Essay Outline Batman's 'Joker'

I. Batman and Joker represent each other’s opposite who help balance and define one another through their values and beliefs, abilities, and actions.
II. Values and beliefs
a. Justice vs. Injustice
a.I. Roots
a.I.1. Tragic loss of parents lead to Batman
a.I.1.a. “It took the tragedy of losing your parents to buy you that life” – Hush (Dini 13)
a.I.1.b. “i swear, by the spirits of my parents, to avenge their deaths by spending the rest of my life warring on all criminals” – Bruce Wayne (“Chill”)
a.I.2. Tragic loss of (pregnant) wife leads to Joker
a.I.2.a. “But I can’t do anything tonight. Th-there’s no reason anymore…Jeannie’s dead” – Joker (Moore 23)
b. Moral vs. Immoral
b.I. Batman cannot kill (Joker)
b.I.1. Afraid that he will
not stop
b.I.1.a. “If I allow myself to go down to that place, I’ll never come back” – Batman (Red hood)
b.I.2. Against his morals
b.I.2.a. “your role models. The beliefs they instilled in you. And think of how the joker could never understand that” – Gordon (Loeb)
b.I.2.b. “you and I have seen more than our fair share of tragedies and thirsted for revenge. If batman wanted to be a killer, he could have started long ago” – Gordon (Loeb)
b.II. Joker takes lives, assaults, to get results
b.II.1. Jason Todd
b.II.1.a. “You’re thinking about when I died. How there’s blood on your hand because you couldn’t get there in time to stop The Joker from killing me” – Jason Todd (Loeb)
b.II.2. Barbara
b.II.2.a. “He Shot Barbara. Showed me ph-photographs…” – Gordon (Moore 35)
b.II.3. Ms. Gordon
c. Chaos vs. Order
c.I. Joker is chaotic; he works towards chaos
c.II. Batman works to create order within Gotham
c.II.1. Rid Gotham of criminals
c.II.2.
Incarcerate properly
c.II.2.a. “Because I’m doing this on by the book…and because I don’t want to” – Batman (Moore 43)
d. Sanity vs. Insanity
d.I. Joker claims that Batman drives him insane
d.I.1. “I’ve been driven literally in.sane. trying to get him to loosen up” – Joker (Morrison)
d.II. Batman is able to keep a clear head while under pressure
d.II.1. “Years, spent memorizing the finite ways there are to hurt and break a man. Preparing for all of them” – Batman (Morrison)
e. Corrupt vs. Incorrupt
e.I. Joker believes that everyone can be pushed to lunacy
e.I.1. “That’s how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day” – Joker (Moore 36)
e.II. Batman is incorruptible
e.II.1. “let your devotion to justice temper your rage” – Phantom Stranger (“Chill’)
III. Abilities
a. Physique
a.I. In most cases, a match
a.I.1. “Despite his thin frame, the Joker proved incredibly agile, with tremendous endurance and a high threshold for pain. He also displayed remarkable strength for a man his size and actually could match Batman blow for blow for brief periods” – (Greenberger 198)
b. Battle of wits
b.I. Batman is unable to physically beat Joker, but traps him
mentally
b.I.1. “an organized mind is a disciplined mind, and a disciplined mind is a powerful mind” – Batman (“Emperor”)
b.I.2.
b.II. Joker’s schematics makes sense to him alone
b.II.1. “Normal criminals have logical motives. The Joker’s insane schemes make sense to him alone” – Batman (“Laughing”)
b.III. Both want to send message to the people
b.III.1. Joker – chaos
b.III.2. Batman - justice
c. Incarceration vs. Escapee
c.I. Batman is able to (temporarily) subdue joker
c.I.1. “Believe me Jim, I wish it were true but deep inside, I doubt it” – Batman (“Laughing”)
c.II. Joker has the resources to escape
c.II.1. “And you are absolutely the man who possesses the gifts to take care of this problem” – Black Mask (“Batman”)
d. Selflessness vs. Selfishness
d.I. Batman wants to protect Gotham City
d.I.1. “the Batman is having a positive effect on public spirit” – Commissioner Loeb (Miller 36)
d.II. Joker disrupts for his own reasons (self enjoyment)
d.II.1. Repeatedly kills Batman for fun
d.II.2. Kicks Harley out window
d.II.2.a. “Only if I do it, idiot” – Joker (“Mad”)
e. Fear vs. Fearless
e.I. Batman’s image is meant to instill fear
e.I.1. “He fired…at the creature – and the bullet passed straight through the creature like it wasn’t there” – Detective Flass (Miller 35)
e.II. Joker remains seemingly fearless
IV.
Actions
a. Preparation vs. Unpredictability
a.I. Joker’s schematics are unpredictable
a.II. Batman prepares for the unforeseen
b. Beneficiary vs. Beneficiaries
b.I. Batman maintains allies
b.I.1. Robin(s)
b.I.2. Catwoman
b.I.3. Barbara/Oracle
b.II. Joker betrays ‘coworkers’
b.II.1. The Black Glove
b.II.1.a. “I’m saying adieu…don’t call me servant” – Joker (Morrison)
b.II.2. Harley Quinn
b.II.2.a. “One of the painful truths of comedy. You always take shots from folks who just don’t get the joke” – Joker (“Mad”)
V. Joker should not kill Batman
a. Without Batman, Joker will not have anyone to equal him
a.I. No joke, no punchline
a.I.1. “One cannot seem to exist without the other” – (Greenberger 194)
a.I.2. “But you have no one to match wits with. No symbol of goodness to corrupt. Without Batman, there can be no Joker” – Batman (“Emperor”)