Character Overview
Prisoner #92S110. Convicted October 21, 1992 – Aggravated assault in the first degree. Sentence: Eight years, eligible for parole in five. Convicted in 1998 of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to ten additional years without the possibility of parole.
Schillinger is the head of The Aryan Brotherhood in Oz. An ardent racist, he is serving an eight-year sentence for aggravated assault, for beating up a black drug dealer with a crowbar for selling drugs to his sons. Schillinger indulges in varying degrees of sexual sadism, especially toward fellow inmate Tobias Beecher, whom he rapes to "initiate" him into prison life. In addition to Beecher, Schillinger commits several acts of rape over the series against weaker white inmates; ironically, he is virulently homophobic. Schillinger is also quick to have the Brotherhood kill other inmates to prove that the Aryans in Oz are a legitimate threat to the rest of the inmate population.
Schillinger has a number of major family issues throughout the series: his father, whom he hates, taught him everything he knows about racism; his sons are both amoral drug addicts; he has disowned his sister for marrying a Jew, and his daughter-in-law is a prostitute.
Schillinger has been raised by his father, Heinrick, to believe in a white supremacist ideology, developing a hatred for blacks, Jews, and other non-Aryan people. Throughout the series he uses ethnic slurs to refer to blacks, Jews, Hispanics, Arabs, and Italians. Many members of Oz's Aryans who follow him are imprisoned for hate crimes (James Robson, Mark Mack, and Wolfgang Cutler, among others) and readily affiliate themselves with the Brotherhood under Schillinger's leadership.
Despite often committing extremely cruel and sadistic acts, Schillinger does show a humane side in the show. He seems to have genuine affection for his sons and at times, blames himself for the way they turned out, remarking "they became the men I made them". Nevertheless, when his eldest son rejects him, Schillinger arranges for him to overdose on heroin and he doesn't hesitate to use his younger son to carry out a kidnapping and murder for him. Despite his status as a leader, he seeks approval from his superiors such as former mentor Wilson Loewen, who views him as having "a big ego and nothing to back it up".
Schillinger strongly objects to his name being mispronounced, averring that it should be "Schilling - ur", not "Schillin - jur".
Read more about this topic: Vernon Schillinger
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