Below you will find a copy of the handout from today's class. It is the sample student essay I read aloud. I want you to view it as an example of strong, analysis work.
Also, reminder, no class on Friday of this week, and Friday of next week as well.
As I mentioned in class today, this is the time in the semester where I feel that I have given you all the tools you need and now it is up to you to produce your best work. Have a wonderful and safe weekend.
The Art of Tough Love
If you have ever viewed a beautiful
piece of art, you know that there is something almost majestic about it that
makes the viewer want to know more. An artist must possess a certain level of
skill to produce something magical which keeps the audience begging for more.
The trouble with being a great artist is that you cannot go back and fix a
brush stroke once it has been painted. Try as you may to erase the lines on a
paper, you can still see the mistake. In the series Breaking Bad, this
seems to be Jesse Pinkman’s problem. As much as he would like to go back and
change his past, he never can, and this shapes the person that he has become as
a young adult. On the exterior, Jesse may seem like a worthless, uneducated criminal,
but beneath the surface he is still a boy who feels inadequate, searching for
the affection he never received from his parents.
Jesse
may try to act like a tough guy, but underneath the surface he is truly
terrified, which actually drives him further into the drug trade. His fear becomes obvious in a number of
ways, such as his reluctance to sell massive quantities of methamphetamines and
his anxiety over speaking to Tuco about cutting a deal. It seems as though he
is not only afraid of the legal consequences of his actions, but of the social
repercussions as well. Jesse fears speaking up for himself because he is afraid
of losing “friends” and having others view him in an unfavorable light. This is
why he allows others to make choices for him, just as he did when he smoked
meth with two men in his living room who threatened to leave if he did not.
This insecurity is perhaps one of the
largest motivators of Pinkman’s behavior throughout the first season of
Breaking Bad. Jesse wants everyone to believe that he is confident and capable
of facing things on his own. It is necessary for him to act tough and play the
role of the typical gangster to fit in with the community where he sells meth.
Even his voicemail greeting testifies to the fact that he wants to adapt to
this role, but it is evident that he is out of character. His lack of
confidence is also demonstrated in his failure to make important decisions concerning
his relationship with Walter and their drug operation. For instance, he did not
want to decide how to dispose of the bodies once he and Walt had killed Emilio
and Crazy Eight. Jesse goes along with the plan though he is completely
apprehensive and pretends to let things roll off his back as if they are merely
a consequence of being a meth cooker.
At times it seems he is overwhelmed
with the anxiety that has formed as a result of his partnership with Walt, but
he continues to wear a façade, not only because it helps him as a drug dealer;
it also helps him cope with the emotional insecurities that he has as a result
of past relationships. Much of this stems from the complicated relationship
that he has with his family, who now appears distant and standoffish. It seems
as though Jesse has always felt the pressure to please his parents, but has
never felt like he was good enough. Through the interactions of his mother and
father with Jake, his younger brother, it becomes obvious that the Pinkmans
have high expectations of their children. They talk about academic
achievements, positive feedback during his musical performances, and
maintaining religious or moral standards. Jake’s room is also adorned with
numerous trophies, suggesting that he is extremely involved and that he generally
meets the high standards that his parents have set for him. Jesse’s failure to
meet these expectations as a child has made him feel insufficient and has
further driven a wedge between him and the remaining family members.
Though Jesse feels inadequate and knows
his parents are displeased with his current actions, he still yearns to be a
part of the family. He feels as though he can somehow compensate for his
wrong-doings and what he was unable to accomplish in the past. For example, he
voluntarily participates in household chores that most children would complain
about, such as setting the table for the family dinner. Later, while chatting
with his brother, he says that they should hang out more often and that if he
ever needed advice then Jake could come to him. He wants to be a part of the
Pinkman family again, but his parents’ lack of trust in him causes them to push
him away. During Jesse’s
conversation with his little brother, Mrs. Pinkman suggests to her husband that
they should check his arm for needle marks. They also assume that the marijuana
joint that their maid found was Jesse’s, again showing their lack of trust in
him.
The incident where the marijuana joint
is found in the Pinkman home also shows how much Jesse cares for his family
despite the fact that they continue to push him away. Though Jesse could have
easily told his parents that the weed was his brother’s, he took the rap for
the situation because he views his sibling as still having the potential to
fulfill his goals and aspirations. It also shows that he does not want to
tarnish Jake’s reputation, although he may not be the perfect child that his
parents believe he is. Then, when his brother thanked him and asked for the
joint, Jesse threw it to the ground and crushed it. This shows that he was
still attempting to set the example for his younger brother; he doesn’t want
Jake to go down the same path that he did.
The episode where Jesse interacts with
his family also reveals a number of other important aspects about his
character, which explains why he may be in his current predicament. While
rummaging through a chest in his old bedroom, we see that he was actually quite
a talented artist. He saved several drawings, but based on the conversation
that his parents had with Jake in the kitchen and the fact that they are not on
display for guests to see, one could deduce that this type of artistic interest
was not fostered by his parents. They seem rather conservative, showing
appreciation for more traditional, “respected” hobbies such as Jake’s training
on the oboe and piccolo. For this reason, it may be assumed that Jesse did not
get the type of positive attention or feedback from his family to further
progress his creative skills. Currently, he still seems to be stuck in this
same pattern; if he cannot attain the positive affirmations from the people
around him, then he must settle for any attention.
