Heroism In The Dark Knight

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In Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” Batman’s virtue as a hero is constantly being tested by his opposite, the Joker. Despite the horrible acts that Joker does, Batman is unable and unwilling to take the villain’s life. At the same time, he asks why the madman wants to kill him. Joker’s response is unexpected and shocking: “I don’t want to kill you!... You… you... complete me” (IMDB). These words, however chilling they may seem, are very true. There could be no good without evil, no light without darkness, no hero without a monster. This phenomenon was analyzed by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, who came up with seven theses in his book Monster Theory: Reading Culture that prove monsters and heroes serve the same amount of importance in stories…show more content…
It is furious that some of its precious treasure has been taken, and it quickly becomes a threat to Beowulf and his people. “So gold can easily Triumph, defeat the strongest of men, No matter how deep it is hidden!” (Lines 776-778) refers to the power that wealth has over the people of that time, and that ultimately, it will be the end of them if they don’t change their greedy ways. Again, this avarice is reflected in the dragon’s hoard of gold, which is later buried with Beowulf after he is mortally wounded while beating the monster. Like the dragon, Beowulf has become greedy and takes the war prize to the grave, refusing to give up what he won to those who would not fight with him. Similarly, in the 2007 movie “Beowulf,” the dragon represents the greed and corruption that has befallen the king and his kingdom. In this version, however, the dragon is actually Beowulf’s son, the product of temptation and a thirst for power. In the scene with Beowulf’s dream, Beowulf looks into the water and sees his reflection morph into that of a younger Beowulf with golden skin, who is actually his son. In the scene after Beowulf has killed the dragon, it changes back into the figure he saw in the

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