I am posting a sample student essay from the essay 3 prompt below. I will be distributing and discussing other samples in class tomorrow. However, this essay is quite long (nearly nine full pages), so you can read and study it here on the blog. It is quite an unusual approach to the essay, and a very compelling and well written one. (I have not included the Works Cited page.)
Seven and Seven
Life
has been hard on Walt, expressed by the deep scars on his face that convey a losing
battle with time and with staying true to himself. Walter White, from the television series, Breaking Bad, has never been able to
fully be himself, and is too busy being the man others want him to be. It is not until he is diagnosed with
cancer that his true form emerges from the shadows: Heisenberg. The beautiful thing about Walter is that
from the outside, it is easy to apply society’s morals to him, but from his perspective,
he is liberated from being caged within himself, just as he tells Jesse when
asked his motivation to cook meth, “I am free.” Cancer is the
best thing to happen to Mr. White. It is no secret that Walter lives a double life, but it is
deeper than that. Walter White is
the epitome of a walking dichotomy: good and bad, right and wrong, Walter and
Heisenberg. His ability to comfort and care does not make him the protagonist;
his rash actions and pride do not force him to be the antagonist. Walter White
is very much both virtuous and sinful, and everything in between.
Defining Walter as the
protagonist is natural. He is the underdog in a vicious world, just trying to make
ends meet. Working two jobs, as a high school chemistry teacher and a clerk at
a local carwash, he tries to provide for his growing family. He continually allows people to step
all over him; he even wipes down cars for Bogdan when he is only supposed to be
responsible for the cash register.
We all see ourselves in this person; we all want to do better and tell those
who step on us, “Fuck you! …and your eyebrows.”
Defining
Heisenberg as the antagonist is also natural. He is a violent, manipulative
man, willing to do anything to get his way. Going to Jesse and threatening him
with the authorities if he refuses to cook with him, Heisenberg shows his
manipulation at a very early stage in the show.
Though
as a collective, Walt and Heisenberg are the black and white area of good and
evil, there is a lot of grey area.
To fill the void between these two polarized characteristics, the
definition of good and evil must be expanded. While making a list to weigh out the repercussions of
killing or letting Krazy-8 go, Walt writes down Judeo-Christian principles as a
reason to let him live. Looking
further into Christian principles of right and wrong—the seven deadly sins and
the seven cardinal virtues make an appearance. Walter fits this criterion. He is no longer white or black, but a full greyscale
spectrum ranging from Omnibenevolence to Omnimalevolence.
The
seven deadly sins are a widely popular known set of ethical vices. As Walter has Heisenberg, each deadly
sin has an opposite: the seven cardinal virtues. Walter demonstrates examples of each of the seven virtues and
seven sins: chastity and lust; temperance and gluttony; charity and greed; diligence and sloth; patience and wrath;
kindness and envy, and lastly, humility and pride. Having any of the virtues is
ground to making a good protagonist. Likewise, committing any of the seven sins
is a compelling argument for being an antagonist. Together, Walter White and
Heisenberg commit all fourteen.
Chastity
and Lust.
Chastity,
or knowledge, is the virtue opposite of the sin, lust. By being extremely intelligent and
having the motivation to always think ahead, Walt primarily expresses this
virtue in the form of knowledge and expertise. From not wanting to dispose of the bodies in the desert to
prevent getting caught, to noticing that pseudoephedrine is becoming scarce and
wanting to use methylamine instead, Walter is always planning ahead. His knowledge extends to wisdom when he
analyzes his surroundings for clues and definite answers. Knowing that a broken plate could be a
weapon, Walt has the intuition to check the garbage to verify Krazy-8’s
intent. The most profound example of
his knowledge is found within the premise of the show itself. Breaking
Bad never presents viewers with Walt learning to cook methamphetamine. Walt’s wisdom is unveiled so adamantly that
viewers subconsciously accept the fact he already knows how.
Lust,
or desire, is a quality of Heisenberg. After having sex in their car in the
school parking lot, Skyler asks him, “Why was it so damn good?” Motivated by
his desire to show that breaking the law is not always bad, Heisenberg responds,
“Because it’s illegal.” His
lustful attitude gains momentum by getting a taste of dominance when taking the
leadership role over Jesse. He
tries to apply this new mindset to Skyler during their bed time adventure: “Walt? Is that you?” The more time passes, the more his desire for
dominance continues as with his lust for money. In the first season, he
expresses interest in the amount of cash seized during one of Hank’s drug
busts. By season five, Jesse asks
Walt if he is in the meth business or the money business. Iconically, Heisenberg responds, “Neither,
I’m in the Empire Business.”
