Common Sense Ethics
  • Blog
  • About
  • My Books
  • Parenting Resources
  • Personal Growth Resources
  • Book Summaries
  • Contact Me

Breaking Bad's Secret Message: Actions Have Consequences 

12/5/2013

4 Comments

 
Picture
Most people watch television to be entertained. AMC’s popular series Breaking Bad, is a rare show which entertains and does something infinity more important; it examines serious moral issues in grave detail. Vince Gilligan, the creator of the show, stated, “If there’s a larger lesson to Breaking Bad, it's that actions have consequences.”

The actions in question often relate to the downward spiral of the show’s anti-hero, Walter White, who after a cancer diagnosis, goes from ordinary high school chemistry teacher to brilliant and violent meth kingpin. While overtly a modern Western about science, drugs, and criminality, Breaking Bad is secretly a moral treatise.

Widely touted as one of the best television series of all time, Breaking Bad concluded in September 2013. The show has also been criticized for its grittiness, cynicism and lack of humanity. There may be certain times when viewers will inevitably feel cynical because the show accurately portrays human failings, consequences and the tendency for self deceit. All moral choices are human, but some are just not pro-humanity. The show's deeper purpose is to realistically explore overarching themes of moral choice, personal conduct, responsibility, self-deception, and karma.

Note: if you have not seen the entire series, there are spoilers below.


Plot

Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad chronicles the descent of its characters into a life of crime and moral corruption. The plot centers on family man and chemistry teacher Walter White, who is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Concerned about who will provide for his wife, Skyler, handicapped son Flynn, and infant daughter in the event of his death, Walt turns to cooking crystal meth with a former student, Jessie Pinkman.

Walt is a brilliant chemist and failed entrepreneur, who initially gets the idea to cook meth from his brother-in-law, Hank, an officer in the Drug Enforcement Agency. Walt is proud, and refuses to accept money from wealthy former business associates to pay for his expensive chemotherapy. As Walt becomes more successful in his drug operation, his wife grows suspicious of his constant absences and dishonesty. Walt and Jesse are drawn further into the chaos and violence of the drug game, and Walt is forced to reveal his occupation to his wife, who reluctantly decides to enable and conceal his illegal actions.

Over the course of five seasons, Walt becomes increasingly cocky, violent, and relentless in his pursuit of success in the drug world at all costs. He murders his boss, Gustavo Fring, leading him to become the biggest meth kingpin in the Southwest. Walt's ruthlessness and constant manipulation eventually alienate his increasingly despondent partner, Jesse, who decides to out Walt to Hank and the DEA. The characters' collective choices lead to Hank's murder, Jesse's imprisonment, and Walt's death in the final season. Walt's ultimate acceptance of responsibility for his actions leads to a final act of atonement by freeing Jesse, and redemption before he dies of wounds inflicted during Jesse's release.

Moral Choice in Breaking Bad

Nearly every character in Breaking Bad makes poor moral choices and lacks a consistent code of ethics.

Walt originally starts out as a sympathetic character, and some viewers continue to empathize with him, even as his personal conduct becomes increasingly depraved. He is an archetypal everyman struggling to provide for his family, when he is struck down by cancer in mid-life. At first, his choice to cook and sell meth seems to make sense; he needs the money and he has nothing to loose.

However, Walt always had other options that he could have chosen, and the show's ending proves that he does have a lot to loose. He could have accepted financial help for his treatment. The risks that Walt takes outweigh the benefits, and the viewer can sense that negative consequences are forthcoming. Walt ends up destroying his family as a result of the choices he makes.

Walt's poor ethics contribute to his downfall. He values the rights of family and close associates like Jesse, over the rights of others outside of his circle. He has fewer qualms about causing harm to non-family members. His actions are based on erroneous ethical beliefs, biased by his own self interest. Harm is still harm whether it is done to to family or strangers, and whether it is caused through willful ignorance, or overt wrong actions. Walt has cooked crystal meth, killed seven people, and been implicated in the deaths of many more. He poisoned a child and watched a girl die in order to keep Jesse under his control. Walt is a manipulator and a control freak who draws people into his web.

Walt's poor moral choices are corrupting, and in this sense he is not so different from Jesse, which is why the two characters are tragically linked. However, Jesse is not as out of touch with consequences of his actions. Jesse has morals, but he allows bad things to happen because he refuses to take responsibility and assert himself. Jesse aimlessly drifts through life without a purpose, unsatisfied and wallowing in self pity, which is typical of addicts. Only loosing everything, including his freedom, leads him to embrace what life has to offer at then end of the final season.

Some viewers are unduly harsh towards Walt's wife Skyler. Skyler finds herself alone and constantly deceived by by her husband, and she chooses to have an affair to distract herself from the turmoil of her marriage. Her affair is a predictable response, although not an ethical one.