Jesse also settles when it comes to
finding the type of care and compassion he wants from others. This may be
because he has learned to keep people at a distance in the same fashion his
parents have become detached from him. In fact, the only type of relationships
Jesse has formed with women is of a sexual nature. First, we see a naked woman
throwing him his clothes from the second floor of a house. Later, we find him
fooling around with a prostitute in a cheap motel room. It seems as though he
purposely seeks relationships where he can remain emotionally disengaged.
Ironically, he also maintains alliances with people that do not genuinely care
for him either, such as the customers that he smokes meth with at his aunt’s
house. Conclusively, Jesse wants deep, meaningful relationships, but keeps
everyone at a distance for fear of being hurt.
The only person that has broken through
this barrier is Walt, who acts as a sort of authoritative, fatherly figure to
Jesse. As their friendship develops, their interactions become more than
strictly business-related. Most notably was the incident in the desert where
Walt becomes unable to finish cooking the meth because of the severity of his
reaction to chemotherapy. Jesse notices his radiation spot and tells Walt that
he should have told him he has cancer. He also gives him advice on dealing with
the side effects of his treatment based on what his aunt suffered during the
course of her chemotherapy. Not only does he care for Walt’s health, but he
shows compassion for other human beings prior to this interaction with his cooking
partner. For example, he told Walt to “think of it as doing him a favor” when
he was assigned with the task of killing Crazy Eight because he was obviously
suffering from respiratory issues among other injuries after the explosion in
their recreational vehicle. This demonstrates that although he may pretend to
neglect other people’s emotions, Jesse truly does care for others and desires
more than superficial kinships.
Another sign that shows Jesse’s longing
for meaningful relationships is his reaction or coping mechanism when he feels
as though someone has let him down. One of his main responses to disappointment
or failure is sarcasm. By being sarcastic he is able to say the things he
really feels without letting others see that he is truly hurt. We see this
several times throughout the series, especially in his exchanges with Walt. Perhaps
this is most obvious when he finds out that Walt went behind his back to
arrange a deal with Tuco. This hurts Jesse because he thought they would mutually
make decisions concerning their business, and more importantly because Walt
willingly established a relationship with the individual that just put him in
the hospital. His snide, derisive comments about Walt’s relationship with Tuco
and their meeting in the junkyard are a reflection of his dissatisfaction.
Jesse’s sarcastic mannerisms are a way
of protecting himself from feeling disappointment in others, but it may also
serve as a defense mechanism for being disappointed in himself. In the past he felt
defeated because he did not meet the standards set by his family, which may be
why Jesse fails to see that he does still have potential; however, he is
lacking motivation and direction. He
never received positive feedback from his parents for his artistic abilities,
so he has identified a means of finding them elsewhere. By selling drugs, he
has found a group of people that keep returning to see him because they are
pleased with the product he is creating. This has also become his creative
outlet, which is why he is so adamant in his argument with Walt that cooking
meth is an art form, not just chemistry. Walt encourages him and shows
confidence in him, saying that Jesse can produce the last batch on his own after
he becomes dizzy in their drug lab. This reinforcement makes Jesse believe that
he does have potential, but his success in the drug game further perpetuates
his addiction to the business.
While it is true that Jesse could
continue to be successful as a methamphetamine cook, he is definitely
intelligent enough to find lucrative work elsewhere. This is something that he
struggles with internally, as he seems to question his own intelligence and
standards. He believes he is capable of finding a legitimate job, but when he
runs into his old friend Badger, he is quickly convinced that it would be more
profitable to partner with this man and cook meth again. Still, his ability to
recall the names of the beakers, flasks, and other chemistry equipment shows
that he is a fast learner. Walter even stated from the very first episode that
Jesse could have performed much better in his class if he had only applied
himself. Others see that he is bright and resourceful, yet he still questions
his own abilities.
Initially, Jesse may appear to be a
low-life, drug-dealing failure, but he has an enormous amount of potential
within himself to be something greater. He needs a group of supportive
individuals to help draw this potential out of him in order to become
successful outside of the methamphetamine business. The only people that have
ever shown interest in him and encouraged his talents in the past were people
within this business, so he continues to thrive off of this feedback. Still he
keeps everyone at a distance, hiding his pain, just as he did when he put
make-up on his face to cover the black eye he received from Emilio. From his
nostalgic moment in the bedroom where he explores the contents of his old toy
chest, to the scene in the desert where he shows that he cares about Walt,
Jesse’s true character is revealed to us slowly, just like in a great painting.
Though his parents never fostered his artistic abilities as a child, Jesse is
still an artist today, painting the picture that everything is okay while he keeps
his true self inside.
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