Heisenberg: The Family Secret that Should Have Been Kept

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Recommended: Importance of privacy and security

There are certain things you just don’t want people to know, for example that you don’t pay your taxes, or that you don’t shower every day, or even that you’re the biggest drug lord in the South West. In the TV series Breaking Bad, Walter White starts the show off by finding out that he has terminal lung cancer. Because he is only a high school chemistry teacher Walter decides to make extra money for his family after his death by cooking crystal meth with one of his former students. This is something that he must keep from his family and the entire world, and it begins to take over his life. Because of this secret he ruins his family’s lives, and even slanders their reputation.
This whole mess that Walter made started out as nothing more than a man trying to support his family for when he is no longer around, but it spiraled out of control into a life style that could not be shared with the outside world. Walter not only gave his family a means of survival, but also a lasting legacy that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. This legacy is not one that should be cherished though; in fact it causes his family to feel great shame that Walter never has to feel after he dies in the last episode. What Walter created for his family should have been kept a family secret, for if it had the White family might still be a normal suburban family just living their lives normally in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Just like the White family the Kingston family also had a family secret. They had a family member who had a baby out of wedlock, which is very dishonorable in Chinese culture. After giving birth she killed herself and the baby, and from that moment on her name was never mentioned again. The Kingston family attempted to...

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...ole world knowing without also receiving shame.
All families have secrets, whether they are our former presidents, celebrities, or the families in our neighborhood. We all have something to hide, but what are we really hiding from? Our society is based on a set of norms, and should anyone break these norms they are seen as outsiders, or immoral, and can even be deemed criminals. But, humans are not perfect so every once in a while someone dives off the deep end and does something a little crazy, like building a meth empire. To avoid being ridiculed the action is covered up and never talked about again so that their family is not the next big gossip. It is not the action itself that makes a family secret; it is the fear of not being accepted that makes a family secret. It was not the fact that Walter cooked meth; it was his reputation his family wanted to run from.

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