Breaking bad is a blood pumping, action packed show, but at the same time it displays the life of a dying man, doing whatever he can to provide for his family. As Walter White, the main character of the show, develops in the plot his personality and personal ethics change dramatically. By examining the character development of Walter White in the show Breaking Bad many interpersonal communication concepts can be seen as taking a key role to the plot of the show. The TV series starts by introducing Walter and his family. Walter is diagnosed with stage three cancer and is not expecting to live for more than a couple months. His family is devastated and Walter is worried about how his family will provide for themselves once he is gone. He is a …show more content…
These concepts will be related to the character development of Walter. By using gender roles we can identify what the key motivations acting on Walter when he decides to change his life so drastically. Gender plays a major role in influencing Walter to do whatever is necessary to provide for his family. Self disclosure is always weighing on Walter as he attempts to cover up the ruthless man he becomes while balancing his image as an innocent, dying school teacher. Lastly, Walters self concept is always evolving, as he begins to look at himself differently, and expects more out of himself. During the duration of the show Walters self concept completely changes, from his ethical views to the way he displays himself to …show more content…
An individuals identity is directly related to their self concept, depending on a subjective self based impression of the self. Two facets of self concepts include personality and culture/gender roles. Personality is a characteristic that can accurately describe ones behavior most of the time. Culture/gender roles influence how one acts based on social pressure and norms. This means that self concept is both enduring but changeable. The Johari Window is used as a visual representation to describe that there are four sections of awareness of self concepts; what is known to ones self and what is known to others, what is known to the self but not known by anyone else, what is known to others and not ones self, and what is not known about ones self and not know by others. Reflected appraisal is when we are admired for something. That admiration influences one to continue doing what they received appraisal for. Social comparison is always being used to evaluate self concept, for example someone will compare themselves to those they would like to be similar too, these groups of people are called reference groups. Some people have natural tendencies to participate in high or low self monitoring. Self fulfilling prophecies also reinforce self concept. If one has a goal in which he or she successfully accomplishes, then that accomplishment will reinforce your thoughts about who one thought they were or
Throughout the plot, he struggles with acceptance of his social status and economical situations, but ends up achieving true fulfillment in simply being proud of who he and his family are as people with aspirations. Walter’s evolution
For example, if someone emplaces the idea that one is overweight in one’s head, one is going to possibly take that into account when looking in the mirror. Self-concept is also said to contribute to how we may behave in the future by setting up goals that reflect our opinions of ourselves. In some instances, individuals may believe that they will be a successful doctor and, because of that self-concept, it becomes reality. This is known as self-fulfilling prophecies. Self-esteem is the worth of what one takes from one’s self-awareness and self-concept.
For Walter, society is suppressing his dreams from becoming a reality and causing him to live a life he doesn’t want. This is exhibited through Hansberry’s use of the phrase “rich white people”. It shows how the predominately white society of the 1950’s did not allow people like Walter, who were of a different race, the opportunity to have the same luxuries and success that they have. This causes Walter to believe that he will forever be stuck in a bad job and a small apartment where his son has to sleep in the living room, which means he will forever
In the beginning Walter is basically perceived as a jerk-he doesn’t seem to get along with anyone, not even his own family. His character likes to turn discussions into fights, make rude comments to his wife, and act all around immature. A part that accurately shows the way Walter conducts himself is when he is arguing with Ruth and says “Man say: I got to change my life , I'm choking to death, baby! And his woman say- Your eggs is getting cold!”
This changes him because he realizes that not everything has to go his way. The second example of Walter changing is when he loses the rest of the money. This changes him because he realizes how irresponsible and childish he was acting. The final example of
Walter feels his job is more than unsatisfying, and can not make Mama understand, since her simplistic views are just like Ruths. In spite of his personal inadequacies with his job fulfillment, Walter shines in the end of the story with understanding and growth of his own fathers not so wonderful job. Walter seems to be reflecting on his own status as a
This theory was made by Michael Argyle (1925- 2002), who was a social psychologist. In the late 1960s he studied social skills, body language, non-verbal communication and interpersonal behaviour. In this study, he found that non-verbal signals can be much more important and useful than verbal communication when trying to trigger peoples’ attitudes and feelings. His research showed and found that the stronger the relationship between the people communicating so with close friends for example the much better eye contact. However, when the relationship is not very strong so when speaking to a stranger people don’t have very good eye contact and they tend to look away when talking.
Key details in the film illustrate how the rest of the world see Walter. He is a shy dull man that is boring and maybe some might say a loner. When you watch the movie beginning to end you see his identity transform from timid to brave and courageous. He steps out of his shell and does thing he thought he would never do. Walter Mitty found his identity.
Finally, I will suggest a remedy for the communication conflict. Walter White is a high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with Stage 3A lung cancer. Initially, he responds to this news by isolating himself and not sharing this news with his family. For about a month, he told nobody.
In the play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, there are many examples of sexism throughout its entirety. The character, Walter, demonstrates the acts of a sexist human being. Walter is sexist to not only women in general, but to the women in his family. Not taking into consideration of other people’s sayings and their feelings, Walter generally only thinks about himself, says what he believes, and truly only cares about money. Walter constantly is fighting with all of the women in the family as well.
He wants to be a businessman and own a liquor store. He wants to be able to provide for his family and give them what they have never had. Walter also wants to take his mother’s position as the head of the house and make the financial decisions for the family. Walter can be seen as selfish as instead of putting the money for him and his sister in the bank he uses it all and loses it trying to fulfill his own dreams with no regard to his sister’s dreams or the rest of the family’s.
In Mcleod’s article, it said that people “‘think about, evaluate, or perceive’ themselves” (Mcleod 1). Mcleod talks, in the article, about how people thinking, evaluating, and perceiving about themselves is call self-concept. Whenever people think about themselves, most of the time, people are confused about whether or not they are pursuing right actions for their future, especially people with low self-esteem . Furthermore, people get more confused if their actions dramatically differ from others. However, again, people’s actions determine who they are, so even if their actions are dramatically different from others, it may be a path for that person’s success.
Walter was introduced as a man who cared about nothing other than his business. He had sacrificed his sister’s dream of becoming a doctor, and held the power to wipe out Mama’s dream for a better home. Walter sees the gender roles as boundaries keeping him from loosening up to his family. He is given the insight that men must be powerful, wealthy, and demanding for them to truly be the head of the household. However, Walter sees past these gender roles, and not only challenges these rigid roles, but he also regains his family’s trust along the
Walter uses his imagination to give himself certain qualities,
One specific example of an action that affects someone’s self-concept would be social comparisons. Social comparisons are when a person looks at the people around them and decides how they feel about themselves based on the items or qualities that the others they see have. This