The world's a jungle. You want my advice, Anthony? Don't expect happiness. You won't get it. People let you down...in the end, you die in your own arms.

-- Livia Soprano, giving advice to Anthony, Jr.

There's a theme of rugged individualism (dare I say, "libertarianism?") that runs through The Sopranos. At the very least, there's a sense that we're all responsible for our own actions. Such is why the show's protagonist, Tony Soprano, is subject to anxiety attacks, needs anti-depressant medication to function, and frequents a shrink. He's forever trapped by the realization that he's not a legitimate person. He can't be a father, or a husband, so long as the moral realities of his mob life continue to haunt him. He wants desperately to raise his kids right, to teach them responsibility and right-from-wrong. But he can't, because he has no moral authority to stand upon when it comes time to admonish them. "Oh, listen to you, Mr. Mob Boss," Meadow says, when he attempts to tell her she's making a mistake by skipping college for Europe. And last season, when A.J. dips into mischief after learning the truth behind his dad's "waste management business," Tony's helpless when it comes to straightening him out. Tony can hide behind the moral code of the mafia. He can attempt to lose himself in his "legitimate" life - his family. But in the end, he's challenged to reconcile the irreconcilable: he's a liar, a thief and a murderer. And that's how he makes his living. No amount of twist or spin or revisionist code he puts on those truths can change them. They are in fact truths, and the truth will continue to gnaw at Tony's soul until he owns up to it. Ultimately, he's responsible for his person.

The theme of individualism has played itself out in other aspects of the show as well. I've referenced it in a previous review, but a most telling and understated display of the theme occurred last season, when a state's witness to a murder carried out by Tony and Big Pussy was seen in his home reading Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State and Utopia. Nozick was a widely respected Harvard philosopher and libertarian (or, at least, a classical liberal). He believed in a minimalist state, and that individuals ought to be held accountable for the choices they make - and they ought to be free to make them. Nozick believed that one of the few legitimate functions of the state was to protect us from one another. Just after the shot of the witness reading Nozick, he learns that the murder he witnessed was not a random act, but rather one perpetrated by the Soprano crime family. Shaken, he recants his testimony. That's a pretty powerful statement coming from the Sopranos' creators. We can't count on the state for even the most basic of governmental functions - protecting us from harm. Ultimately, we're all on our own. We die in our own arms.