Skyler White Analysis

The ‘stay-at-home mom’ and the ‘doting housewife’, are titles that suggest qualities of submission. On the contrary, pregnant and underemployed, Skyler White, from the television series, Breaking Bad, is the one in charge in her household. Skyler monitors their every move. She thinks of herself as Walter and Walter Jr.’s ‘moral guide’ and should therefore involve herself in situations in which they are incapable of making decisions for themselves. In this way, Skyler is a critical and dominating housewife hell-bent on maintaining tight control over her family. The roots of Skyler’s controlling behavior can be traced back to the birth of her son, Walter Jr. The event of his birth was the catalyst that created Skyler. Prior to his conception, …show more content…
The recent changes in his behavior and his unknown whereabouts make her suspicious and she does not hesitate to question him to find out what has been going on. Walt’s lame excuses force Skyler to become even bolder. Skyler’s investigative qualities are brought out when she snoops through his phone records. She traces one of Walt’s phone calls to Jessie and confronts Jessie at his home. Bolder still, she orders him to stop selling marijuana to Walt, at the same time threatening to turn him into her DEA brother. She even advises him to consider a career change. Since Jessie is simultaneously trying to conceal the body of Emilio during his conversation with Skyler, he shows her no sign of disagreement, his only goal is to get her to leave as quickly as possible. Her sense of justice, what is right and what is wrong, is the only way and is not called into question once again. Skyler wants to be aware of and involved in every aspect of her family’s lives; however, ironically, the standards that she places on her family inadvertently reinforces for Walt that he must keep secrets from