Social Issues In Breaking Bad

The hit television series Breaking Bad focuses on the journey of a chemistry teacher, Walter White, recently diagnosed with cancer. He then turns to manufacturing methamphetamines to support his family. In the first episode, Walter seeks out a former student involved in the world of drugs, Jesse Pinkman, to help him. They become business partners in the ruthless world of drugs and climb their way to the top together. Breaking Bad dives into Walter’s and Jesse’s lives and experiences, which exposes the similarities and the differences between them. Walter White is an ordinary man at the beginning of Breaking Bad. He is a chemistry teacher, a husband, and a father. After Walter’s fiftieth birthday and his diagnosis of lung cancer, he

Jesse is a “low-level drug dealer and user, living an aimless and dissolute life” (Majid par 4) when Walter first approaches him, but nevertheless he is eager to make money. Although Jesse involves himself with the manufacturing and the use of drugs prior to meeting Walter, Jesse is not a chemist as Walter is. However, in their business partnership, Jesse handles dealing Blue Sky either to drug users or to other drug dealers. Throughout Breaking Bad, Jesse’s mental and emotional stability fluctuates dramatically. Unlike Walter, Jesse does not have a family to support him due to his recreational drug use. Often, he suffers from dark periods of severe depression and uses drugs and alcohol to cope. Although Jesse puts on a tough persona, he is emotional, forgiving, and naïve. Walter tries to push him to be brutal, but Jesse can never force himself to harm others. Occasionally, Jesse thinks about the destruction their business causes. He and Walter are responsible for the murder of multiple people, including a child, but their destructive path does not faze Walter, only Jesse. Eventually, Walter makes Jesse grasp his weakness. As Walter’s business partner, Jesse does well for himself financially, but he never sees the money as the most important object in his life. More than once, Jesse tells Walter that he wants out of the crystal methamphetamine business, but Walter prevents him from

In the beginning of Breaking Bad, they agree to go into business together because they are both desperate for money because of their illnesses. Jesse struggles with a reoccurring drug habit and Walter has stage three lung cancer. Their desire for money begins their journey into the drug world as prominent drug lords. Another major similarity is their grim time with their families. Both characters experience abandonment at one point or another whether that involves a family member or an outside business partner. Jesse’s parents kick him out due to his drug usage, and Walter’s wife and son leave him when they find out about his secret life. Although they play distinct roles in the production of Blue Sky, both Walter and Jesse are the only people with the recipe. Their product binds them together, so they both understand the magnitude of keeping the recipe hidden. Both Walter and Jesse recognize the seriousness of their illegal activity and go to extreme measures to hide their identities when Heisenberg and his associates become the Drug Enforcement Administration’s top priority. In addition, “over the course of the show’s span, [viewers] see Walt forced to go ever deeper into criminal activity (including multiple murders, arson and poisoning a child) in order to protect his business, his freedom, his family and the sometimes-hapless Jesse” (Majid par 4). While Jesse