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Alright, so this is an essay I had to do for my English course at university level. We were asked to compare, in a short essay, two tv series or movies. Mine is on Dexter and Breaking Bad's antagonists, Dexter Morgan and Walter White. I would like your to try to enjoy reading, and please feel free to give constructive criticism.

SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen either shows and plan to, the contents of this essay are infested with spoilers. Just a heads up.

Spoiler:
Dark Passengers: A Conflict Within




Conflict is something everyone experiences, and as a result, changes often occur. From this change births stress, and the amount and nature of the stress depends on the conflict, as well as how the individual involved deals with it. An example that effectively shows such an occurrence can be found when examining the protagonists Dexter Morgan from Showtime TV series "Dexter" and Walter White from AMC TV series "Breaking Bad". Both Dexter and Walter become swallowed by horrendous conflict, and the way they act in response to it in their seemingly normal lives, is very much alike.

Conflict takes an enormous toll on both Dexter and Walter, as they must constantly battle with it no matter how much they try to ignore or resolve it. Dexter has more of a deep seeded internal conflict that was planted at a young age. He was forced to watch his mother be brutally murdered in front of his infant eyes, while sitting in an ever-growing pool of blood. He often refers to himself as "born in blood", as this instance sculpted his entire being, along with his perception of life and the world around him. This conflict haunts and continues to pose a problem for Dexter throughout his day-to-day life. Walter’s conflict is presented to him later in life, when he is diagnosed with advanced stage terminal lung cancer. This abrupt information of a fatal illness creates extreme changes in the way he and his family must live as well as every other aspect of his life.

Now, with these life altering conflicts in both Dexter and Walter’s lives, they both undergo devious changes in their behavior; enduring a life of crime. Dexter gains a “dark passenger” after having to watch such a gruesome event. What this means is, Dexter was essentially corrupted by the event, and now he feels a need to unleash his inner darkness on the world. He does so by intricately and intimately murdering other criminals who have committed crimes such as murder or rape. To Dexter this is a sort of justice system that he has complete control over and gets to play God. Similarly, Walter also picks up a sort of dark passenger, as he begins taking part in illegal activity after his conflict. Because Walter is aware that his type of cancer is incurable, he experiences a paradigm shift. Like any self-respecting family man, Walter wants to provide for his family. Of course, if he deceases, he can no longer do so. With this knowledge, Walter devises a plan to net as much money as possible; he involves himself with the production and distribution of methamphetamine, commonly known as “crystal meth.” With these alter egos that Dexter and Walter create, it only further complicates their lives via secrecy and having to put themselves in dangerous settings with malignant people.

Though Dexter and Walter must maintain these dark passengers, they must also pay mind to their “normal” life in the big scheme of things. This is another thing that they are both struggling to do because their alter egos become more of a priority than expected. Dexter has to slyly maneuver between being a husband, father, brother and forensic blood splatter analyst for the Miami P.D., and using his occupation and expertise to find guilty victims to feed his dark passenger. However, he must take caution as to make sure he protects his identity (both his dark passenger and his true identity), as not to jeopardize his family. Walter, on the other hand, has to try to balance many of the same things: husband, father and a strenuous career. Walter is an over-educated high school teacher who, as it was, had to struggle to get by. But with his vast knowledge of chemistry, he is able to manipulate chemicals to create top grade methamphetamine, which quickly makes Walter a big name in the drug traffic industry. Of course, he must also be cautious in his actions, because concealing his identity is important for the safety of his family. So, both Dexter and Walter have to take many risks to try to give stability to their lives, while trying to keep focus on reinforcing their seemingly normal personas that they present to the public.

For both Dex’ and Walt’ coping with their respective conflicts is far from an easy task. From the discretion and deceit, their entire lives become one big lie. Trying to keep it in order for the best of their family and presentation of normality just might cause it to all fall in on itself; losing site of their ultimate goals and letting their foundations slip away.