Mr White...
Walter.
One begins watching Breaking Bad knowing that we will see the
evolution of a man. One, however may not anticipate how our perception
of this one protagonist, Walter White, would transform from one of
empathy and compassion to a sad resignation of watching the Fall of one
human to an anihilation of one spirit. What I watched was the fall of
Prometheus, the fall of Lucifer, one man who attempted to "build an
empire", steal fire from the "gods", and "be like the Most high" and
descend to the depths of evil, the evil of the transformation of a good
CREATION to separation from all he loved and attempted to protect.
Breaking Bad may be the story of how the "the road to hell is
paved with good intentions." Most approaching the show will know that
Walter begins "cooking" and creating Meth Amphetamine with the GOOD and
assumed noble of intentions of leaving money for his family to
continue to live on after he has died, a means to an end, though those
means may be distasteful.
We learn that Walter has Lung Cancer and that it is his definite death that drives him to make the decision to begin and engage in this criminal activity. We assume that this is a good, timid man who makes the desperate choice to begin selling drugs for love of his family. The average viewer, myself included, at the beginning of the show, hopes that somehow by the end of Season 6, Mr. White will find redemption, that somewhere along the way the end will justify the means, and even that at some point Walter will begin to "fix" the negatives he will do by somehow doing good. We hope for redemption.
With each episode and season, this begins to not be the case. As I watched the show I saw seceding actions away from his own humanity. The first was the murder of that first drug dealer in Jesse's basement, then allowing and watching Jesse's girlfriend, Jane, choke and die on her own vomit, (someone whom he could have saved quickly), then Mr White killed Jesse's drug dealer competitors running over and then shooting them, the poisoning of Jesse's girl friend's son, ordering the assassination of Gale, the assassination of Gus, etc.
We learn that Walter has Lung Cancer and that it is his definite death that drives him to make the decision to begin and engage in this criminal activity. We assume that this is a good, timid man who makes the desperate choice to begin selling drugs for love of his family. The average viewer, myself included, at the beginning of the show, hopes that somehow by the end of Season 6, Mr. White will find redemption, that somewhere along the way the end will justify the means, and even that at some point Walter will begin to "fix" the negatives he will do by somehow doing good. We hope for redemption.
With each episode and season, this begins to not be the case. As I watched the show I saw seceding actions away from his own humanity. The first was the murder of that first drug dealer in Jesse's basement, then allowing and watching Jesse's girlfriend, Jane, choke and die on her own vomit, (someone whom he could have saved quickly), then Mr White killed Jesse's drug dealer competitors running over and then shooting them, the poisoning of Jesse's girl friend's son, ordering the assassination of Gale, the assassination of Gus, etc.
The question one begins to ask is, are these questions
of a good man descending into depravity and moral evil or evidence of a
man who always was evil and self serving but in which circumstances
and the disrobing of his personal timidity REVEALED, Mr. White's true
character.
Several moments throughout the 6 seasons suggest maybe Walter always was who is actions revealed him to be, Heisenberg. There was the flash back where we see Mr White with Skyler, his wife, buying their home. Here we clearly see Skyler, liking the house and wanting to buy it and make an offer but Mr. White suggests that maybe they can find something better and more, that somehow this small and quaint house was not ambitious enough. Later we also see him turn down an offer to have all of his chemotherapy and treatments payed for by his wealthy friends out of a sense of "pride". We later learn that it was his selling the small percentage of that company (which made them wealthy) which was one of the KEY motivations for his later wanting to build and leave "an empire". The audience begins to learn of this deeply ground hurt "pride" which fuels most of his actions. Finally, in the last episode we see his final confession to Skyler that the actions that he took and his choices, were for himself and not them, however by this point it seems too late for redemption, it's as if he's sealed his fate.
Several moments throughout the 6 seasons suggest maybe Walter always was who is actions revealed him to be, Heisenberg. There was the flash back where we see Mr White with Skyler, his wife, buying their home. Here we clearly see Skyler, liking the house and wanting to buy it and make an offer but Mr. White suggests that maybe they can find something better and more, that somehow this small and quaint house was not ambitious enough. Later we also see him turn down an offer to have all of his chemotherapy and treatments payed for by his wealthy friends out of a sense of "pride". We later learn that it was his selling the small percentage of that company (which made them wealthy) which was one of the KEY motivations for his later wanting to build and leave "an empire". The audience begins to learn of this deeply ground hurt "pride" which fuels most of his actions. Finally, in the last episode we see his final confession to Skyler that the actions that he took and his choices, were for himself and not them, however by this point it seems too late for redemption, it's as if he's sealed his fate.
