the illness Kramer is battling underscores why Jigsaw targeted Adam. His casual dismissal of a life-threatening disease exemplifies the apathy Kramer despises.
Extending the Nihilistic Lens: Rigg and Jeff in Saw III
To further illustrate the passivity John Kramer saw in his victims, we can look at Saw III (2006) and the characters of Detective Daniel Rigg and grieving father Jeff Denlon. Rigg is driven by an almost obsessive need to save everyone, yet his arc in Saw III is defined by his agonizing realization that he cannot save everyone. Jeff, on the other hand, is consumed by anger and bitterness over what he perceives as insufficient justice for his son’s killer. While their obsessions differ greatly, Rigg and Jeff share a fundamental worldview: they see the world as inherently flawed and unchangeable.
This sense of helplessness and resignation is precisely what draws Jigsaw’s attention. Kramer believes that people do possess agency and opportunities, but they choose not to seize them. He sees Rigg and Jeff, much like the rest of humanity, as pathetic for accepting their perceived inability to alter their circumstances.
Victims as Symbols: A Synecdoche for Apathetic Humanity
In a broader sense, the victims in the Saw franchise can be interpreted as a synecdoche, a figure of speech where a part represents the whole. Just as the seven churches in the Book of Revelation symbolize the universal Church, Kramer’s carefully selected victims are meant to represent the entirety of humanity. From a passive nihilist perspective, disgust at humanity’s widespread apathy becomes understandable. John Kramer saw a world where the loss of truth, value, and meaning was no longer a crisis, but an accepted norm. This acceptance is what the passive nihilist, and John Kramer, finds intolerable.
Thus, Kramer’s traps are his radical remedy for this pervasive apathy. He aims to shock his victims out of their indifference towards life by forcing them into extreme situations where they are compelled to rediscover value, meaning, and purpose—even if it’s simply the desperate drive to survive.
While we could further explore the contradictions within Jigsaw’s methods and the inherent flaws of nihilism itself, those discussions extend beyond the scope of this article. The evidence presented here sufficiently illustrates the presence of passive nihilism in John Kramer’s philosophy. However, passive nihilism is only one facet of Kramer’s worldview. There’s a darker, more extreme side to his nihilism—radical nihilism—which we will examine in the concluding article of this series.
Until then, perhaps revisiting Nietzsche’s works and re-watching the Saw films will provide further insights into the complex philosophy of Jigsaw.
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