The document analyzes the television show Breaking Bad through the lens of family communication, discussing how the White family interacts and communicates while balancing Walter's secret life as a drug producer. Key aspects of the White family such as their family type, themes, rituals, stories, conflicts, and decision making processes are examined based on concepts from family communication literature. The analysis provides insight into both the strengths and strains within the White family system.

1. Family Communication Collage
Paul Connolly
CMS 332
11/17/11

2. Breaking Bad
•I decided to do my collage on one of my
favorite television shows, Breaking Bad.
•The show revolves around the White
family. On the outside the Whites
might look like any normal family but
there are some dark secrets at play.
•Walter White, a chemistry teacher
finds out he has lung cancer and only
has a limited time to live. Walt decides
to cook crystal methamphetamine in
order to make a bunch of money to
leave behind for his family when he is
gone.
•I thought they would be a fun family
to analyze because of how close they
are. No matter how bad things get the
family is always the priority.

3. Characters
Walter White is trying to balance Skyler White is a bookkeeper who
making a living in the world of struggles to keep Walt’s secret but does
crime while being a normal so for the good of the family.
member of the family.
Walter Jr. is a teenage son Jessie Pinkman is one of Walt’s former
with cerebal palsy who cares a delinquent students. He becomes Walt’s
lot for his family. partner in crime and Walt becomes a father
figure for him.

4. Characters
Marie is Skyler’s sister. She Hank is Marie’s husband. He is a
works in the medical field and drug enforcement officer. He is
she is always there to talk to the funny one in the family and
Skyler. is always there to lend a hand.

5. Family Type
“Today, a family may be viewed more
broadly as a group of people with a past
history, a present reality, and a future
expectation of interconnected mutually
influencing relationships.”(Galvin pg.6)
•The Whites are a two-parent biological
family.
•Walt and Skyler have been married
for many years and have a teenage
son named Walt Jr. and an infant
daughter named Holly.
•Walt’s involvement in the drug world
creates a type of double life and Jesse
becomes like a son to him. In this
sense Walt himself has a non-
traditional family.

6. Family Themes
“Themes capture the beliefs that guide family
members’ actions; thereby you may predict a family’s
themes by watching how members live their
lives.(Galvin pg.41)
•One theme the Whites have is banding together when a
member could be in trouble. They support each other. No
matter what is going on the family will always be there for
you. Walt has surgery for his cancer, Skyler has Holly, and
Hank is wounded on the job. In all these cases the family
drops what they are doing and goes to check on the welfare
of the member.
•Another theme the White’s have is that there
is always someone to talk to. You do not have
to suffer in silence. Members want to hear you
out and help but you do have to speak up.

7. Secrets
“Toxic secrets poison family relationships; key
family issues and stories remain untold and
unexplained.”(Galvin pg.89)
•Walt can’t stop cooking because he believes he needs more and more money.
Initially he chooses not tell anyone in his family that he is making drugs and he has
to lie about the origin of the money that is coming in. His involvement with the drug
world essentially becomes a double life for him. He keeps a second cell phone to
organize deals and talk to his partner. He goes on a fake vacation in order to have
more cooking time. He develops a persona called Heisenberg in order to conduct
business. It is an exciting and dangerous lifestyle and he tries to balance it with being
a regular family dad. The family is pumped with lies about why Walt comes home so
late and where he goes.

8. Family Rituals
“Even daily conversations may
become ritualized due to their
importance.”(Galvin pg.116)
•One family ritual the Whites have is discussion around
the table when having a meal. It is not just a time to eat it
is a good time to communicate. Everyone sits down and
discusses their lives and how they feel about certain
things. It provides everyone with an opportunity to get
something off their chest or run by an idea.

9. Family Stories
“Stories construct and reaffirm the
members’ identities representing part of
a self-definition.”(Galvin pg.97)
•Hank loves to tell his family exciting stories and he always puts an
emphasis on himself. Hank is a cop and Walt is a teacher so there is
going to be a big difference in the kind of stories they tell. Walt Jr. is
a typical teenager and he is much more interested in the type of life
Hank lives. Of course Walt secretly lives an exciting life but he can’t
talk about it. Walt Jr.’s admiration for Hank is very visible and it
clearly hurts Walt. Walt feels like he can’t express his true self and
that his son would be more interested in his stories if he could tell
him.

10. “I have more money than I can
Economic Issues spend, what I don't have is my
family” -Walter White
“Economic pressures add significant
stress to the lives of poor family
members, and this stress affects the ways
family members relate to each other.
“(Galvin pg.16)
Getting the money for cancer treatment is how Walt
ends up “Breaking Bad.” His insurance won’t cover it
and even if they find a way the odds of a successful
recovery are stacked against him at this stage. Walt
doesn’t want to take a risk that the treatment will fail
and leave his family in tremendous amount of debt.
His circumstance leads him to use what he knows,
chemistry, in order to make the money. Cooking and
selling drugs become an obsession and he puts his
family life on the back burner. Walt gets the money
but he loses his family emotionally in the process.
When he is cured from the cancer he realizes the
methods he chose to use to get to that point were
not worth it.

11. Communication and Power
“In a one-up position, one family member attempts
to exercise more power control over one or more
other member.”(Galvin pg.189)
•Walt has a one-up position with Jesse. He wants to run the
drug business his way or not at all. While he does care for
Jesse there is no question that he views him as inferior and
secondary to himself.
•Jesse cannot cook like Walt can and so he is dependent on
him. Walt initially wants to be a silent partner who just
does the cooking. He wants Jesse to run the business
aspect of the crime and so Jesse ends up taking most of the
risks in the beginning. Walt is very critical about the way
Jesse does things and this leads to a deeper involvement
for Walt.
•Walt almost has a need to have power over Jesse. This
leads him to ending up using Jesse. He knows Jesse looks
up to him and he takes advantage of that.

12. Decision Making
“Decision making about issues surrounding
health and illness can create major struggles for
families.”(Galvin pg 204)
•Walt makes the decision to take chemotherapy. He doesn’t
agree with the family’s decision of how to pay for it and decides
to make the money behind their back. The way he makes his
money takes him on a course of very bad decisions
•He rationalizes his bad decisions by saying and believing that
everything he does he does for his family. When he becomes
cured his thinking backfires when he doesn’t want to stop
cooking. It is no longer something for his family or to keep him
alive his cooking has become an addiction.

13. Conflict
“Family members who confront their differences
are more likely to improve their relationships and
experience more joint benefits that increase with
love and caring.”(Galvin pg.210)
•There is conflict between Walt and Skyler when she
finds out about his secret life as a drug producer. She
eventually decides not to turn Walt in and instead
works with him to create a believable story for how
Walt came across all the money.
•Walt and Jesse couldn’t be more different. Their
conflict and relationship struggles are my favorite
parts of the show. Despite their ups and downs they
work together and become a really good team.

14. My Definition of Family
•To me a family is a support group of connected individuals. People in the group are
linked to each other and communicate with one another. A key component to the
system is interaction between members. A family allows the opportunity for a
person to be comfortable with who they are and how they express themselves.
There is a different type of judgment in a family than there is in public. They know
the real you and you know the real them. They can be honest with you at times
when others who are not a part of your family may not.
•I can’t compare my situation with that of Breaking Bad’s but I respect the
characters ‘ importance on family. No matter what decisions are made or what
things happen the family has each other’s back. There is a lot of trust in a family and
I can see how that can be good and bad.

15. Works Cited
Galvin, Kathleen M, Carma L Bylund, and
Bernard J Brommel. Family Communication.
Illinois: Pearson Education, 2008. Print.