"There is one other dichotomy of cancer as metaphor that "Breaking Bad" exemplifies to the hilt. Because cancer functions metaphorically as a reification of capitalism, Walter engages in two kinds of symbolic behavior: before his diagnosis he stands for early capitalism with its sagacity, accounting, and thrift. After his diagnosis he is the embodiment of post-industrial capitalism -expansionist, excessive, speculative, or as Sontag would say he represents "an economy that depends on the irrational indulgence of desire")."