Walter White: The Ethics Of Being A Crystal Meth Kingpin

Walter White: The Ethics of Being a Crystal Meth Kingpin Let’s begin a scenario: You wake up in your bed on your fiftieth birthday, next to your wife, who is five months pregnant with a child you didn’t intend to have, while your son (who has cerebral palsy) stirs in his sleep in the other room. You get out of bed and begin your day as you do every day: brush your teeth, shower, exercise, eat breakfast and go to your job as a chemistry teacher at your son’s high school, then go to your second job as a car washer, then head home to a surprise birthday party that your friends and family all attended, along with your catty, vindictive sister-in-law and your obnoxious brother-in-law, who is a DEA agent that brags about all of his crystal meth busts during your day of celebration. You sleep that night, and go about your day the next day as usual, but then you faint, are rushed to a hospital, only to be told by a doctor that you have stage 4 inoperable lung cancer. What’s your first thought?
That’s what happened to Breaking Bad’s Walter White, a fictional man who ran the largest crystal meth organization in the southwestern hemisphere of the world.
Most people would look at the situation at hand and never think twice about ever getting into the drug trade. But as the audience meets Walter’s drug lord persona by which he goes Heisenberg, we see the character calculate and strategically take his time, making moves and leaving some people behind. When Walt becomes Heisenberg, he puts on a porkpie hat, some sunglasses and becomes the meth lord that he has schemed, sweated, bled, worked and became a broken man for. I believe what Walter White and the ego-persona he knows as Heisenberg did for his family and for himself are
justifiable.
Once a promising chemist who greatly contributed to the breakthrough of a multi-billion dollar company Gray Matter Technologies with college friends/co-founders Gretchen Hecht (who was also a former lover) and Elliot Schwartz, Walt abruptly left the company and sold his financial interest for $5,000 to cover a few months rent. Schwartz and Hecht later became married and made a fortune off the company’s success; a success that is held at “2.16 billion dollars, with a B. (S5E6, Buyout)” Walt later harbors animosity and blames Elliot and Gretchen for stealing his hard labor and contributions to become a highly successful foundation, without giving Walt any credit (“"It was my hard work. My research. And you and Elliott made millions off it." S2E6 Peekaboo). Walt then bitterly blames Gretchen for his financial problems and his lot in life all through the series.
White was known about his social circle for being one of the nicest people you would ever meet. Everyone would use Walt for whatever they would need, and then whip their feet on him as if he were some doormat. As his climb up the drug lord ladder continues, the viewer can see more and more often that it really aggravates him whenever another character does something to belittle him. There’s one moment in the series that the White family is having a celebration out by their pool. Walt, Walter Jr. and Hank, Walt’s DEA agent brother-in-law who is in charge of the “blue meth/Heisenberg” case, are talking about some Mexican cartel members and the fact that Walt’s cancer started to go away. They drink rounds of tequila to celebrate. As they down the first and go on a second and third, Hank gets upset and take the bottle away from Walt, who is forcing Jr. to drink as he pukes in the pool. This is important because it’s just one of the many instances that Hank tries to become the real father figure in Jr.’s life, which is constantly upsetting Walt. Terminal cancer was the catalyst and justification for his new life, a life in which Walter feels he has power, and he fears going back to the way things used to be. When Walt makes his son drink, he may also be trying to establish power outside of his criminal life because he fears his criminal life may have to end along with his cancer. (S2E10 Over)
Throughout the series, over 200 people are killed through Walt’s sleight of hand. He always says to his ex-student-turned-full-partner Jesse that no more people will get hurt, and that they will start to do things their own way, but right around the corner, someone else dies. Walt unmentionably lets people die in his wake of creating his meth empire, attempting to expand to all corners of the world, laundering millions of dollars, and never thinking twice of the horrible acts he’s committed. Most viewers of the series would believe that Walt is indeed the devil, but I say otherwise. Walter’s character maybe an evil person to his core, but how long can you ask a man to continue to be a doormat for the rest of the world? Walter realized what he needed to say and what he needed to do in order to get what he wanted. He’s always capable of knowing what to say and how to say it to get what he wants. There’s one moment in the series when Jesse, pleading to get out of the game, asks Walt “Are we in the meth business or the money business?” to which Walt responds, “I’m in the empire business.” (S5E6 Buyout)

Works Cited
"Peekaboo" Breaking Bad. AMC. AMC, Albuquerque. 12 April 2009. Television.
"Over" Breaking Bad. AMC. AMC, Albuquerque. 10 May 2009. Television.
"Buyout" Breaking Bad. AMC. AMC, Albuquerque. 19 August 2012. Television.