Skyler's behavior is typical of what people do when they feel that someone else is forcing things on them without their consent, but when they also don’t want to leave to relationship. Leaving would probably be the only right thing for Skyler to do in order to enforce her boundaries, since Walt treats her so badly at times and endangers her and her children. Instead, she reluctantly chooses to enable his illegal activity.

The third to last Breaking Bad episode is titled Ozymandius, after the 1818 sonnets by Percy Shelley and Horace Smith, about the impermanence and downfall of all great men and empires. The message here is that Walt built his empire with the wrong kind of material, and therefore it will not last. Personal integrity and good character are the only things that gives a person security in life. Not material success, and certainly not poor moral choices which bring about one's downfall thorough unintended consequences. It is what is inside, real character, that matters.


Self Deception and Internal Conflict

I write a lot about self deception at Common Sense Ethics, and Walt is an extreme example of a character who deceives himself. Walt has always felt that he was an underachiever and failure because he prematurely sold his share of a successful scientific company. In a culture which values finical success, Walt is driven by his desire to gain what he thinks he lacks before he dies. Walt is not introspective or self accepting, and he lets his subliminal desires and feelings of inadequacy drive him into self destructive behavior. Yet at the same time, he genuinely feels bad about some of the negative actions he takes.

Walt takes on the dealer pseudonym Heisenberg. Heisenberg was a physicist who developed the uncertainly principle in quantum mechanics, which holds that no thing has a definite trajectory, rather the thing is indeterminate or uncertain until it is observed by a conscious entity. Walt's pseudonym is symbolic, and his change into Heisenberg is based on his own internal conflict and uncertainty. Walt’s reflection in broken mirrors is used to illustrate his lack of integrity and the duality of the internal contradictions that he struggles with.

Walt tries to justify his actions with ultimate goal of supporting his family. But logically, the argument that he is cooking and selling meth to support his family just doesn’t hold up, because he was offered outside help and money for his treatment. If Walt was really willing to look at his own beliefs and behaviors, he would see that his actions are actually at odds with the goal of helping his family. Walt finally admits this to himself after destroying his family loosing everything. He is ultimately a tragic character.


Responsibility

One point that I frequently try to drive home is that every moral choice carries responsibility. Walt steadfastly refuses to accept responsibility for his actions in the meth game. He makes excuses and shifts blame onto others around him, especially when things do not go his way.

Jesse also lacks responsibility since he refuses to stand up to Walt until the end of the series. Walt manipulates, and Jessie does not assert himself enough, allowing himself to be drawn into harmful situations that he never really wanted. Both Jesse and Skyler have poor personal boundaries when it comes to standing up to Walt, and they both suffer negative consequences for their failure to assert themselves.

Gustavo Fring has a twisted sense of responsibility which allows him to rationalize his ruthlessness when he feels it is necessary. Gus believes that, “A man provides. And he does it even when he's not appreciated, or respected, or even loved. He simply bears up and he does it. Because he's a man.”

Contrast Walt's irresponsible behavior with Hank's, and Hank turns out to be more of the hero in the series. Hank is better husband than Walt is. He accepts responsibility for his mistakes, including when he is faced with termination after assaulting Jesse in Season 3. Hank’s death results in Walt’s transformation and redemption.

After Hank dies and Walt loses everything, Walt finally takes responsibility for his actions. Walt admits to Sklyer what the flustered viewer has always known: that it was not really about supporting his family. It was all about Walt's ego, the thrill, and the sense of accomplishment that he derived from the meth game. Walt is an anti-hero, and the viewer should not forgive his transgressions until he ultimately tries to redeem himself and accepts responsibility for his actions.


Karma and Consequences

Karma simply means cause and effect. Every effect has its cause. What ultimately transpires in Breaking Bad is the result of a chain of events originating with the characters’ actions. Violence begets violence and the cycle is perpetuated. Corruption and suffering are often the result of poor moral choices.

Some viewers will take away the message that bad guys go unpunished. I would argue the opposite is true. People DO get what they deserve, although it is not always in the form of criminal justice. Each character bears the consequences of their negative and self destructive actions.

Walt’s life becomes a living hell. Hank ends up dead because in his frantic pursuit of Walt, he stubbornly refuses to investigate the case through official DEA channels. Skyler winds up broken and alone for engaging in illegal activities, and lying to protect Walt. Jesse lives in a prison of his own making until he is finally freed.

The show's creator Vince Gilligan believes that “Breaking Bad takes place in a universe where nobody gets away with anything and karma is the great uncredited player in the cast.” What makes Breaking Bad great, is that the show's rules and moral universe are no different from our own.

4 Comments
curtis carpenter link
3/16/2021 10:34:41 am

I think breaking bad taught us there are no actions without consequences, that you can only get away with it for so long. In the long run the sum of the right and wrong choices adds up like on a weighted scale. Could you commit the perfect crime? Yes. Yet not at any greater consequence then the consequences of the doing the wrong thing leading to their own conclusion. In life you may have plans but the world works the way its meant to be made.

