A key element in Sons of Anarchy was the manifesto written by John “JT” Teller, which Jax tried to follow for the benefit of the club – and here’s what the manifesto was about and what went wrong with the club. In 2008, Kurt Sutter took the audience into the world of motorcycle clubs in the TV series Sons of Anarchy. The success of Sons of Anarchy was such that it lived on for a total of seven seasons, and it was constantly praised for the performances of its main cast as well as the themes it addressed, such as brotherhood, corruption, and racism.
Sons of Anarchy took the audience to Charming, California, to meet Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam), the VP of the title club and the son of JT, one of the club’s founding members. The events of Sons of Anarchy kick off when Jax finds his father’s manifesto and learns that his plans and vision for the club were entirely different from what it ended up being. This, and other problems within the club and with others, led to a lot of conflict with the club’s President (and Jax’s stepfather), Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman), while also sending Jax on a personal journey that made him question his path, role in the club, relationships, and more.
Jax spent a big part of Sons of Anarchy trying to honor his father’s vision and doing his best to take the club on a less violent and dangerous path, which only brought a lot more trouble to SAMCRO and led him to discover some dark family secrets. Jax found JT’s manuscript in storage in the Sons of Anarchy pilot episode and learned that his father had a more relaxed idea for the club, which would have been more like a biker commune rather than a gun-running operation – but what did the manuscript say and how did the club go wrong?
Sons Of Anarchy: JT’s Manuscript Explained
JT titled his manuscript The Life and Death of Sam Crow: How the Sons of Anarchy Lost Their Way and started writing it after the death of his son Thomas Teller. Some parts of the manifesto were shown or read throughout Sons of Anarchy, and while a full copy of it hasn’t been released, those bits shown in the series are enough to get an idea of what JT originally wanted for the club. JT began by sharing that he came up with the club’s name when he was in 8th grade for him and his friends as they “were going to change the world”, and that he found himself lost in his own club, trusting few and fearing most, and even mentioned that “Nomad offered escape and exile” but he “didn’t know if leaving would cure or kill this thing we created”, even asking himself if this was an act of strength or cowardice.
JT addressed some key points in his manifesto, criticizing what SAMCRO had been doing and explaining what he originally envisioned, beginning with when they take action to avenge a loved one. JT explained that, in that case, personal justice collides with social and divine justice, and a “true outlaw finds balance between the passion in his heart and the reason in his mind”. JT’s concept for SAMCRO was, as described by him, “pure, simple, true”, one that inspired him, but he ended up learning that true freedom required sacrifice and pain, and while many think they want freedom, they actually “yearn for the bondage of social order, rigid laws, materialism” and the only freedom they want is “the freedom to become comfortable”. JT also used his manifesto to vent about what he (not just the club) had done wrong, explaining that in his downward spiral of hopelessness, he was “falling into a huge hole created by [my] absence of basic human graces”, especially forgiveness, as if he was wronged by someone, he “had to be compensated by money or blood” – and when relationships become a ledger of profit and loss, you are left completely alone.
JT admitted that SAMCRO ended up becoming its own thing and got out of his hands, as he never made a conscious decision to have the club become one thing, and each “savage event was a catalyst for the next”. JT also explained that, inside the club, there had to be truth and their word was their honor, but outside, lies were their defense, and “to survive, you had to master the art of perjury”, but once that skill is learned, “nobody knows the truth in or outside the club”. Unfortunately, all copies of JT’s manifesto were destroyed along with the one Jax was starting to write, this in an effort to break the cycle for the sake of his sons, Abel and Thomas.
What Went Wrong With JT’s Manifesto In Sons of Anarchy
Although the Sons of Anarchy club was always based on brotherhood, the values JT mentioned in his manuscript were not present when Clay took over the club after JT’s death. Clay put money and his own benefit above anything else and didn’t hesitate to frame and betray fellow members of the club. When it came to avenging either loved ones or fellow members of the club, they did so out of anger and not with the balance between passion and reason as JT mentioned, which brought even more problems, as happened with Jax’s quest for revenge after Tara’s death. Jax and crew also lacked forgiveness and other “basic human graces” as JT called them, and their focus was mostly on money, blood, and revenge. Perhaps one of the worst mistakes of SAMCRO was that, as JT mentioned, they were driven by lies (inside and outside the club) and mastered the art of perjury, which made them enemies of not only other clubs but Charming in general and even of themselves. JT’s manifesto was seen as nothing but a dream or a “hippie vision” for the Sons of Anarchy club, but his views could have saved the club from various problems and could have even saved many lives.