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Walter White’s Tragic Complexity
“Breaking Bad” and Dostoyevsky: moral transgression in the modern age
The television series Breaking Bad achieves a rare feat in modern storytelling: it creates a narrative that resonates with the psychological and moral complexity found in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s greatest works.
Through Walter White’s transformation from a mild-mannered chemistry teacher to a ruthless drug kingpin, the series explores themes that Dostoyevsky grappled with in novels like Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov: the nature of moral transgression, the psychology of pride, and the fragmentation of the self.
The Philosophy of Transgression
The philosophical underpinnings of Breaking Bad echo the moral inquiries of Dostoyevsky and Friedrich Nietzsche, particularly their explorations of life beyond conventional notions of good and evil.
Nietzsche’s concept of the Übermensch — the superior individual who transcends societal norms — manifests in both Walter White and Dostoyevsky’s Raskolnikov, characters who grapple with the boundaries of morality in pursuit of their ambitions.
In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov articulates his theory of extraordinary men, invoking Napoleon as a model: “I simply hinted that an ‘extraordinary’ man has the right… not an official right, but an inner right to decide in his own conscience to overstep… certain obstacles, and only in case it is essential for the practical fulfillment of his idea.”
This philosophy not only drives Raskolnikov’s actions to murder and to run from the law but also resonates deeply with Walter White’s transformation. Both men begin as ordinary individuals, but their exceptional talents and circumstances propel them toward justifying moral transgressions as necessary for fulfilling their visions.
Walter’s story mirrors Raskolnikov’s in significant ways, culminating in his chilling “I am the one who knocks” speech. Here, Walter sheds any pretense of victimhood, embracing his self-appointed role as the arbiter of power and control.
This declaration embodies Nietzschean defiance, echoing Raskolnikov’s philosophical claim that extraordinary individuals have the right…
