In life, people go through things. Whether it is good or bad, everyone has their journey. Usually, everyone’s journey contains suffering. Either it is the loss of a family member, a breakup from a relationship, or even a diagnosed illness. It is what you do at that point to deal with that suffering and continue on the path of your goal. Some people meditate, grow in faith, or go to therapy, to deal with these situations. Overall everyone’s journey is different from one another.

 In the book The Wounded Storyteller by Arthur Frank, he talks about one the the three types of narrative illness in his book. The use of the quest narrative talks about how people with illness go through a journey facing challenges. More specially, what Frank says about the quest narrative is that “Quest Stories meet suffering head on; they accept the illness and seek to use it” (Frank 115). The use of the quest narrative is the idea that someone ill will gain something out of this experience. To give a better understanding of this, the show Breaking Bad, produced by Vince Gilligan, is a perfect example of Arthur Frank’s quest narrative (Gilligan). The show involves the character Walter White, who goes from a depressed chemistry teacher to a happy and wealthy meth drug lord while battling cancer. It’s through his love for making meth and money he can “overcome” his battle with cancer and provide for his family. Walter’s motivation for money causes him to put his wealth before his health. With the little time left he has to live, he feels like he has to do something with his life, which is producing meth. He will be able to make enough money so that when he is gone, there will be a lot of money left over to take care of his family. The use of Breaking Bad can also be interpreted as a “dark representation” of Frank’s quest narrative.

The quest narrative contains three stages; departure, initiation, and return. The use of it is similar to a quest. It contains a protagonist who goes on a journey and faces many obstacles in his way. But there are usually two outcomes. Either the journey is completed by the protagonist or it’s failed. In terms of the quest narrative, when facing obstacles such as illness, you transform that illness into an opportunity for personal growth in the journey. Frank gives an example of how people are bound back from situations like this with the use of metaphors. Frank uses T.S. Eliot’s lines from Four Quartets to describe Sue Nathanson’s recovery from having an abortion stating “she has returned to her beginning and is now prepared to know the place” (Frank 118). The use of the quest narrative has helped individuals overcome their illnesses and give people a reason to move on in life. For example, German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, had a chronic illness. To bypass the feeling of the pain, he states “I have given a name to my pain, and call it dog” (Frank 116). By Nietzche doing this, he was to “scold it” and vent his bad moods on it like how other people do with their dogs (Frank 116).

The quest narrative explains how people with illness can overcome it by treating it like a journey. This relates well with the character Walter White from Breaking Bad. As said before, Walter is a high school chemistry teacher so doesn’t seem to be satisfied with his life. He’s not a very wealthy person who lives with his wife and teenage child. On the day of his birthday, he and his family are watching television and see that someone got arrested for meth in which that person also had seven hundred thousand dollars. The next day, Walter finds out that he has cancer and wants to provide a better future for his family with the time he has left, he decides that he wants to start selling meth. This is the start of how the quest narrative relates to Walter. Walter’s end goal is that once he is gone, his family will have enough money to support them. Over time, Walter starts making a lot of money for his family, and by that, he can pay for his chemotherapy. Walter is also able to provide for his family like getting a nice car and house. Walter remains positive about his having cancer. At one point, Walter is able to pay for an operation to remove the remaining cancer cells he has so he’s able to live. Once Walter’s cancer is in remission, he continues to make meth. At some point his cancer comes back, affecting his mindset, causing him to push his family away. Walter having cancer again made him realize that his motives weren’t just for his family but mostly to satisfy himself with wealth and power. Walter having cancer also leads him to confront people with the little time he has left which will lead to him being killed. Overall, Walter is someone who started with good intentions, but over time, he started to lose himself, affecting others around him due to cancer. 

In comparing the quest narrative to Walter White, they go hand and hand with each other. Walter fits in the category of the quest narrative. The quest narrative is how people overcome their illness during their journey. Frank states “As the ill person gradually realizes a sense of purpose, the journey emerges” (Frank 117). Once Walter was first diagnosed with cancer, he had a goal which was to sell meth so that he could provide for his family, and pay for his chemotherapy. The quest narrative is also about using that illness for personal growth. At first, Walter used his cancer to spend time with his family until his cancer was in remission. 

Walter is also a good representation of the “dark side” of the quest narrative. As stated the quest narrative is looking at illness and using it as motivation to overcome it and gain personal growth. This “dark side” of the quest narrative represents Walter’s goals and motivations are only for himself and not to help those around him. When Walter’s cancer comes back, his mindset changes and pushes everyone away. For example, Walter’s pride for power causes him to be involved in a drug trade and leads to him putting his family in trouble ultimately getting him and his brother-in-law killed. One using what they learned from their personal journey and then try to exceed one’s pride for their own benefit is what the “dark side” of what the quest narrative is.

Frank brings up the idea that “Quest stories of illness imply that the teller has been given something by the experience, usually some insight that must be passed on to others” (Frank 118). It suggests that illness can turn a certain indiviual’s experience into a lesson. Through struggles in life, the individual gains personal growth. This is relatable to Walter, as he is making profit and getting sick, he shared his knowledge with a former student at his high school, Jesse Pinkman, on how to make meth so they can increase their income. Frank’s quest narrative represents using illness as a gift and from that personal growth, they give back to the community.

In conclusion, comparing Arthur Frank’s quest narrative to Walter White’s journey in Breaking Bad are connected in some areas. Frank’s quest narrative is about looking for personal growth within illness while Walter’s journey is mostly driven to provide for his family. Although the quest narrative brings people to redemption and a positive mindset, Walter’s journey starts wanting to provide for his family then ultimately corrupts him once he gets cancer again, turning his suffering into a path of destruction. His quest ends up isolating and harming people around him, showing how the cancer messed up his mindset. In the end, Breaking Bad is like a dark representation of the quest narrative, showing the consequences when a quest becomes driven by self-interest rather than the benefit of others.