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Kaplan
Witwer is Anderton's new assistant and future replacement. He is young, handsome, and confident, which makes Anderton incredibly insecure and puts him on the defensive from the moment they first meet, certain that Witwer is after his job. Anderton’s paranoia intensifies when Witwer briefly interacts with Lisa in a friendly manner, giving rise to Anderton’s suspicions that they are both involved in a Senate plot to remove Anderton from his position. Lisa attempts to be the voice of reason, pointing out to Anderton that Witwer believes in the value of Precrime, has good intentions, and is not involved in any sort of twisted plot to steal Anderton’s job. Playing into Anderton’s fears, though, Fleming tells Anderton that Witwer and Lisa are indeed plotting together, leaving Anderton terribly confused as to who he can trust. Over the course of the story, Witwer loses his initial over-confidence, realizing that he does not fully grasp what is transpiring because he doesn’t have Anderton’s wisdom and experience. For example, Witwer permits Kaplan to make a copy of the precognitive tapes, not realizing Kaplan’s plot until Anderson explains it to him. At the end of the story, Witwer indeed has Anderton’s job—in the wake of killing Kaplan, Anderton has to flee the planet—but Witwer is no longer so sure of himself. In their final exchange, Anderton informs Witwer that, as the new head of Precrime, he must watch out for the same predicament. Although Witwer initially makes Anderton feel paranoid and old and insecure, Witwer later functions to reinforce Anderton’s superior understanding of precognitive dynamics.
Witwer Quotes in The Minority Report
The The Minority Report quotes below are all either spoken by Witwer or refer to Witwer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Section 1 Quotes
“You’ve probably grasped the basic legalistic drawback to precrime methodology. We’re taking in individuals who have broken no law.”
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After meeting Witwer, Anderton gives him a brief tour of the Precrime facility. As they walk, they discuss various practical and theoretical aspects of Precrime, including “the basic legalistic drawback” of the system: that the would-be criminals locked away in detention camps are technically innocent. Legalistically, this is a major strike against the justice of the system Anderton has created. On the one hand, Precrime has virtually eliminated major felonies, including murder, which is a remarkable feat. On the other hand, though, it has accomplished this by detaining individuals who have not (yet) committed a crime without giving them so Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Poss
Section 2 Quotes
“I’m being framed—deliberately and maliciously. This creature is out to get my job. The Senate is getting at me through him.”
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After reading the precognitive report with his name listed as a murderer, Anderton immediately believes that he is being framed, discarding the possibility that the report is true and that he is really going to commit such a crime. He suspects everyone around him of being in on the plot, including Witwer and Lisa. His initial theory, which he shares with Lisa in this passage, is that the Senate is working to oust him from his position as Police Commissioner. To Lisa, Anderton’s words sound like the ramblings of a paranoid madman, but Anderton is actually not all that far Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti
Section 5 Quotes
“…unanimity of all three precogs is a hoped-for but seldom-achieved phenomenon, acting-Commissioner Witwer explains. It is much more common to obtain a collaborative majority report of two precogs, plus a minority report of some slight variation, usually with reference to time and place, from the third mutant. This is explained by the theory of multiple-futures. If only one time-path existed, precognitive information would be of no importance, since no possibility would exist, in possessing this information, of altering the future.”
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In this passage, Anderton is in hiding at a hotel and listening to a radio announcement. The announcement warns the public that Anderton is on the loose, and provides an explanation of how Precrime utilizes the precogs to prevent crime, helping to fill in the gaps for both Anderton and the reader. As part of that explanation, the broadcast explains the theory of multiple futures or time-paths. According to this theory, the future is not pre-determined. If it were, Precrime officers would not be able to utilize precognitive data and their free will to alter the future by preventing crimes. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delec
Section 7 Quotes
“You’ve convinced me that you’re innocent. I mean, it’s obvious that you won’t commit a murder. But you must realize now that the original report, the majority report, was not a fake. Nobody falsified it. Ed Witwer didn’t create it. There’s no plot against you, and there never was. If you’re going to accept this minority report as genuine you’ll have to accept the majority one, also.”
