Becoming the One Who Knocks
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the desirability o f fam e and celebrity Status is extrem ely
w idespread and thus approxim ates, in a M ertonian sen se,
a universal su ccess goal. Secondly, the m eans to achieve
fam e and celebrity Status are unequally distributed across
the social structure. B y im plication, this disjuncture
b etw een on the one hand, the pressure to achieve fam e
and personal celebration and, on the other hand, the lack
o f structural opportunities to do so, creates strain for
those seek in g a reconciliation o f this m eans/goals gap.
(3)
Although W alter desires veneration as a response to his labor, he
ultimately fails to achieve this aim as a high school teacher and a poorly
paid carwash clerk; therefore, feelings o f inadequacy in the workplace
greatly exacerbate his social strain.
Menial labor is consistently presented as an emasculating
experience throughout the series, and, as a result, entices W alter to cope
through criminal channels. The pilot begins by delineating W alter’s
typical workday. After a full day o f teaching uninterested high school
students, W alter is forced to work overtime at his second job, and, as a
result, is late to his own birthday party. After an employee suddenly quits
the carwash, W alter’s boss, Bodgan, asks W alter to wipe down cars
outsides. Walter, indubitably embarrassed by this demeaning job, begs
his boss to let him remain running the register: “Bodgan no, we talked
about this” (“Pilot”). Bodgan, however, refüses W alter’s request and
forces him to wipe down the Corvette o f a Student that previously
disrespected him in dass. The workplace offen denies certain hegemonic
masculine ideals, such as, independence, control and dominance. Many
working d ass men find this work experience humiliating, because they
are forced to engage in work relations that threaten their intemalized
notions o f masculinity (Messerschmidt, Masculinities 127). The
humiliation inherent in the W alter’s work experience is amplified by
Gilligan’s use o f irony via the Corvette, as W alter’s teenage Student
displays a higher Status than him through his acquisition o f an exorbitant
sports car.
Not willing to succumb to the degradation o f wiping down his
students’ cars, W alter decides to begin cooking methamphetamine. As a
teacher and a carwash clerk, W alter perceives him self as a “dead man . . .
artificially alive. Just marking time” (“Gray M atter”). However, W alter
believes he can transform his life through chemistry: “Chemistry is the