Reply
Leah
3/16/2021 02:29:03 pm

Hi Curtis, thanks for commenting. Yes, I agree. When I think back to having watched Breaking Bad, I can't get over how unlikeable most of the characters are.

Reply
Michael
9/12/2021 02:47:53 pm

Thank you for this analysis, well thought out, but why all the spelling mistakes that distract the reader?

Reply
Leah
10/5/2021 11:03:45 am

Thanks. I'll have to run it through grammarly. I'm not good at proofing my own stuff.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Don't Miss A Post!

    Sign up to receive updates and special announcements!

    Thank You For Subscribing to Common Sense Ethics!

    You have successfully joined my email list. 

    .
    Picture

    About Me:

    Thank you for your interest in Common Sense Ethics! I'm Leah, a librarian and freelance editor with a background in history and philosophy.
    ​

    Most Popular Blog Posts:

    3 Unpopular (But Likely Correct) Opinions According to Cicero

    Beauty in Philosophy, Ethics and Art: A Conversation with David Fideler

    5 Ways to Counterbalance an Ugly and Barren Cultural Landscape

    How Propaganda Makes us Psychologically Totalitarian

    5 Things That You Need to be Happy According to Cicero

    5 Wholesome Character Education Books to Read to Your Child

    Why is Politics so Divisive?

    9 Great Critical Thinking Books for Children and Teens

    Why You Should Create Your Own Culture to Be Happier

    How to Make Yourself Immune to Propaganda

    ​The 10 Best Philosophy Books For Beginners

    The 13 Types of Modern Stoics...Which One Are You?

    How to be a Badass According to Cicero

    Quick Guide: Understanding and Applying Stoic Ethics in Modern Life

    Download My Stoic Printables For Tough Days:

    Picture

    Watch Common Sense Ethics On YouTube:


    Support CSE:

    Picture
    Picture
    Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com


    Topics:

    All
    According To Cicero Series
    Aesthetics
    Alasdair Macintyre
    Albert Einstein
    American Revolution
    Ancient Greece
    Ancient Rome
    Anger
    Antiauthoritarianism
    Applied Philosophy
    Aristotle
    Assertiveness
    Beauty
    Book Reviews
    Books And Reading
    Buddhism
    Carl Jung
    Cause And Effect
    Character Flaws
    Cicero
    Classical Education
    Cognitive Bias
    Consequence Based Ethics
    Consumerism
    Cosmology
    Covert Manipulation
    Critical Thinking
    Culture
    Cynicism
    Death
    Descartes
    Destructive Behavior
    Economics
    Edmund Burke
    Education
    Egalitarianism
    Emotions
    Epictetus
    Ethical Objectivism
    Family
    Fortitude
    Francis-bacon
    Freedom
    Freedom Of Speech
    Free Speech
    George-r-r-martin
    George-r-r-martin
    God
    Golden Rule
    Good Character
    Government
    Gratitude
    Happiness
    Heraclitus
    History
    Immanuel Kant
    Individual Rights
    Information Literacy
    Inner Life
    Integrity
    Introspection
    Intuition
    Iron Law Of Oligarchy
    Jaques Ellul
    John Locke
    John Sellars
    John Stuart Mill
    Jules Evans
    Karma
    Left-right Brain Balance
    Left-right Political Spectrum
    Liberal Democracy
    Literature
    Logic
    Marcus Aurelius
    Marriage
    Marx
    Mastering Emotion
    Media
    Metaethics
    Mindfullness
    Moderation/temperance
    Modern Stoicism
    Moral Relativism
    Moral Universalism
    Mortality
    Movies
    Musonius Rufus
    Musonius-rufus
    Natural Law
    Natural Rights
    Natural World
    Negative Freedom
    Negative-rights
    Neoplatonism
    Non Aggression
    Normative Ethics
    Normative-ethics
    Objectivismsubjectivism
    Oligarchy
    Parenting
    Personal Development
    Philosophy For Beginners
    Pierre Hadot
    Plato
    Politics
    Propaganda
    Psychology
    Pythagoreanism
    Relaxed Mental State
    Renaissance
    Responsibility
    Rhetoric
    Right Vs. Wrong Actions
    Robert Nozik
    Roger Scruton
    Self Defense
    Self Discipline
    Seneca
    Sexuality
    Simple Living
    Socrates
    Socratic Method
    Stoicism
    Stoic Meditation
    Stoic Virtues
    Television
    The Shadow
    Thomas Hobbes
    Traditionalism
    Trivium
    Utilitarianism
    Videos
    Violence
    Virtue Ethics
    War

    Archives:

    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013


    ​Book of the Month: Journal Like a Stoic by Brittany Polat

    Picture


    ​Personal Growth Resources:

    Picture
    Use this in-depth questionnaire to learn more about your faults and subconscious motivations.


    Understanding and Applying Stoic Ethics In Modern Life:

    Picture


    ​Follow Common Sense Ethics on Pinterest:

    Picture


    ​Join the Stoic Parents Facebook Group:

    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.