The Jigsaw Killer from the Spiral may take the franchise in a different route, but the central theme has been Jigsaw’s philosophy.
Despite his role as a depraved man who placed his victims in traps that nearly always led to deaths, Jigsaw did have the right idea in certain areas. Then again, he was most certainly in the wrong where several other things are concerned, as one would expect from a cold-blooded serial killer.
Right: To Cherish Life
Cherishing life remains Jigsaw’s most thought-provoking quote since it can be interpreted in many ways. Although Jigsaw twisted it in his own way, he had the core aspect understood. This was due to his realization that life is always limited.
It’s unfortunate that he channeled this philosophy in gruesome ways, but there’s no doubt that the message is appropriate at the heart of things. As far as Jigsaw was concerned, there was no discrimination between the poor and rich, or the sick and healthy, as he felt all life should be cherished.
Wrong: Placing His Faith In Amanda And Hoffman
It remains a rather big plothole in the series as to why Jigsaw figured Hoffman and Amanda could be his successors when he was someone who had such a keen sense of foresight. Regardless, he was ultimately very wrong to think the two could be his legacy.
As it happened, neither of the two were fit to be the next Jigsaw, as Amanda resorted to making her traps inescapable while Hoffman’s traps were extremely brutal that left even the survivors horribly scarred or mutilated. Of course, the two also ended up straying from Jigsaw's overall philosophy, proving that he was wrong to recruit them.
Right: That People Need To Help Themselves
After Jill had a miscarriage, a flashback in Saw IV showed Jigsaw telling his wife that her efforts to help people were in vain as they needed to help themselves. He wasn’t wrong in this claim, as none of Jill’s patients had ever turned over a new leaf and had taken her kindness for granted.
Jigsaw’s actions can’t be condoned, but he wasn’t wrong that people need to step up and take charge of their own lives. Characters like Cecil had been too comfortable skating by rather than doing the work themselves, for which they ultimately paid the price.
Wrong: Getting Jill Involved In His Dealings
It’s hard to understand how Jigsaw figured his wife Jill wouldn’t be in danger after he got her involved in his situation. After all, he even gave her instructions to place Hoffman in a trap, which was obviously going to make Jill become Hoffman’s target if he survived — and that’s exactly what happened.
By getting Jill wrapped into the whole case against him, Jigsaw got her pursued by everyone from the police to the FBI to his own apprentices. In the end, Hoffman was the one to get to her and Jill experienced a particularly violent demise thanks to Jigsaw’s mistake.
Right: Keeping Dr. Gordon As His Hidden Accomplice
There are a fair amount of things that don’t make sense about the apprentices, but Jigsaw was at least right in placing his faith in Dr. Gordon. In this instance, he didn’t place all his eggs in the same basket and kept Gordon’s survival hidden from Amanda and Hoffman.
It turned out that Jigsaw did realize that he may have been wrong to get Jill involved, as Gordon was Jigsaw’s insurance policy of sorts. After Jill’s death, Gordon ensured Hoffman paid for his crimes by locking him up in the Bathroom Trap, meaning Jigsaw got his revenge from beyond the grave.
Wrong: To Place People In Traps Where Someone's Death Is Certain
Jigsaw’s traps started to make less sense the more he indulged in them, to the point where he seemed to lose sight of his own agenda. Rather than give everyone a shot at survival, he figured “chance” meant that his victims had to fight one another for their lives.
It was entirely obvious that everyone in his games wanted to survive, meaning they already proved they cherished their lives. However, games like the Bathroom Trap — Lawrence had to kill Adam — or the Pound of Flesh — involving people cutting themselves up until one remained — basically set people up for failure and confirmed that Jigsaw was just a killer.
Right: That The Healthcare System Is Flawed
Had Jigsaw been provided the insurance he sought from William Easton, then none of the story’s events would have happened. Saw VI provided social commentary in this regard, as Jigsaw proved to William that the healthcare system didn’t for people’s willingness to live.
Within the course of his game, William learned that he had become entirely driven by money and had repeatedly found loopholes in the system to deny people insurance, thus setting up their deaths. In this sense, Jigsaw pointed out how the healthcare system was in itself very apathetic and cold.
Wrong: That He Would Be Appreciated For His Work
Jigsaw had developed something of a god complex after fetching his number of apprentices and staying a step ahead of the rest. He ended up thinking his work was absolutely important, with people simply being too blind to see it.
He didn’t live to witness how very wrong he was, as Saw V showed a news report that Jigsaw was being branded as one of the biggest fiends in the world. Moreover, Jigsaw and Spiral, which are set over a decade later, confirm that his legacy is to be ed as nothing other than a murderer.
Right: Anticipating The Human Mind Leaves Nothing To Chance
Despite Jigsaw’s claims that he gave everyone a chance, the truth is that he had always anticipated their failure. In Saw V, a flashback revealed that he had taught this very lesson to Hoffman, meaning he had already predicted how every person in his traps was going to act.
This doesn’t make him a prophetic figure but proves why Jigsaw managed to die on his own as he was never actually apprehended for his crimes. By understanding how the human mind works, Jigsaw was always right over how events would unfold.
Wrong: That His Methods Actually Help Anyone
After Amanda survived her trap and ed Jigsaw’s cause, he saw it as evidence that his methods worked. However, it turned out that Amanda never actually learned anything, with her experience only turning her into a killer in return.
Moreover, Bobby Dagen's self-help group showed that the survivors of the traps were left with both mental and physical scars, trauma that will never go away. The only ones who did appreciate his work were his apprentices but even they didn’t understand his cause. Overall, Jigsaw died deluded that putting people in lethal situations could ever help them.
