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however, they maintain the institutionalized norms, and painstakingly
work toward unachievable goals. Rebels abjure the dominant notions o f
success and, in tum, Substitute new goals and Standards in its place.
Finally, retreatists— because they perceive society’s goals as
unachievable— reject both
the
cultural
aspirations
and the
institutionalized means by completely dropping out o f society. Such
individuals constitute the clientele o f W alter’s illegal enterprise: i.e., the
addicts that use methamphetamine as a means to escape their world o f
strife.
By focusing the plot o f Breaking Bad on W alter’s impeded
pursuit o f financial security, Vince Gilligan presents his decision to cook
methamphetamine as the product o f social strain. Socialized to strive for
the Symbols that equate wealth and Status in American society but unable
to achieve them through conventional channels, W alter tums to crime as
an avenue for obtaining the financial stability he so greatly desires. In
this sense, Breaking Bad justifies the criminal actions o f W alter by
presenting the social world he navigates as a catalyst for strain that
motivates his criminal innovation. He becomes an anti-hero for
Americans stmggling financially during the great recession as he
successfully circumvents an arduous social structure that impedes his
success (Koespall and Arp ix). His strain is indicative o f a nocuous value
System produced by Am erica’s unbridled commitments to the American
Dream: a frame o f reference that forces many individuals to cope with
criminality (Stephenson 211).
As an alienating social construct, the American Dream
establishes two major pieces o f a rigid social structure individuals must
negotiate in an attempt to find prosperity. First, the symbols that equate
wealth and Status in the United States instill an aspirational reference
within the population at large: i.e., its ideology socially constructs
common goals, interests, and purposes for all Americans. As a result, the
mythos o f the American Dream constructs lofty aspirations within the
populace that are economically unattainable to most Americans. In order
to acquire these symbols o f success, Americans must negotiate the
second element o f the social structure: the permissible means for
acquiring wealth and success within a particular society. Because the
aspirational references perpetuated by the mythos o f the American
Dream are by definition inaccessible to many, the regulatory norms that
dictate their realization (e.g. adequate paying jobs) ostracize a large
segment o f the population and ultimately perpetuate social strain.