Walter White vs. Nicholas Brody: Two Very Different Liars

Last week, I briefly drew a comparison between “Breaking Bad’s” Walter White and “Homeland’s” Nicholas Brody. This week I would like to further this discussion.

First, some background. “Homeland” is a Showtime series, which in its own words, “is an edge-of-your-seat sensation. Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody is both a decorated hero and a serious threat. CIA officer Carrie Mathison is tops in her field despite being bipolar. The delicate dance these two complex characters perform, built on lies, suspicion, and desire, is at the heart of this gripping, emotional thriller in which nothing short of the fate of our nation is at stake.”

More than any other shared action, both White and Brody go to great lengths to deceive their respective families. Both perceived family men, their actions suggest anything but. White hides his drug monopoly from his caring others, while Brody never hints at his radical Islamist tendencies to his wife or children.

However, while White is a hero – or antihero – Brody is always the enemy. In White’s case, his ends often justify the means. As long as he has a steady stream of income, he can fund his cancer treatment, support his family, and at least temporarily placate his doubters. Brody’s lies, on the other hand, are to cover up the fact that he is a domestic terrorist, and thus his lies are not truly acceptable in an American household.

Both characters lie. So why, as a collective viewing public, do we cheer on White until his death but scorn Brody when he escapes his pursuers? I think that we appreciate the hardworking, rags to riches story that Walter White personifies. Sure, his trade is very much illegal. However, his desire to feed his family, help his community, and fight is cancer is entirely commendable. Brody, on the other hand, is simply evil, and in many ways not as developed of a character. We really didn’t know him before he was “turned” into a bad guy, and thus haven’t witnessed his entire character arc. For those reasons, I find that he is much harder to sympathize with.

From the exterior, Walter White and Nicholas Brody seem like two very similar lying losers. However, with two distinct motives, they are anything but. While Brody lies to lie, White lies to survive. As a result, we empathize with White while he suffers, and we share in his glory when he succeeds. With the much more stiffer, less-developed Brody, he does not share his sentiments with us.

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