The Dark Knight and Defining Evil Essay

How can you tell if a “bad guy”--the villain, the monster, the thief--is necessarily a bad guy? Is it by the images they choose to ink on their skin? Their crooked smile, or maybe perhaps the way they like to crack their knuckles? Maybe it’s just their attire: it’s too dark, too scary. And what of their eyes? There’s something there...something about the way they’re placed, something about how they flicker and gleam with every mention of what they desire. But what of their feelings? The ever-circling wheels of emotions from deep inside that manage to control the raging tides of life? Do they not care like we do?

The physicality and violence of the hypermasculine hero is emphasized in the character of Edward Blake, the costumed crime fighter known as The Comedian, but this emphasis serves not to glorify him but to expose our acceptance of vigilante violence, especially when abstracted from morality. Many superheroes

Evil is a complicated thing that philosophers have studied for centuries; however, evil has existed since the beginning of time. So, what is evil, really? Let’s compare it to the

When I think of the concept of “evil,” I think of The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. In The Consolation of Philosophy, Lady Philosophy stated:

Some could argue that evil is what defines good, since that in the absence of villains there won’t be heroes, subsequently there will be nothing called good which is shown clearly in the movie “Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics” when Marv Wolfman said “If the villain isn’t acting out then superman stays Clark

Discerning good from evil is a particularly common theme in the present society, considering that it basically stands as a storyline for a series of books, motion pictures, video games, and similar concepts. Moreover, most of these products set clear definitions of the difference between good and evil by focusing on portraying evil as being associated with stereotypes. Similarly, good is associated with ideas such as honesty, the color white, or beauty, considering that these are stereotypes generally associated with the forces of good. Even with this, such stereotypes have made it difficult for people to have a complex understanding of the concept of morality.

The main conflicts in the world of The Dark Knight Returns revolve around escalating crime in Gotham city and forces of the authority attempting to control it. The authority should be a moral force and represent justice. The figures that represent the authority should be selfless and work only to promote the integrity of law and order. Authority proves to be contradictory in Miller’s novel as the authoritative figures express qualities of vigilantism and overall moral ambiguity.

Since the rise of storytelling, one of the most important themes has been the conflict between good and evil. Often, a person’s role in society helped the audience understand what side they were on. Princes, kings, knights, these were the “good” characters. Tax collectors, witches, and other villains were quite obviously evil. In modern times, we consider law enforcement officers to be on the side of good. However, whenever a character who clearly belongs to one side or the other makes an appearance, we expect them to do something. Witches don’t just pass through town, they throw fireballs and put curses on people. Knights don’t simply gallop by, they stop and rescue damsels in distress. If a character who clearly belongs to one side or the other appears and fails to advance their side’s

“Their morals, their code, it’s a bad joke” said Joker, looking straight into Batman’s eyes and his soul. “They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. I’ll show you, when the chips are down, these civilized people, uh, they’ll eat each other.” Joker gives a rather chilling observation of how people would behave in the absence of laws. Along with this scene, there are many other scenes in The Dark Knight where Joker suggests the evil nature of humanity. However, this is a movie after all right? What Jokers can’t be that true, right? Or is he? The Dark Knight is the second installment in the Nolan’s Batman trilogy. In this movie, Gotham faces a new, much more sinister threat in the form of Joker and Batman rallies hard to find the line between Vigilantism and Heroism. According to Movie Pilot, the nature of humanity is determined by the choices made while Pop Mythology asserts that human nature is evil due our animalistic desires and instincts. While humans may perform good and bad actions, overall it is quite difficult to determine whether the human nature is definitively good or evil as there is constant change in the human nature.

The most influential definition of evil is nicely summarised by Swinburne proclaimed when discussing about evil, context is very important factors to consider when talking about the subject of evil he said evil include physical pain, for

Throughout “The Dark Knight” by Christopher Nolan crime and deviance is seen throughout the film. Crime and deviance in The Dark Knight has two faces as society accepts crime for those whose are helping them and at the same time punishes those who are punished. Society in Gotham accepts crime when the Batman commits it to help for the betterment of society; however, crime is not accepted when it is committed by mob bosses, gangs, criminal cops, and most importantly through the joker. The forms of deviancy/crime which are seen throughout the film is the Labeling Approach, Human Rights Approach, and Human Diversity Approach.

Theories On Evil Over the course of history, evil has been a topic of much discussion and debate. Evil and many other important concepts of life are examined and described in English Literature. As seen in today’s society, evil is just as hard to define now as it was during the times in which these English Literature classics were written. There has always been a debate over what is evil and what defines evil.

The heroes from the early age of comics are grand, god-like, and morally good, without much anxiety to keep them from achieving their tasks. However, this characterization evolved over the years, showing that such characters have many layers to them. The characterization of heroes, as given in Watchmen, has evolved to fit that of the problems of the age, and here, we see that there are more problems than just political or economic; the society itself is faulted, but perhaps due to the different experiences one has gone through, traumatic or trying. Watchmen provides an account of different heroes that use the mask, such as Laurie Juspeczyk, The Comedian, Rorschach, and Ozymandias, and delves into them to demonstrate the lack of agency, the addiction, the

The abstract concept of evil has vastly transformed throughout human history, ranging for the supernatural and mystical to the very humans amongst whom we live. In modern times, evil has become an entirely ambiguous term. Who is evil? What is evil? Men like Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein have been garnered with the term ‘evil’ for their atrocities against fellow humans. Now it seems evil has a solely human significance; when a person violates the individual rights of others on a massive scale, he/she is evil. In Shakespeare’s time – the Elizabethan era – evil had a similar, but somewhat altered connotation in the human mind. Evil was an entity that violated the English Christian

Masked within every story, we uncover two components that together reveal all emotion, uncertainty, and themes that are bound together by words. This is the constant pull and fight for balance between good and evil. All stories contain a highly praised, moral being at the focal point, followed by a severely loathed enemy who desires destruction. In our minds we perform this storyline according to our lives, usually placing ourselves as the mighty hero, and all things unjust to us, placed as the enemy. These two simple characteristics combined, create a complex illustration of what is formed together within each person. What is it that brings the good to a hero and the evil to a villain?