Breaking The Bad Scarlet Letter (spoilers sorry)

After the reading the ending of the Scarlet Letter, I couldn't help but notice the similarities it had with  the ending ofmy second favorite show, Breaking Bad.  The main character of Breaking Bad, Walter White, is a mix of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth.  He is an educated man who uses his intelligence to do evil just like Chillingworth, and he lives a secret, sinful, second life like Dimmesdale.  Like Dimmesdale, Walter's life was revealed to all before his death, also Walter's death took place as soon as he ran out of targets for his malice (he ended up killing his final nemesis) similar to how Chillingworth's "evil principle was left with no further material to support it" (Hawthrone 255) .  Walter was able to leave a huge sum of money for his children before his death similar to how Chillingworth ended up setting up Pearl for life.  Hester and Walter's wife, Skyler, are both left to live lives of poverty and depression while their children progressed onward.  Also, Skyler becomes aware about Walt's actions halfway through the show and keeps helps him keep his secret unhappily, becoming a sinner just like her lover.  Also, the turing point in both stories had the couples (Hester and Dimmesdale, Skyler and Walt) almost achieving a life of total peace built on mutual agreement.  However both moments were ruined by a third party learning of their plans.  I believe that both stories ended in these dreary fashions for the same reason: to discourage behavior like that of the characters.  Stories like these are made to give more character to social deviants and layer them, explore their motivations and the circumstances that force them to such actions but sad endings remind the viewer or reader that the characters were in the wrong.  The similarities also show that limitations on how characters can be shown has stagnated.  Hawthorne would have been in quite a bit of trouble if Hester lived happily ever after or was depicted as stunningly beautiful in the place of the harsh features the original cover showed her with.  Similarly, Breaking Bad would have been perforated with controversy if Walt got away with all of his crimes and lived happily ever after despite deserving 10 lives in prison.

How you will end up looking if you sin.

Sources: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Breaking Bad by Vince Gilligan