Order vs. Chaos
Throughout the years, Batman has come across several villains, some more perilous than others. All of Batman’s villains represent evil and stand against everything he believes in. Some of them, like Batman himself, have also been shaped by trauma. The Joker is without a doubt the most vicious villain Batman has ever dealt with. In Batman: The Killing Joke, Alan Moore depicts the Joker’s life-altering traumatic event. The death of his wife and unborn child, coupled with an abrupt change in his physical appearance, drives him insane.
The Joker proposes that anyone who goes through a traumatic experience comparable to his will go insane. The Joker doesn’t provide any evidence to support his theory. In fact, his theory doesn’t hold up. For example, this is not the case with Batman. After witnessing his parent’s death, Batman was able to overcome his negative experience, and now represents order in Gotham City. The Joker chose the opposite path and now uses his traumatic experience as an excuse for the chaos that he represents. In an effort to prove his theory, the Joker tries to drive Commissioner James Gordon insane by putting him through various traumatic events, but fails. If the Joker were to provide any explanation as to why some people, including Harvey Dent and himself, go insane after experiencing trauma, he might argue that it has something to do with their background - their financial status, their emotional state prior to the event, and their general outlook on life. The way Batman and his villains interpret and work through traumatic events they experience to is the main difference between them. Ultimately the deciding factor between good and evil is how you perceive your own tragedies.
Batman’s traumatic event was the death of his parents. When Batman was just a child, his parents were brutally murdered before his eyes. Naturally, this greatly affected Batman as it would any child. As is pointed out in... [continues]
Throughout the years, Batman has come across several villains, some more perilous than others. All of Batman’s villains represent evil and stand against everything he believes in. Some of them, like Batman himself, have also been shaped by trauma. The Joker is without a doubt the most vicious villain Batman has ever dealt with. In Batman: The Killing Joke, Alan Moore depicts the Joker’s life-altering traumatic event. The death of his wife and unborn child, coupled with an abrupt change in his physical appearance, drives him insane.
The Joker proposes that anyone who goes through a traumatic experience comparable to his will go insane. The Joker doesn’t provide any evidence to support his theory. In fact, his theory doesn’t hold up. For example, this is not the case with Batman. After witnessing his parent’s death, Batman was able to overcome his negative experience, and now represents order in Gotham City. The Joker chose the opposite path and now uses his traumatic experience as an excuse for the chaos that he represents. In an effort to prove his theory, the Joker tries to drive Commissioner James Gordon insane by putting him through various traumatic events, but fails. If the Joker were to provide any explanation as to why some people, including Harvey Dent and himself, go insane after experiencing trauma, he might argue that it has something to do with their background - their financial status, their emotional state prior to the event, and their general outlook on life. The way Batman and his villains interpret and work through traumatic events they experience to is the main difference between them. Ultimately the deciding factor between good and evil is how you perceive your own tragedies.
Batman’s traumatic event was the death of his parents. When Batman was just a child, his parents were brutally murdered before his eyes. Naturally, this greatly affected Batman as it would any child. As is pointed out in... [continues]
Cite This Essay
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(2010, 03). Order vs. Chaos. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 03, 2010, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Order-Vs-Chaos-302127.html
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"Order vs. Chaos" StudyMode.com. 03 2010. 03 2010 <http://www.studymode.com/essays/Order-Vs-Chaos-302127.html>.
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"Order vs. Chaos." StudyMode.com. 03, 2010. Accessed 03, 2010. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Order-Vs-Chaos-302127.html.