Temperance and Gluttony.
Temperance
is often disguised as self-control or honor. Walt’s personality during time with his family is the
definition of temperance. He has
denied himself of his true desires for most of his life. The fact that he is docile toward Skyler
as she takes a dominant role demonstrates an extreme amount of
self-control. Though viewers
only observe Bogdan asking Walt to stay late once, it is implied it happens
almost regularly. Walt even stays
quiet when humiliated twice by the same student, Chad. The first time is when Chad drags his
chair instead of picking it up after Mr. White asks him to move back to his
seat. The second time is when Chad
and his girlfriend are laughing at Mr. White while he shines the tires on
Chad’s Corvette. Even when he has
nothing to gain, Walter expresses this type of control. During the poker game, when only fake
money is up for bidding, Walt bluffs and doesn’t back down to the strong
presence which is Hank.
Gluttony,
or over consumption, is the opposite of temperance. Heisenberg commits this sin almost any time he is backed
into a corner. When confronted by Jesse about not having the full amount of
money for the RV, Walt tells Jesse, “You’re a drug dealer, figure it out.” He
didn’t have enough but wouldn’t take no for an answer. When not providing Tuco with enough
meth, Heisenberg offers Tuco four pounds rather than two. Heisenberg decides to
steal the 50 gallon barrel of methylamine when no gallon jugs were available,
again taking more than his fair share of ingredients. As children’s author
Laura Numeroff writes, “If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a
glass of milk.”
Charity and Greed.
Of
the many elements of charity, sacrifice, is an element of Walt’s that contrasts
his overabundance of greed. To
think one man would do and give up so much for the betterment of his family is
noteworthy. The idea of him
putting everything he has on the line to cook meth is an extreme sacrifice. He
even takes the life of enemies into consideration. He is caring enough to, not only feed the man he is about to
kill, but notice that Krazy-8 dislikes the crust on his sandwich and starts
cutting it off for him. Even in the face of danger Walt is willing to put his
life on the line to help another.
Asking Tuco for an extra 15 grand on Jesse’s behalf is absolutely
insane; the best part, Walt actually gives the money to Jesse.
It
is no secret that Heisenberg is extremely greedy—thus, committing the sin of
greed over and over. Adding to the
fact that he continually wants to grow on a bigger scale, he is greed defined:
first starting out cooking and slinging with Jesse alone to taking out a cartel
distributer, Tuco, and beyond. He
himself doesn’t even know when to stop. When Jesse asks, “How much cash do you
need?” Heisenberg responds,
“More.” It is almost as if the
money itself is speaking. Even
after telling Jesse he is done cooking, he goes back once Jesse delivers the
money from the previous cook.
Diligence and Sloth.
Walt
expresses diligence on multiple occasions; his persistence is almost
unmatched. Walt’s desire to
continue pushing for what he wants and never give up is the reason there are
five seasons of Breaking Bad, but it
begins in season one. When strangling Krazy-8 and
getting stabbed in the leg, he doesn’t stop; he continues to choke him until
his eyes bulge and he dies. Walt
is also very adamant about establishing his place in his relationships. He continually reminds Jesse that he is
the cook and Jesse does the distribution.
Though
it is subtle, Heisenberg commits the sin of sloth on a few occasions. He wants instant gratification, almost
as if he is too impatient to do things the best way possible. Walt steals lab equipment from the
school instead of taking an extra step from getting it somewhere else. Almost to a fault, Heisenberg refuses
and denies almost all confrontation with Skyler. It seems he is too lazy to deal with the repercussions of
his actions. He doesn’t tell her
about having cancer until well after diagnosis; he lies to her about quitting
the carwash. In a more visible
example of sloth, Heisenberg makes Jesse do all his errands for him.
Patience and Wrath.
