The Consequence of Hubris: The Avoidable Tragedy of Breaking Bad

One of the essential parts of writing three-dimensional, lifelike characters is to give them flaws. Those flaws can come in many forms and can be portrayed in many ways, but today I want to talk about one of my favourite methods of showcasing character flaws: avoidable tragedy.

And, what better writer to look at for writing character flaws than Vince Gilligan, creator and showrunner of Breaking Bad?

For a quick overview, Breaking Bad started airing on AMC in 2008, and over the years the show became massively popular. You’ve likely heard the premise before: a middle-aged high school chemistry teacher is diagnosed with lung cancer and starts cooking crystal meth in an attempt to both pay for his medical bills and ensure his family will be provided for after he dies. Naturally, things escalate over the course of the series’ five seasons, and between the phenomenal writing, direction, and casting, Breaking Bad is now seen as one of the greatest series ever put to screen.

It’s also a show that is full of beautifully flawed characters, and a perfect example of how to use avoidable tragedy.

What Is Avoidable Tragedy?

The term seems pretty self-explanatory, but let’s give it a quick definition.

Avoidable Tragedy is what happens when a character is going down a path that leads to a negative outcome, and when the character is presented with a way off the path they either choose to remain, or are forced to remain by external circumstances.

Put simply, it’s tragedy that is created by a character’s choices, brought on by the character’s flaws.

In writing, it’s good to let your characters make mistakes and have consequences for their actions; avoidable tragedy is what happens when letting your characters make mistakes is dialed to the highest level.

The Moment of Choice

The lead character of Breaking Bad, Walter White, could have avoided almost every single tragedy that happens over the course of the series if he had just swallowed his pride and accepted help.

There are many, many terrible decisions that he makes throughout the series, all of them culminating in his rise and his downfall, destroying everyone he loved in the process. The audience is powerless to do anything but watch as he makes every wrong decision, digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole of his own making.

However, there is one choice that could have helped him avoid almost all of the tragedy that eventually befalls not only him, but the people around him: accepting a job offer from a wealthy friend.

In Season 1, Episode 5: “Gray Matter,” an old friend and colleague who is now the owner of an extremely successful company offers Walt a way to pay for his medical bills, work in a field that he is an expert in and enjoys, and essentially collaborate with an old friend again. It would be the perfect way out of his problems without having to accept charity—which his pride would not allow.

It would have been perfect. Accepting the offer should have been a no-brainer.

Instead, he refuses the offer, considering it an insult and believing the offer to be out of nothing but pity.

It’s an innocuous enough scene, easily passed over on a first watch-through as just another small event. However, this scene is one of the most crucial moments in the entire series: this is the first moment that the tragedy of Breaking Bad is set in stone. There are other moments that give Walt an opportunity to turn away from the path, but this first moment is the big one that would have solved all his problems and allowed him to walk away scot-free.

Instead, he fell to his own hubris, and started down a road that would destroy everyone and everything he loved.

Bringing Character Flaws to Light

So why is this important? Why is this concept good to understand as a storyteller? What did Vince Gilligan achieve by keeping this scene in and showing his lead character making such a catastrophic mistake, when on the surface it seems like something that could be left out?

Well, it’s simple—it’s a scene that highlights Walter White’s single greatest character flaw: hubris.

Walter’s pride is his downfall. It’s the core flaw of his character, and is the driving force behind one of the biggest parts of his character arc: his desire to provide for his family is secondary to his desire to cater to his own pride. If he isn’t doing it on his own and isn’t stroking his ego, then he sees it as an insult. If he isn’t in control, then it’s wrong. Everything must cater to his pride.

Having that one scene is an early way to show the viewer the core of his character, showing that when given the choice between accepting help and putting everything he cares about at risk to stroke his own ego, he will pick himself over his family.

Actions and Consequences

Every character has flaws, and those flaws need to have consequences if they are to have any meaning.

The times I have seen avoidable tragedy written has been, primarily, with leads who are either antiheroes or morally grey, such as characters like Walter White or, for a book example, Jorg Ancrath from Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire. Characters with twisted morality are prime candidates for this technique, especially since their flaws tend to be far more pronounced than the flaws of lighter heroes.

Besides, watching a protagonist who is already a bit messed up dragging their entire life down tends to be more acceptable and enjoyable than watching a likeable hero burn their entire world to ashes because of their flaws.

The most interesting choices a character can make are when, no matter what they choose, there is a cost. They have to choose what they consider to be the lesser of two evils. With avoidable tragedy, the character’s flaws are so prominent that they choose the greater of two evils instead.

So Why, and When, Would You Use Avoidable Tragedy?

The purpose of adding scenes of characters blatantly picking the wrong choice is for the sake of showing who they are at their core, baring their deepest flaws. It’s a moment to expose their darkest sides, and even offer a chance for reflection once the consequences of their actions have settled in.

Letting characters make the wrong choice is also a quick, engaging way to showcase those character flaws to the audience, showing who they really are.

It’s boring to say “Walter White is prideful and selfish at his core.” It’s interesting to see him needing to deal with the consequences of his hubris and making the wrong decision, digging himself deeper into a grave of his own making.

Character flaws need to matter in stories. They need to have consequences, and injecting a few shots of avoidable tragedy into your story is a powerful way to bring those consequences to life.