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While they are flying the ship away from the police station, Lisa attempts to dissuade Anderton of some of his paranoid suspicions. From the start, Anderton has suspected Witwer of being involved in the plot against him, but Lisa presents him with two types of evidence against this idea: first, having spoken to Witwer, she is convinced that he is a good man who wants what is best for Precrime. Second, she uses logic to demonstrate that the majority report was correct and not a fake. She highlights that if Anderton believes in the validity of the minority report, and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignis
Section 10 Quotes
“Each report was different,” Anderton concluded. “Each was unique. But two of them agreed on one point. If left free, I would kill Kaplan. That created the illusion of a majority report. Actually, that’s all it was—an illusion. ‘Donna’ and ‘Mike’ previewed the same event—but in two totally different time-paths, occurring under totally different situations.”
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Here, Witwer and Anderton have a final conversation in which Anderton explains to his replacement what has just transpired. Anderton’s explanation also ties up loose ends for the reader, revealing that instead of there being one minority report, there were actually three. Each report was unique and previewed a different time-path. And although two of the reports foresaw Anderton murdering Kaplan—giving the “illusion of a majority report”—they did so on two different time-paths and under different circumstances. Anderton’s explanation suggests that every report should be studied and considered on its own, but it also points to the power of free Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates
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Witwer Character Timeline in The Minority Report
The timeline below shows where the character Witwer appears in The Minority Report. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Section 1
Anderton shakes Witwer’s hand warmly, but he privately worries that he’s getting “Bald and fat and old.” Witwer...
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As they walk through the office, Anderton and Witwer discuss the basics of how Precrime works: with the help of “precog mutants,” Precrime has...
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Witwer shockingly beholds the “Vegetable-like” precogs. He is somewhat taken aback by their “deformed” and enslaved...
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Anderton proudly informs Witwer that Precrime has reduced felonies by 99.8 percent, and that the last murder was five...
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Section 2
Anderton and Witwer walk past the Precrime outer office. Inside, Lisa—Anderton’s “slim and attractive young wife”—engages Page in...
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Noticing Witwer’s “admiring scrutiny,” Lisa introduces herself, asking him where he is from. Observing their friendly interaction,...
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...didn’t look at it closely enough, darling.” Having assumed the card indicated he would murder Witwer, Anderton is surprised to see a name he does not know: Leopold Kaplan.
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Section 3
...him. “Didn’t she even hesitate?” Anderton asks, assuming the man is a police offer that Witwer and Lisa have sent. But, much to Anderton’s surprise, the man takes Anderton to see...
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...duplicate cards, which is why Kaplan knows already. Pleading his innocence, Anderton tells Kaplan that Witwer and Lisa are “acting in concert, apparently.” Kaplan admits that this is a possibility, but...
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Section 6
...he realizes. Trembling in anticipation, Anderton copies the report, but then thinks to himself that Witwer has surely already seen the report, so showing it to him will not prove Anderton’s...
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Section 7
...report as genuine you’ll have to accept the majority one, also.” She continues, explaining that Witwer is a good man who wants Precrime to succeed. If he were involved in a...
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...precognitive tape reel, he proceeds to lay out the plot: “Kaplan is working directly with Witwer,” and “[Lisa] was back of the whole thing.” As Lisa protests the charge, Fleming crouches...
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...Lisa is innocent after all. Calling back to the station, Anderton speaks to a surprised Witwer, insisting he close down the precog room. But Witwer explains that Kaplan was just there...
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Section 8
Back at the station, Anderton informs Witwer that Page is a spy who has been passing information to Kaplan. Kaplan—who just left...
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Section 10
...pack up to leave for Centaurus X, Anderton ties up a few loose threads for Witwer: there were three minority reports, each of which covered a different time-path. In the first,...
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