Batman and the Mythology Behind the Story

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After Batman Begins, Batman starts to raise the bar on defeating crime in Gotham. Lieutenant James Gordon and district attorney Harvey Dent help with convicting criminals within Gotham, but a new super villain comes into play, the Joker. With the new criminal mastermind, Batman is soon forced to question everything he believes in. The Joker will also take the first fully fledged supporter of Batman and make him question everything, especially Batman.
A hero’s call to adventure is what makes them a hero, if they choose to. In Batman Begins the call to adventure for Batman were his parents getting murdered to a criminal. Bruce Wayne did not want someone else’s parents to get killed, which gave him the drive to stop criminals. This made Bruce an Intentional Hero. He set off with a specific goal in mind, get rid of crime. The call to adventure was all the refusal of the call later on Batman’s life. He was leading a life of sadness and trying to kill the person who killed his parents. Bruce’s supernatural aid and mentor was Alfred, with his guidance and support Alfred helped make Batman. Another mentor or companion Batman came across was Jim Gordon. The first threshold was when Bruce Wayne was claimed dead by the Wayne foundation. Batman’s story follows Campbell’s hero’s theory exactly. Except, Batman never kills the Joker so he repeats his trials and tribulations.
Batman is behind the mask of Bruce Wayne’s ego. Batman was what Bruce strived to be but could not achieve through a regular life, so it is his mask and way of getting what he wants. Batman is the self-accepted protagonist. Throughout the movie you see him struggling with his dual personality, an egotistic materialistic man and someone who has accepted the tribulations of...

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... to take down criminals and the Joker is just sociopath who wants destruction of order. Batman is in the middle of the two characters; psychologically these two people are within him as well. He goes out of his way to stop organized crime but he goes outside of the laws to do so. In the end of it Harvey’s desire of order are destroyed by the Joker, and the Jokers chaotic plans are ruined by Batman. He then comes to terms that he needs to take on both roles within himself. Batman has saved Gotham from the Joker but he now needs to lead the life of a villain to protect Harvey. In a way the Joker is like an evil twin of Batman; rather than letting his inner evil drive him to do good, he lets the evil take over and cause crimes.

Works Cited

The Dark Knight. By Christopher Nolan. Perf. Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, and Christian Bale. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008. DVD.

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