Dwight K. Schrute started off as Dunder Mifflin Scranton's top salesman before becoming the regional manager he always dreamt of being. While beet farming was his first love, selling paper is his ion. And while Jim Halpert may not want to it it, Dwight has definitely had his share of personal growth.
Dwight wasn't an antagonist on The Office by any means but his sense of humor and personality rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. His lack of social skills and sensitivity got Dwight into loads of trouble with anyone he came in with, and this continued to the final season. From weapons in the workplace to insults, here are 10 reasons why Dwight got worse and worse as The Office went on.
He Never Learned From His Managerial Mistakes
Dwight is one of the longest-working employees at the Scranton branch. As the top salesman, Dwight's dream of dreams is to become the regional manager. With this title, he'll have full control of the office and will never be rejected from corporate again. However, before finally attaining the regional manager role in the ninth season, Dwight had two other opportunities to prove himself.
Michael gave Dwight the role when he thought corporate was going to hire him (before taking it back from Dwight after he wasn't given the job) and Jo made Dwight regional manager after Deangelo left. Dwight royally screwed up both chances.
Who Were His Real Friends?
There wasn't too much turnover at the Scranton branch, which led to many of the workers becoming an unintentional family. Fans saw how sad everyone was in the final episodes when so many people were going their own way. However, Dwight never created the friendships that Pam or Michael did. Dwight's allegiance was to Michael or anyone else in charge.
He very rarely showed respect for his co-workers and wasn't there for them when they needed him. If they didn't have a position of power, Dwight left them in the dust. After 10+ years with the same company, Dwight should have let his guard down and let his potential friends in.
Dwight Doesn’t Have Too Many Selfless moments
Dwight's biggest selfless moments were when he was protecting Angela. Back when they were dating, he quit his job to protect her and their relationship after getting in trouble with Michael for something he couldn't describe. Besides his time with Angela or protecting Michael, Dwight is extremely self-centered.
For nine seasons, he did exactly what he wanted to do regardless of the consequences. He trapped Meredith in a bag with a bat, he took one of Jim's biggest clients as a joke, and he doesn't care about his co-workers in Scranton when he was offered the position in Tallahassee. Dwight only ever cared about himself.
He Even Assisted Angela With A Hit Man In Season Nine
If Dwight really learned from his mistakes, he would have never assisted Angela with a hitman. In the episode "The Target," Angela found out that her husband, the senator, was having an affair with Oscar. The betrayal was too hard to handle, so she asked Dwight if he knew of anyone that could help her take care of her husband's lover.
Without knowing it was Oscar, Dwight hooked her up with a man named Trevor. Trevor's main objective was to seriously harm Oscar, and although Dwight didn't know who the target was, he still set her up with a hitman! Has Dwight not learned anything?
He Never Grows Common Social Skills Or Cares To Get Along With Others
There are plenty of people who are socially awkward but Dwight takes it to a whole other level. He doesn't seem to care how many people are uncomfortable around him or how many people he offends — he's ignorant of his poor social skills.
Fans see his poor social skills at work when he attends David Wallace's party with Michael and Jan. He walks through the whole house asking invasive questions and touching too many things. Back in the office, he insulted Phyllis's weight and made her walk to work from a bad area in town and the office even had to teach him how to approach women because he doesn't know how to treat them.
He Treats His Co-Workers Like They're Idiots
Dwight calls his co-workers "idiot" fairly often. Although Dwight didn't attend business school like Ryan did, he acts superior and all-knowing in comparison to those he's around.
He snuck behind Michael's back and met with Jan to try and take his job, he dropped Ryan off in the middle of a field to "teach him a lesson," and he always acts like any effort given by someone else isn't enough. Dwight is a hilarious character to watch but as a friend and as a colleague, he's demeaning and degrading.
His Controlling Nature Never Works Out In His Favor
You would think that Dwight's control issues would have dissolved by, let's say, season five but they actually grew. The longer Dwight loses power over the office, the more controlling he becomes.
His control issues are on full display when he shows up to work in his volunteer sheriff's uniform to catch the marijuana smoker, when he had to pick a new insurance plan for the office, and when he caused a fire after no one listened to his safety presentation. Dwight thinks he's being smart and proactive but what he's doing is forcing his demands on others.
He Should Have Been Fired Countless Of Times
As dedicated of a worker as Dwight is, he should have been fired from the paper company numerous times. Not only did he cost the company over $3,000 in defacing a dummy for a R presentation but he set the office on "fire," he hid weapons around the office, and he insults and assaults multiple of his co-workers.
And these are all things that continue to happen as time goes on — not just in the first three seasons.
He's Downright Dangerous
Along with being unprofessional and capable of being fired numerous times throughout nine+ years of working at Dunder Mifflin, Dwight is downright dangerous. He may have protected Jim from Roy with his pepper spray but why on earth did he have pepper spray readily available at his desk?
He had a gun in the office, he shot Stanely with a tranquilizer, he put Phyllis in a dangerous situation without her car, and he threw enough snowballs at Jim to make him bleed. If he was trying to be the manager for all those years, he went about it in a weird way...
He Doesn't Understand Sarcasm
Oh, Dwight. The reason Jim was able to pull off so many fantastic pranks at Dwight's expense is because Dwight didn't understand sarcasm. It was hard for him to determine what was a joke and what was serious. Jim literally sent him faxes from the "future" and Dwight believed it!
By not learning from his mistakes, Dwight wastes a lot of time, gets people in trouble, and does senseless things with hopes of a good outcome. Dwight had his shining moments for sure but for the most part, his character became erratic and dangerous.