breaking bad analysis

In the series Breaking Bad, Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher finds out he has cancer and teams up with an old student to cook meth. His motivation to cook meth comes from the need to provide for his family after his death. Walt’s desperateness for money causes greed and a constant craving of power. In the beginning of Breaking Bad, Walter White’s desperateness immediately appears when he learns that he has lung cancer and only has a few months to live. After hearing the bad news, Walter had a clear motivation to make a ton of money to leave his family after his death. Walt instantly became very desperate and greedy for money and turned to his former student, Jesse Pinkman to make and sell meth together. The fact that Walt asked one of his old students to cook meth with him shows how desperate for money he really was. Walt’s greed first emerges in the beginning of season 2 when Jesse shows up to his house with the RV they made meth in. Jesse asks Walt for his half of the money, but Walt angrily yells at him “Your half? There is no your half of the money! There is only my all of it, do you understand?!” The money that Walt had received caused him to become greedy by refusing Jesse his money. In the middle seasons of breaking bad, a few weeks after Walt’s surgery for cancer, Skyler and Walt visit Dr. Victor Bravenec to hear the news about the operation. Dr. Bravenec tells Walt, "You've bought yourself some real time here." The good news about the surgery triggered Walt to become power-hungry. In the beginning of season three, Walt declined Gustavo Fringes offer to work in the meth lab, but not soon after Walt agreed to the offer. He had dug himself too big of a whole. Walt continued to build the meth empire up, cooking pounds and pounds of meth per day. Walt stated “Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly-up. Disappears! It ceases to exist