Character Analysis
The Dude is the main attraction, the head honcho, the chairman of the board, His Supreme and Just Dudeness. You get the picture: he's the protagonist. Not to mention one of the most memorable and quoted movie characters of all time as well as the inspiration for a new religion.
The Laziest Man in the World
When we first meet The Dude, he's not presented as a hero. He's not even presented as an antihero. He's described as "the laziest man in L.A., which puts him in the running for laziest in the world." And everything he does pretty much screams "lazy": paying for Half & Half with a check, renting a crappy apartment, spending time bowling and on not much else, and getting mellow on White Russians. (For all of you folks under the legal drinking age, that's vodka, Kahlua, and cream. Or, in The Dude's case, Half & Half.)
The Dude is a loser, but he's a lovable loser. Sure, he's lazy, but he's not harming anybody. He's a pacifist: he doesn't want to get in any fights, he doesn't want to cause a commotion, he doesn't even want to disturb other people's bowling games. He just wants to burn a jay, drink a White Russian, and listen to Bob Dylan while lying down on his beloved rug. He's got a kind of bemused detachment from life, just watching things unfold and taking things as they come. Basically, he just wants to be left alone, but instead, he's dragged out of his typical environment into a complicated, ridiculous caper that really has nothing to do with him. He's a peaceful, non-materialistic guy who becomes surrounded by violent, materialistic types.
Regardless of who we are, we can all see a little bit of ourselves in The Dude. Even the most driven, type-A person sometimes just wants to mellow out and daydream. From the start, The Dude comes across as a sympathetic character. And a lucky one—how does he pay rent on that apartment when he doesn't work? We never find out.
The Dude Identity
The Dude knows who he is:
THE DUDE: Look, nobody calls me Lebowski. You got the wrong guy. I'm The Dude, man.
And he's decidedly single:
THE DUDE: You see a wedding ring? Does this place look like I'm f***ing married? All my plants are dead!
But the Dude has a past. He was an antiwar activist in his college days. As he explains to Maude:
THE DUDE: I was, uh, one of the authors of the Port Huron Statement. The original Port Huron Statement.
MAUDE: Uh-huh.
THE DUDE: Not the compromised second draft. And then I, uh ... Ever hear of the Seattle Seven? […] That was me … and six other guys.
Those are pretty serious activist credentials. The Port Huron Statement was a mission statement of a radical student group in the 1960s. Later, it was revised, and many of the original drafters backed off from their earlier stances. But not The Dude. He was hardcore. You gotta love the juxtaposition here of The Dude asserting his radical past while lying in bed smoking a joint after sex, being his usual checked-out self.
The Dude is definitely a man of the 1960s, and the ethos of that era was one of free love, equality, and grooviness. Although the revolution didn't quite shake out as everybody wanted, its practitioners are still trying to carry forth those good vibes. The Dude is one of those faithful practitioners. How faithful? He's got the major requirement for a child of the revolution:
THE DUDE: I'll tell you the truth, Brandt, I don't remember most of it. Jeez! F*** me!
We can only speculate how The Dude went from political activist to stoner/slacker. Maybe he just took pacifism to its ultimate conclusion. Or, he thinks he paid his dues and now it's time to chill. There was a war about to start in 1991, but The Dude sits that one out. One person who analyzed the film thought he just gave up—with a president like George H. W. Bush in charge, what can you do? (Source)
In one scene in The Dude's apartment, we see the books on his shelf and table. One of them is Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre, which is a treatise on free will. We think The Dude probably likes the title (the nothingness part), and the Coens liked the irony. The Dude doesn't seem to have much free will in this movie.
The Dude Supremacy
As we get to know The Dude better, we learn that he's actually got a pretty solid moral core despite the fact that he tends not to ever do anything. Take Walter's plan to give the kidnappers the ringer briefcase: The Dude is firmly against it. When the plan goes awry, The Dude is torn apart with "un-Dude" worry about Bunny Lebowski:
THE DUDE: They're gonna kill that poor woman!
He's a faithful friend to Walter even though he thinks his preoccupation with 'Nam and his rigid rules for life are ridiculous. He's nice to Donny, whom Walter is always insulting. He's not all that judgmental, but he will call people on their BS when he sees it. Like when he doesn't let Jackie Treehorn get away with pretending he's more than just a porn king:
THE DUDE: How's the smut business, Jackie?
TREEHORN: I wouldn't know, Dude. I deal in publishing, entertainment, political advocacy, and …
THE DUDE: Which one was Logjammin'?
In general, he's pretty direct, speaks his mind (what's left of it), and doesn't much care what people think of him. He's a very practical guy; throughout the film, he just tries to do what he thinks to do to get out of the whole complicated mess.
Our favorite detail that shows The Dude's basic decency is that he keeps his promise to his landlord, who asks him to attend his dance performance. The audience has probably forgotten about this minor scene, but The Dude remembers and gets his buddies to go to the performance with him. It's a totally bizarre and hilarious performance, but promises are promises. It's an act of kindness. Of course, The Dude probably owes him months of back rent, but somehow, that doesn't seem to be his motivation. He's just not a suck-up.
As it turns out, successful "squares" in the film like the Big Lebowski do bad stuff all the time. They may look like they've got money and class, but that's not always true. By showing us the world through the eyes of The Dude, The Big Lebowski knocks the more successful Big Lebowski off his pedestal. It turns out the laziest man in the world might actually be a better guy than a shady multimillionaire with a charity for impoverished children. The Dude has realized the true meaning of life: minding your own business, being a good friend, and trying your best not to hurt anyone. And bowling.
The Dude's Timeline