Is Walden Truly Dead in ‘How I Became A Gangster’? Did The Protagonist Survive? Fully Explained

Sunny Anderson
Jan 05, 2023
Jan 05, 2023

How I Became a Gangster is a crime movie detailing the life of an unnamed titular gangster played by Marcin Kowalczyk. Directed by Maciej Kawulski, the film shows the narrator’s story from his humble beginnings as the son of a taxi driver to his becoming the head of an organized crime group.
While the protagonist did not have a troubled childhood and was loved by his parents, the streets of Warsaw turned him into a fighter and later a gangster. From a young age, he was easily angered and would often end up fighting those who dared to challenge him. His father was an honest man who hoped for his son to choose an honest life, but it was almost impossible for him. Will he survive in the end? What happened to his best friend Walden?

1. How I Became a Gangster Ending Explained

Source: The guardian

The final scenes are set many years after Walden’s death, with the narrator giving his now-teenaged son some fatherly advice from prison. We don’t know why he’s behind bars or whether he’d been in prison for his child’s entire life. The gangster who appeared at the beginning of the movie giving a talk about his tell-all book wasn’t our protagonist, but Daniel. While our protagonist remains unnamed, we do see him being released from prison, which may suggest he’ll probably go back to the same life of crime he’d been accustomed to for his entire existence.

2. Is Walden Truly Dead in ‘How I Became A Gangster’? Why didn't Walden want to be saved?

how I became a gangster Walden die Source: The guardian

Following the plan, Walden just fakes his death and asks other members to save him. Knowing that going after Daniel could cost Walden his life, the protagonist gets himself out of prison (by getting in touch with the elderly couple who sold him the house and kindly asking them to come clean about the stolen art) and comes up with an elaborate plan to save his coked-up best friend. The plan involves faking Walden’s death and asking the other members of his crew to help him, his pregnant wife and Walden’s girlfriend leave Poland and start anew. He also pretends to set over 500 kilograms of Daniel’s cocaine ablaze, before stealing it for himself and his gang.
But Walden wakes up from his stupor and realizes he’s on a boat leaving Poland, he’s less than impressed. Walden didn’t want to be saved. He finally reveals the real reason for his increasingly unhinged behavior: During one heist when it all went wrong, Walden pulled the trigger on an innocent 6-year-old boy. Hearing that his best friend murdered a child was enough to trigger a vomit response in our protagonist. But by the time he’s ready to face Walden again, it’s too late, as the young gangster grabs the gun and shoots himself in the head.

3. Did the protagonist in ‘How I Became A Gangster’ survive?

how I became a gangster Walden die Source: Netflix

Yes, the protagonist went back to Poland with his family and served the sentence for his crime. After spending years in prison, he was finally released. Meanwhile, Daniel published a book discussing the life of the protagonist. He tried to portray himself as the good guy who willfully destroyed drugs to protect the younger generation. Daniel had always been someone who only cared about himself, and he could snitch and even write a book to save his life. The fact that Daniel was not in prison and had managed to publish a book indicates that he found a way to free himself and put the entire blame for the operation on the protagonist. By bringing the lives of the Polish mafia to light, he destroyed their business, and the release of the protagonist in a way indicates that maybe he will find a way to get back at Daniel. “How I Became a Gangster” is said to be based on real events that occurred within the Polish mafia. The people and the events are said to be inspired by reality, but the protagonist remains an unnamed character, and maybe he is an amalgamation of several mafia figures who tried to find humanity even in their criminal lifestyle.
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