One
of the most frequent sins that Heisenberg commits is wrath, or rage; he acts on
impulse on many occasions. When he
finally decides to stand up to Skyler, he doesn’t do it calmly or civilly. Instead, he takes the less socially
acceptable approach: “So right now, what I need is for you to climb down out of
my ass.” Even with Jesse, he jumps
the gun. He tells Jesse they are done cooking and they will go their separate
ways, only to come back later. His
wrath grows beyond just spoken words and sometimes crosses into full blown
violence. He acts out in many
different forms of violence: from blowing up douchebag Ken’s car, to taking out
a bully’s leg in the clothing store with Skyler and Walter, Jr. The purest form of Heisenberg’s rage
comes from killing Mike in Season 5, all because of a lack of respect.
Contrary
to his opposite, Walter, expresses patience, or peace. He gives into Skyler to go through
chemotherapy to keep peace within the family. Walter believes that murder is
wrong as written on his list about killing or letting Krazy-8 go. He writes “You are not a murderer” (At
that point, Emilio had already been killed). Walt keeps the peace by showing a respect for certain
characters. He prefers to call
Krazy-8 by his real name, Domingo.
This allowed the two men to be on the same social level. Even after the Krazy-8 and Emilio
dilemma, he tells Jesse, “No more bloodshed. No more violence.”
Kindness and Envy.
Expressing
himself in acts of kindness, or compassion, is something Walt does. As the seasons progress, there are less
and less instances of this virtue. Early on, he shows compassion for Jesse on
multiple occasions. He visits
Jesse in the hospital after Jesse is beat up by Tuco, and even expresses an
understanding if Jesse didn’t want to be there when Walt met up with Tuco. Even for his victims, Walt recognizes
they are people, too. Walt says
“I’m sorry” over and over to Krazy-8 after he kills him. Even though he is the cause of so much
damage, it is the compassion Walt shows that keeps viewers on his side.
Envy
can be dangerous, and in the case of Heisenberg, there are no exceptions. Though he rarely expresses it to his
old friends he is incredibly envious of them with a small dash of spite. This should come as no surprise. In season five, Heisenberg explains to
Jesse about his partnership in Gray Matter. He speaks about taking a buyout for five thousand dollars
and the company is now worth $2.16 billion (“That’s billions with a ‘B’”). To prove he is envious, he mentions
checking it weekly. Heisenberg makes no attempt to extinguish his jealous
attitude; because he becomes those he is envious of, he always has to have
something to fuel the fire. One
person at a time, Heisenberg becomes his victims. He becomes a distributer once Krazy-8 and Tuco die. After killing Gus, Heisenberg takes
Gus’s position as meth kingpin and international drug lord. It might not be
safe to have something Heisenberg wants; after all, he is the one who knocks.
Humility and Pride.
Humility
is expressed as bravery or modesty, both of which are virtues of Walter
White. His bravery is depicted as he
stands in the face of danger. He demands money from Tuco, on Tuco’s turf. Even telling Krazy-8 he has cancer is
an amazingly brave feat. Though
some would argue, Walter can be exceptionally modest. In fact, in the first
episode viewers are presented with a framed award for a Nobel Prize. Walt never gloats about this, which is
extremely modest. Even with more
recent accomplishments he shrugs it off.
After cooking their first batch together Jesse is flabbergasted: “This
is glass grade.” Walt just shrugs
it off. It is almost as if
Walt is humble until his accomplishments get recognition, then Heisenberg
becomes proud.
Normally, having pride for something you
have done is viewed as positive and confident. In Heisenberg’s case, there is no doubt that pride is a
sin. He prides himself on the
things he has accomplished and how others view him. During the talking pillow scene, Heisenberg lets it be known
that he doesn’t want to be remembered for being sick and helpless. Though it is for his son, Walter, Jr.,
Heisenberg puts the handicap placard away after being humiliated at the car
wash by Chad. He doesn’t even want
his family to see him weak, which is witnessed in the first scene of the first
episode. When making his
“not-admission of guilt” video, Heisenberg covers the camera when he loses his
composure and uncovers it when he regains it. When offered, he refuses to accept any help in funding his
cancer treatment; he also refuses going to his own mother to ask for help. In
the face of a deadly disease, he shaves his head as a badge of pride— almost as
if he is standing up to cancer and telling it: “I won.”
And
because of all of this, Walter White has won, numerous times. Being one sided is not enough to be a
character on Breaking Bad; being two
faced is not enough to be Walter White. To be Walter, you need fourteen. It hasn’t fell on deaf ears either, as
viewers have been captivated and intrigued by Mr. White for seven sins, seven
virtues, and all five seasons.
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