No it isn’t. Justifying the means with the end is simply a matter of weighting things out and going with the side that weighs more. Walt being a Chemist meshes perfectly with this because he views many things through the analytical lens of a physical science. It’s still simple pragmatism, his behavior is simply a function of how much consideration he gives to other people which just happens to be less than a lot of people watching the show. That’s not amoral, or going beyond simple pragmatism, that’s just having a moral center that’s got a lower threshold than other people.
If I was suddenly faced with 25 years of jail time, and I was told that I could get off Scott-free and be given $10 million dollars on top of this, but all I have to do is shoot a 5 year old in the face. I’d do it without blinking as long as I was 100% certain of the deal. I’d take it 10 times out of 10… well I might blink a couple of times but I’d definitely do it. If someone walked up to me and offered me $100,000 for the same deal I wouldn’t do it. Leaving aside the obvious “where does the line lie for you?” question because that’d be beside the point, this doesn’t make me amoral, or beyond a simple pragmatist. I’d take a good opportunity when I’d see one. That’s a long way away from the truly amoral people who would kill for <$100.
The beauty of Walt’s actions is that he knows where his threshold is, and when he crosses he gets the job done as best he can. Walt is as a guy who when he goes swimming never bothers to test the water with his foot. Once he decides to jump in, he jumps the fuck in. He doesn’t enjoy the initial shock of the cold to his body, but he knows that he simply has to deal with that if he wants to go swimming. The perfect example of this is when he ran over the two drug dealers and then got out and shot one without thinking. It’s not that he’s a cold blooded killer. He knew that the instant he saw Jessie and those two about to face off that they had to end up dead, so there was no use in wrestling with the dilemma of having to kill someone. He did what had to be done. Someone completely “gone” would almost enjoy the killing and Walt never does.
A lot of you people are reading into this show too much. It’s a show, not real life. Intelligent people in real life let Jesse die by the hands of Gus’ men instead of running them over. They don’t risk their family for an idiot junkie.
Do you really believe a person with terminal cancer would go into the “Empire business” after getting enough money? This is simply plot-induced stupidity that I don’t buy for a second.
This is a TV show, not reality, and people that do bad and/or illegal things get punished. To be punished, they have to do uncharacteristically stupid things, that’s all there is to it. If any of you bought it, you are gullible, just putting it out there. The show is good and all but it’s not without it’s sloppy writing, at least admit that much. I mean seriously, how much better would it have been if Walt managed to escape by the skin of his teeth and come back with a vengeance as Shin Heisenberg with his hidden store of cash somewhere? Instead we have to believe that he not only was allowed to escape with his life but handed over 10 million in cash, just because.
Sacrificing yourself for others is an inverse morality that I don’t buy into. I’d do the same as Hatobu but even worse I’d do it simply to avoid jail. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to get paid on top but not being imprisoned for life is more important. You can label me psych/sociopathic, that’s fine. The way I see it, anyone that does otherwise doesn’t have a sense of self-preservation.
Walt is seen with hair on his 51st birthday. It’s fairly evident that with his lung cancer, which is especially aggressive with no chemo or any kind of treatment, Walt should’ve been dead many months ago. With that in mind, it seems like the ricin he acquired from his former home is most likely for himself. Ensuring his family’s survival was his main motivation for much of the series, and without his family, being America’s Most Wanted, and already on a suicide mission to enact revenge (and possibly save Pinkman), I feel he’s planning on ending it once he’s finished his final mission.
Psychoanalyzing someone because of who they are backing on the show is akin to violent video games making you more prone to violence. Cut the bullshit and enjoy the end of the ride.
I still think the ricin is a 50/50. If he goes the path of redemption then it is likely for himself, if he goes the way of the road warrior then hes going to use it for revenge against the Schwartz’s.
Am hoping for the latter, if he peaces out then it voids most of his badassness. He has already crossed a line which dictates killing himself would be the most cowardly shit possible. If he goes the distance and uses it against an enemy like Lydia, or a past grudge, the Schwartz’s, then its true poetic justice.
If I had to guess, most people root for Walter for one simple reason: The fact that he ceized control of his life and built an empire for himself on sheer will. Despite his skillset, Walt was a loser and a nobody working shit-eater jobs, who went out and made a name for himself. Most people don’t have the balls and the drive to take life by the horns, and that is the single admirable aspect of the character, despite his horrific deeds.
So I can definitely understand why people would still be on Walter’s side.
Im sorry but every time i read your post, cause of your avatar, I hear rev. x saying what you typed lmaooo
I rooted for Walt up till one point… the point in the storage area with all the money where skyler asked what is enough? That moment was a wake up call in my eye. I couldnt justify ALL his actions but i understood the man wanted to do more with himself for messing up/missing out/and being played years back up till this point. I felt his pain at the party with his former partners that went on and did more than him with his idea… i felt his plan to LEAVE his family with something AS A MAN especially after the unwanted pregnancy… I was rolling with walt an accepted his flaws up till that point. that point which made me look back an honestly say it should have been done the moment gus was dead. gus whom in a sense gave him a contract. told him he could leave/quit. he continued on an with it creating chaos to reach this unreachable power/goal that he honestly cant tell you anymore… when jesse asked his number… he gave it. reached it an doubled it by their first cook…after that it was a wrap trying to attain that feeling off the first hit when it can never be done again…
I’d rather not spoil something like that here but if I was to write a comparative essay on Walt as a character I’d be very tempted to use Joel.
To Joel, as well as Walt the end always justifies the means. Maybe it wasn’t always that way, but it’s always a sacrifice they have to make, each time pushing them further and further until in the end to hell with who it damns.
Joel says that you’ve got to find something to live for, you’ve got to live in the moment. That’s a worldview I’ve seen Walt adopt. At first it was all about the big picture, but increasingly he’s found other reasons, like his shit hand in life, to justify his actions, to justify the now and overlook the broader consequences.
For people at or below the poverty line (and I guess those with antisocial tendencies) Walt symbolizes the cold, unrepentant pursuit of the “American Dream”. Having lofty goals, creating a monetary Tower of Babel built upon the backs and corpses of those too weak to have the same vision or focus.
It’s the same reason, like another poster mentioned, it was easy to sympathize with Frank Lucas, the heroin kingpin in American Gangster. Crimes aside, Frank Lucas was a business genius, and if he wasn’t being subjugated by a racist society that systematically tried to put a stranglehold on black success, he could’ve been a successful legitimate businessman. The pursuit of crime is often brought on by a disparity of wealth, and Breaking Bad had this philosophy in its foundations all along. “What would you do if…”
By the time Frank Lucas was caught, his net worth exceeded 200 million dollars, keep in mind this was the 1970s. Could you imagine a black man working in any high-level career position in America generating any significant level of wealth any other way, based on racial climate at that time?
I stand by Walt, only because he’s tragic, I feel bad for him even though it has been his own doing. He found himself in a hole and in trying to get out he just kept digging. I still feel sorry for him after everything, I want to see him catch a break after everything he’s done. Maybe he doesn’t deserve it. In terms of all the things he has done, perhaps there is no justification or excuse. I just can’t write him off though, what’s done is done and I’ve seen why it was done and can’t crucify him in black and white.
